The New Rules of Marketing and PR (6^th Ed.) How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, Newsjacking, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly

When it comes to marketing, anything goes in the Digital Age, right? Well, not quite. While marketing and public relations tactics do seem to change overnight, every smart businessperson knows that it takes a lot more than the ′next big thing.′

The New Rules of Marketing & PR is an international bestseller with more than 375,000 copies sold in twenty–nine languages. In the latest edition of this pioneering guide to the future of marketing, you′ll get a step–by–step action plan for leveraging the power of the latest approaches to generating attention for your idea or your business. You′ll learn how get the right information to the right people at the right time at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising.

The Internet continues to change the way people communicate and interact with each other, and if you′re struggling to keep up with what′s trending in social media, online videos, apps, blogs, or more, your product or service is bound to get lost in the ether. In The New Rules of Marketing & PR, you′ll get access to the tried–and–true rules that will keep you ahead of the curve when using the latest and greatest digital spaces to their fullest PR, marketing, and customer–communications potential. Keeping in mind that your audience is savvy and crunched for time, this essential guide shows you how to cut through the online clutter to ensure that your message gets seen and heard.

• Serves as the ideal resource for entrepreneurs, business owners, marketers, PR professionals, and non–profit managers
• Offers a wealth of compelling case studies and real–world examples
• Includes information on new platforms including Facebook Live and Snapchat
• Shows both small and large organizations how to best use Web–based communication

Finally, everything you need to speak directly to your audience and establish a personal link with those who make your business work is in one place.

Introduction 1

The New Rules 4

Life with the New Rules 6

What’s New 8

Writing Like on a Blog, But in a Book 10

Showcasing Success 11

I How the Web Has Changed the Rules of Marketing and PR 13

1 The Old Rules of Marketing and PR Are Ineffective in an Online World 15

Advertising: A Money Pit of Wasted Resources 18

One-Way Interruption Marketing Is Yesterday’s Message 19

The Old Rules of Marketing 20

Public Relations Used to Be Exclusively about the Media 21

Public Relations and Third-Party Ink 22

Yes, the Media Are Still Important 22

Press Releases and the Journalistic Black Hole 23

The Old Rules of PR 24

Learn to Ignore the Old Rules 25

2 The New Rules of Marketing and PR 27

The Most Important Communications Revolution in Human History 28

Open for Business 29

The Long Tail of Marketing 32

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know, Please 33

Bricks-and-Mortar News 34

The Long Tail of PR 35

The New Rules of Marketing and PR 36

The Convergence of Marketing and PR on the Web 37

3 Reaching Your Buyers Directly 39

The Right Marketing in a Wired World 40

Let the World Know about Your Expertise 41

Develop Information Your Buyers Want to Consume 43

Big Birge Plumbing Company Grows Business in a Competitive Market 44

Buyer Personas: The Basics 45

Think Like a Publisher 49

Staying Connected with Members and the Community 50

Know the Goals and Let Content Drive Action 52

Real-Time Business at American Airlines Reaches Buyers Directly 53

II Web-Based Communications to Reach Buyers Directly 59

4 Social Media and Your Targeted Audience 61

What Is Social Media, Anyway? 62

Social Media Is a Cocktail Party 63

“Upgrade to Canada” Social Program Nabs Tourists from Other Countries 64

Social Networking and Agility 65

When Social Networking Doesn’t Work: The Cannabis Business in America 67

The New Rules of Job Search 70

How to Find a New Job via Social Media 71

Social Networking Drives Adagio Teas’ Success 73

5 Blogs: Tapping Millions of Evangelists to Tell Your Story 77

Why You Still Need a Blog in the Age of Social Networking 79

Blogs, Blogging, and Bloggers 80

A Blog (or Not a Blog) 81

California Lawyer Blogs to Build Authority and Drive More Business 83

Understanding Blogs in the World of the Web 85

The Four Uses of Blogs for Marketing and PR 86

Monitor Blogs—Your Organization’s Reputation Depends on It 87

Comment on Blogs to Get Your Viewpoint Out There 88

Bloggers Love Interesting Experiences 90

How to Reach Bloggers around the World 90

Do You Allow Employees to Send Email? How about Letting Them Blog? 91

Not Another Junky Blog 93

Get Started Today 94

6 Audio and Video Drive Action 95

Improv with the CIO 95

What University Should I Attend? 97

Building a Business One YouTube Video at a Time 97

Have Fun with Your Videos 100

Audio Content Delivery through Podcasting 102

Hack the Entrepreneur Podcast Delivers New Customers for Host’s Business 103

Grammar Girl Podcast 106

7 Going Viral: The Web Helps Audiences Catch the Fever 108

Minty-Fresh Explosive Marketing 109

Monitoring the Blogosphere for Viral Eruptions 110

Creating a World Wide Rave 112

Rules of the Rave 113

Film Producer Creates a World Wide Rave by Making Soundtrack Free for Download 115

