As I sat down to write this weekend's email, I could hear Frank Sinatra's “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” playing on the TV in our living room, presumably from a show Kathy was watching.

(I just checked. It turns out the show is “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” which looks quite good).

When I was young I was into punk rock and goth music. You'd never have caught me listening to ol' blue eyes.

As I've got older I still like a bit of noisy, spiky music. But I appreciate the classics rather more now.

And I'm sure it's the same with marketing.

It's fun to play with newfangled ideas and tools. And basing your marketing on new trends and current issues helps it seem fresh.

But just like with music, your clients will always return to the “classics”. The big problems or goals that keep them up at night year-in, year-out.

My gut feel is that your marketing should focus on 80% “classics” and 20% “news”.

In my case, for example, all my Sunday emails are on classic topics. So I can put them in an autoresponder and reuse them for years. That frees me up to do more topical broadcasts during the week (though usually, I focus on classic topics there too).

How much of your marketing is focused on your “classics” and how much are you having to scrabble around each week looking for new things to focus on.

My guess is we'll still be listening to Frank next millennium. Your marketing doesn't need to last that long, but I'd aim for years rather than weeks.