The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly Paperback – July 1, 2013

In this excellent guide, Mr. Scott points out that, under the old rules, you had only two options for getting the word out about your organization and its products: you could spend a lot of money buying advertising in the traditional media; or you could issue press releases to targeted media reporters, in hopes that they would find them "newsworthy" enough for a story in their print or broadcast medium. Advertising was, and still is, is costly and imperfect way to reach potential customers, especially TV, which is generally the most expensive of the traditional media, but arguably the most effective. However, all traditional advertising suffers from certain drawbacks: it is largely non-selective, being beamed out to anyone watching at the time it airs; it is one-directional, thus lacking in feedback; and it is based on interrupting the customer's entertainment, which makes it inherently irritating. Traditional PR is also one-directional and highly uncertain, since it relies on persuading some reporter that the subject of your press release is worthy of a story.The new media, on the other hand, especially those forms based on the Web, are inexpensive, two-way and highly targetable. Far from interrupting the customer's entertainment, the best of the new media - such as search engines, podcasts, blogs, web sites and social networking - are actually sought out by people looking for something specific. Often, they have a problem; and your product may provide the solution. When done well, these media can also be highly entertaining, which can cause your campaign to take off, or "go viral". You can also interact with potential and established customers, which not only increases the chances of sales, it also provides you with valuable consumer feedback about your product.Scott recommends that you start by defining your set of potential customers: define their characteristics and name these profiles. Then you can design your blog, web site, etc., to address the needs of each of these named groups. He suggests ways to do this, and describes what is needed to use each of these tools to best advantage.Highly recommended reading for anyone wanting to sell products or services inexpensively and creatively in the 21st Century!

Which is better? A blog mention or a quote in a magazine article? If you said the magazine quote, you need to read The New Rules of Marketing and PR.Back in the old days, we hired agencies to create ads and PR firms to generate buzz. We used interrupt marketing. We communicated a simple message broadly. And measured results in the single digits; a campaign that generated 1% response was considered a success.We've felt it for a long time: the old rules of marketing don't work.David Meerman Scott introduces the new world of product marketing using new tools to direct-cast to those who are most interested: our buyers. Nowadays anyone with a Mac and a mic can create a podcast; anyone with a video camera can post on YouTube. And sending a news release to Google is now much more important than sending a news release to a journalist.In the new world of marketing, having something to say matters more than ever. This book explains the reasons why the new media works and how to use the new rules. As always, marketers need to understand the product and its value to buyers, and also be able to articulate the value in buyer language. We just can't continue to offer vague product platitudes and expect to get anyone's attention. "Everyone everywhere" is no longer a valid market segment (and it never was)!But perhaps the most important use for the book is to convince your management that blogging is better than advertising, that posting news to your web site is better than posting to prnewswire, and that participating in a small but interested community is better than blasting your message to everyone everywhere, hoping that someone will hear you.The really interesting part of this book is that it reminds us that the old techniques really didn't work very well either. While the others spout jargon at you and vie to shout over each other, the new rules of marketing are a quiet conversation, using language both parties understand.

This book is divided into three main sections, entitled:`How the Web has changed the rules of Marketing & PR'`Web-Based Communications to Reach Buyers Directly'`Action Plan for Harnessing the Power of the New Rules'There are easily understandable descriptions of the different media covered (thankfully just the main ones) and guidelines on how to use them (this is by far the longest section). I wasn't disappointed by this book and was pleased to learn some new techniques to include in my own marketing campaigns.While the author is keen to point out that online methods shouldn't replace the existing offline marketing & PR efforts, there is a definite bias towards the new; and a veiled warning that traditional media needs to look to its laurels and keep up.What makes this book so valuable is that the comprehensive content can be applied to such a wide variety of organisations - from corporation to solo consultancy, non-profit, church, school - the list is all-encompassing.There are plenty of case studies to demonstrate the major points, including some of the author's personal experiences.I have been using many of the techniques covered to promote my business for some time, and was pleased to find that this book still provided new ideas for me to try, as well as explaining others which had been a bit unclear beforehand!The total novice might find the comprehensive contents overwhelming, but should still be able to follow the step-by-step action plan to extend their online presence. By keeping each chapter short, the author ensures there is time to absorb one concept before moving on to the next.Because of the incredibly fast-moving nature of the internet, elements of this publication may well be out of date even before the year is out (indeed Facebook is making major changes as I write!). However, the overall concepts surrounding the use of social media in marketing will remain true for a little longer.Any business making the transition to online marketing will find useful guidelines here. The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers DirectlyThe New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly

Although i feel the book spends too much time introducing the information it is going to present to you, it is clearly written and its success is testament to the concepts within it actually working. Having since met the author via social networking it became clear that this is a topic that he is serious about and dedicated to and the book is based on his real experiences. Promotion of the book was conducted via online marketing and you can see for yourself its success by its high Amazon rank. Having tried some of the concepts myself I can state that I saw a significant increase in web traffic, but it is by no means a quick and easy option. Successful Internet marketing takes a lot of time and effort.Although I would personally have preferred less background discussion on the topics in the book, undoubtably other people will find that this makes the book flow better and gives it more readability and interest than a straightforward textbook or reference book.Definately a 'must read' for anyone interested in updating their marketing and PR efforts!

Meerman Scott indicates how to set a good targeted content strategy. The use of social media is giving the organisations different channels to communicate with customers, but as David says "Content is valuable if someone reads it" and "you are what you publish". Some companies just bombard their customers with useless content, but following the approach described in the book and creating personas will really help any organisation to boost revenue, loyalty and the best of all you will be at the first places in any web search engine.

Good book for basic marketing. Slightly dated but still good for a foundational knowledge of online marketing.

Very interesting book. If you are into Marketing then definitely worth to read.