Using Creative Commons to Facilitate Mashups and Spread Your Ideas 116

Viral Buzz for Fun and Profit 117

The Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Jerry Garcia’s Toilet 118

Clip This Coupon for $1 Million Off Fort Myers, Florida, Home 118

When You Have Explosive News, Make It Go Viral 119

8 The Content-Rich Website 123

Political Advocacy on the Web 124

Content: The Focus of Successful Websites 126

Reaching a Global Marketplace 126

Make Your Site Mobile Friendly 127

Putting It All Together with Content 129

Great Websites: More Art Than Science 131

9 Marketing and PR in Real Time 134

Real-Time Marketing and PR 135

John Green Thumps Tom Cruise 137

Develop Your Real-Time Mind-Set 139

Real-Time Blog Post Drives $1 Million in New Business 141

The Time Is Now 144

Snapchat for Business 149

Crowdsourced Support 151

III Action Plan for Harnessing the Power of the New Rules 157

10 You Are What You Publish: Building Your Marketing and PR Plan 159

What Are Your Organization’s Goals? 160

Buyer Personas and Your Organization 162

The Buyer Persona Profile 163

How Beko Develops Products Global Consumers Are Eager to Buy 166

Reaching Senior Executives 167

The Importance of Buyer Personas in Web Marketing 168

In Your Buyers’ Own Words 169

What Do You Want Your Buyers to Believe? 171

Developing Content to Reach Buyers 173

Marketing Strategy Planning Template 176

The New Rules of Measurement 180

Asking Your Buyer for a Date 181

Measuring the Power of Free 182

What You Should Measure 182

Stop Thinking of Content Creation as a Marketing Expense 183

In 2016 the Best Marketer Was Elected President 185

Stick to Your Plan 190

11 Growing Your Business: How Marketing and PR Drive Sales 191

It’s Time for a Sales Transformation 191

How Web Content Influences the Buying Process 193

Tips for Creating a Buyer-Centric Website 195

Step 1: Sales Begin with Informational Content 200

Step 2: A Friendly Nudge 201

Step 3: Closing the Deal 201

An Open-Source Marketing Model 202

Salespeople as Content Curators 203

Your Company’s Salesperson-in-Chief 205

Educating Your Salespeople about the New Buying Process 206

Registration or Not? Data from an E-Book Offer 207

Close the Sale—Continue the Conversation 209

Measure and Improve 209

How a Content Strategy Grew Business by 50 Percent in One Year 210

12 Strategies for Creating Awesome Content 215

Ways to Get Your Information Out There 216

How to Create Thoughtful Content 222

How Raytheon Uses Journalists to Create Interesting Content 222

Content Creation in Highly Regulated Industries 225

Leveraging Thought Leaders Outside Your Organization 228

Who Wrote That Awesome White Paper? 228

How Much Money Does Your Buyer Make? 229

13 How to Write for Your Buyers 231

An Analysis of Gobbledygook 232

Poor Writing: How Did We Get Here? 233

Effective Writing for Marketing and PR 235

The Power of Writing Feedback (from Your Blog) 236

Injecting Humor into Product Descriptions 237

Brand Journalism at Boeing 238

14 Social Networking as Marketing 240

Television’s Eugene Mirman Is Very Nice and Likes Seafood 241

Facebook: Not Just for Students 242

How to Use Facebook to Market Your Product or Service 243

Increase Engagements with Facebook Groups and Apps 245

Why Google Plus Is Important for Your Business 248

Check Out My LinkedIn Profile 249

Tweet Your Thoughts to the World 252

Social Networking and Personal Branding 253

The CIA Joins Twitter 256

The Sharing More Than Selling Rule 257

Connecting with Fans 260

How Amanda Palmer Raised a Million Dollars via Social Networking 261

Which Social Networking Site Is Right for You? 262

You Can’t Go to Every Party, So Why Even Try? 264

Optimizing Social Networking Pages 265

Integrate Social Media into an Offline Conference or Event 266

Build a Passionate Fan Base 267

Social Networking and Crisis Communications 269

Why Participating in Social Media Is Like Exercise 272

