The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly (Hardcover)

by David Meerman Scott (Author)
Key Phrases: online world, buyer personas, online media room, Web-Based Communications, Reach Buyers Directly, Second Life (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Though it may not yet have affected the value of 30 seconds of Super Bowl advertising, PR insider Scott argues that understanding the growing irrelevance of marketing's "old rules" is vital to thriving in the new media jungle. Already apparent in newspapers and magazines (with sharp downturns in circulation and ads), radio (on the losing end of the iPod revolution) and direct mail (digitally replaced by spam), the imminent fall of traditional mass media marketing means new opportunities for legions of smaller companies and independent professionals who need to reach niche markets cheaply and effectively. The way Scott sees it, this is also good news for consumers: the online culture of integrity and information tends to produce quality content for less, as opposed to the vapid, one-sided and pricey advertising of print media and television. Scott provides the technical novice a thoughtful and accessible guide to cutting-edge media arenas and formats such as RSS, vodcasts and viral marketing, without neglecting the fact that technological wizardry can't substitute for a well-thought out marketing program. Besides emphasizing fundamentals like defining one's audience, Scott also drills home the ethos and etiquette of the web, encouraging content that's both useful and unobtrusive. This excellent look at the basics of new-millennial marketing should find use in the hands of any serious PR professional making the transition.
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Review
Though it may not yet have affected the value of 30 seconds of Super Bowl advertising, PR insider Scott argues that understanding the growing irrelevance of marketing's "old rules" is vital to thriving in the new media jungle. Already apparent in newspapers and magazines (with sharp downturns in circulation and ads), radio (on the losing end of the iPod revolution) and direct mail (digitally replaced by spam), the imminent fall of traditional mass media marketing means new opportunities for legions of smaller companies and independent professionals who need to reach niche markets cheaply and effectively. The way Scott sees it, this is also good news for consumers: the online culture of integrity and information tends to produce quality content for less, as opposed to the vapid, one-sided and pricey advertising of print media and television. Scott provides the technical novice a thoughtful and accessible guide to cutting-edge media arenas and formats such as RSS, vodcasts and viral marketing, without neglecting the fact that technological wizardry can't substitute for a well-thought out marketing program. Besides emphasizing fundamentals like defining one's audience, Scott also drills home the ethos and etiquette of the web, encouraging content that's both useful and unobtrusive. This excellent look at the basics of new-millennial marketing should find use in the hands of any serious PR professional making the transition. (July) (Publishers Weekly, August 6, 2007)

"a valuable source of inspiration" (Brand Strategy, November 2007)

"This book is useful if you would like to learn more about new formats such as RSS, vodcasts and viral marketing."  (Gulf Business, Vol. 12/ Issue 7)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (June 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470113456
• ISBN-13: 978-0470113455
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (164 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,934 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

96 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A to Z assistance for any business, May 30, 2007

By	Brad Shorr "Word Sell, Inc." (Geneva, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

More than anything, The New Rules of Marketing & PR ties things together. The book provides an easy to understand yet comprehensive view of the new online marketplace--a landscape that can appear quite bewildering, even to marketing specialists. With so many options at our fingertips (literally), where do we start? Blogs? Podcasts? Public relations? SEO? Paid search? Viral marketing? The list goes on. To make matters worse, technology is changing and new tools are developing almost every day.

In the early chapters, David takes a high altitude look at online marketing options, showing us how they developed, why they're important, how they work, and why they work. In later "Action Plan" chapters, he jumps into the trenches and shows us how to actually use the tools and implement programs. Throughout, he uses detailed case studies to illustrate not only the programs but the amazing results they can achieve.

But it isn't just the latest and greatest technologies that are crucially important. Public relations, for example, has been around since Gutenberg but for the first time is practical for a small company. Traditional PR was cost-prohibitive and dependent on unreachable key media contacts. But in the new world--

"...your primary audience is no longer just a handful of journalists. Your audience is millions of people with Internet connections and access to search engines and RSS readers." (Chapter 5)

Today, public relations may be the single most underutilized tool in the marketing arsenal.

Another "old" technology David brings us up to speed on is the corporate Web site. In fact, the three most important points I got out of The New Rules of Marketing & PR have enormous implications on traditional Web development.

Those key points are--

1. The most important New Rule is CONTENT. Design is important. Technology is important. But without extraordinary content, you're doomed.

2. Interruption marketing (think spam and pop-up ads) has given way to consumer-driven marketing. Yippee! "The Web is different. Instead of one-way interruption, Web marketing is about delivering useful content at just the precise moment that a buyer needs it." (Chapter 1)

3. The starting point for any New Rule program is to create customer personas. If you're going to have extraordinary content that motivates buyers to take action, you'd better know your customers inside-out.

David explains how these three principles should influence not only your corporate Web site, but every other online program you undertake.

Thankfully, David is understandable as well as instructive. One reason I've enjoyed his blog for over a year is his conversational, entertaining writing style. He makes learning easy (which is harder to do than you might think). Anyway, his book is just like his blog--illuminating and fun.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR presents the most complete picture of any book I've read. For the marketing specialist, it will fill in the gaps. For the generalist, it will open up a whole new world.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Wake-Up Call!, June 3, 2007

By	Jill Konrath "SellingtoBigCompanies.com" (St. Paul, MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

By embracing the strategies in this book , you will totally transform your business. David Meerman Scott shows you a multitude of ways to propel your company to a thought leadership position in your market and drive sales - all without a huge budget.

From my perspective, the best thing about this book is that everyone can gain value from it. There are so many places you can start applying these new rules of marketing and PR. For example, I'm an experienced blogger, considered an expert in my field and already have a strong online presence. Yet I'm immediately going to start applying the lessons in Chapter 14: How to Use News Releases to Reach Buyers Directly.

Here's what else I like about this book:

1. The author includes numerous examples from a variety of businesses in different industries & sizes that have all used these strategies for success.

2. The book shows you multiple venues to reach your buyers directly. This circumvents the high costs of mainstream media enabling firms who are running bootstrap operations to compete with the big boys.

3. The "how to" guidelines on leveraging news releases in a web-based world are excellent. You'll learn how to create news on a regular basis, capitalize on various distribution services, focus on key words/phrases in your writing that are used by your buyers, and incorporate social media tags.

4. The insights on optimizing a website's online media room for search engines is another easy-to-implement technique with high payback.

In summary, I guarantee you that your investment in this book will be paid back many times.

~ Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies

66 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good ideas, but several misguided assumptions, August 16, 2007

By	Janice King "Technical Copywriter and Copywri... (www.writinghightech.com) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you are a marketing or PR professional who pays attention to new trends, you likely know much of the information in this book. Some sections may be useful for your executives to read when you are having trouble justifying investments in blogging and other new media activity. You may also find some useful ideas or techniques in the many examples presented here.

However, the author's arguments are hindered by his assumption that corporate marketing and PR staff are dinosaurs stuck in the practice of indiscriminate push advertising and media pitches. Scott spends too much time touting press releases as the best way to reach blog readers, a concept that ignores the true potential of blogs and related media for communicating in a deeper and more engaging way with potential customers. He also ignores the very real legal and market constraints that control much of corporate communications in his longing for businesses to adapt the free-for-all communications style of the independent blogging world. It is an unfair judgment to criticize corporate communicators for not living up to this unrealistic expectation.