15 Blogging to Reach Your Buyers 274

What Should You Blog About? 275

Blogging Ethics and Employee Blogging Guidelines 276

Blogging Basics: What You Need to Know to Get Started 278

Pimp Out Your Blog 281

Building an Audience for Your New Blog 282

Tag, and Your Buyer Is It 283

Cities That Blog 283

Blogging outside North America 285

What Are You Waiting For? 286

16 An Image Is Worth a Thousand Words 287

Photographs as Compelling Content Marketing 287

Images of Real People Work Better Than Inane Stock Photos 288

How to Market an Expensive Product with Original Photographs 291

Why I Love Instagram 292

Marketing Your Product with Photos on Instagram 293

Sharing with Pinterest 295

The Power of SlideShare for Showcasing Your Ideas 297

Infographics 299

17 Video and Podcasting Made Easy 302

Video and Your Buyers 302

Business-Casual Video 303

Stop Obsessing over Video Release Forms 304

Your Smartphone Is All You Need 305

Facebook Live Is Great for Real-Time Content Marketing 306

Video to Showcase Your Expertise 307

Getting Started with Video 309

Video Created for Buyers Generates Sales Leads 311

Podcasting 101 312

18 How to Use News Releases to Reach Buyers Directly 315

News Releases in a Web World 317

The New Rules of News Releases 317

If They Find You, They Will Come 318

Driving Buyers into the Sales Process 320

Developing Your News Release Strategy 321

Publishing News Releases through a Distribution Service 322

Reach Even More Interested Buyers with RSS Feeds 323

Simultaneously Publish Your News Releases to Your Website 323

The Importance of Links in Your News Releases 324

Focus on the Keywords and Phrases Your Buyers Use 324

Include Appropriate Social Media Tags 326

If It’s Important Enough to Tell the Media, Tell Your Clients and Prospects, Too! 326

19 Your Newsroom: A Front Door for Much More Than the Media 328

Your Newsroom as (Free) Search Engine Optimization 329

Reaching Reporters and Editors and Telling Your Story 330

Best Practices for Newsrooms 331

Ontario University Shines Spotlight on Faculty Researchers 339

A Newsroom to Reach Journalists, Customers, and Bloggers 341

20 The New Rules for Reaching the Media 343

“Re:,” Nontargeted Pitches, and Other Sleazy Tactics 344

The New Rules of Media Relations 345

Blogs and Media Relations 346

How Blog Mentions Drive Mainstream Media Stories 347

Launching Ideas with the U.S. Air Force 349

How to Pitch the Media 351

21 Newsjacking Your Way into the Media 355

Journalists Are Looking for What You Know 356

Get Your Take on the News into the Marketplace of Ideas 357

How to Find News to Jack 360

Twitter Is Your Newsjacking Tool 365

Beware: Newsjacking Can Damage Your Brand 365

Newsjacking for Fun and Profit 367

22 Search Engine Marketing 369

Making the First Page on Google 371

Search Engine Optimization 372

Own Your Marketing Assets Instead of Renting Them 373

The Long Tail of Search 374

Carve Out Your Own Search Engine Real Estate 375

Web Landing Pages to Drive Action 376

Optimizing the Past 379

Search Engine Marketing in a Fragmented Business 380

23 Make It Happen 382

Your Mind-Set 384

The Journey from a Traditional Marketing Executive to a Modern CMO 384

Manage Your Fear 386

Getting the Help You Need (and Rejecting What You Don’t) 386

Bringing It All Together: Brand Journalism at Cleveland Metropolitan School District 391

Great for Any Organization 394

Now It’s Your Turn 396

Acknowledgments for the Sixth Edition 397

About the Author 399

Index 401

Master Newsjacking Course 423

Have David Meerman Scott Speak at Your Next Event! 425

DAVID MEERMAN SCOTT is the author of ten books including Real-Time Marketing & PR, The New Rules of Sales & Service, and Newsjacking. David's popular blog, advisory work with fast-growing companies, and speaking engagements around the world give him a singular perspective on how businesses are implementing new strategies to reach buyers directly and in real time.