- New Rules of Marketing and PR - David Meerman Scott
Consumers are now ignoring the barrage of interruption advertising that assaults them each day, and journalists are inundated by so many story pitches that they can't even read them all. The volume of information that each person is exposed to on a daily basis makes it all but impossible for a business to stand out using time-honored techniques like image advertising.
David Meerman Scott, in his book The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly, lays out his reasons for embracing new technologies, and specific strategies for doing so.
Some of the specific web sites mentioned have changed since the book's publication in 2006, but the trends Scott describes should be around for the long haul. Tech-savvy consumers are very good at filtering out blatant marketing messages, and will only be willing to give a business their time if they get something valuable in return, like information.
Rules of Ineffective Advertising
Scott touches upon the tried-and-true methods of marketing, and explains why they are not as effective at reaching one's target market as they used to be. As consumers drift away from watching television and reaching for the Yellow Pages, businesses must focus on where they are getting the answers to their questions instead. Some types of marketing Scott declares dead or dying include:
- Image advertising
- National television commercials
- Yellow page display ads
- Sales-oriented messages
What these methods have in common is an assumption that the consumer is a passive part of the sales cycle, being primed with vaguely-defined image campaigns and given a hard sell when they express the slightest interest (which usually must be generated by those interruption-style TV spots).
Consumers Want Information, Not Interruption
According to Scott, consumers do a considerable amount of research into a company, its products or services before making a purchase decision. Understanding how and where they gather information is critical to shaping that message.
If the only way a company reaches out to its target market is through broadly-defined image campaigns, potential consumers will seek other ways to get information, such as:
- Asking on Twitter
- Reading reviews written by product users
- Participating in forums and e-groups
- Reading what the popular bloggers have to say on the subject
Businesses which monitor what is being said about them are able to adapt quickly, addressing concerns and building upon strengths that people discuss online. Those businesses also can learn what questions their customers have – and provide answers for free, if they want to be seen as an expert instead of a salesman. Customers are more likely to return to the source of the information once they make a decision to purchase a product or service.
Examples and Strategies
Books about using the internet are difficult to write, if for no other reason than the technologies change much faster than new editions can be written. Scott keeps his material evergreen by including examples and strategies that can be adapted to new media. (He also understands the difference between medium and media, and uses that peculiar plural correctly throughout the book.) Readers should review the case studies in terms of the creative process more than the actual details – even though Facebook pages didn't exist when this book was written, for example, the strategy of downplaying the self-promoting hype that Scott suggests makes sense for any social networking site.
The rules for PR and marketing haven't really changed – it's still about finding a way to connect to potential clients at just the right time. What has changed is the set of tools needed to accomplish this (such as the transformation of the press release into the news release), and Scott's New Rules cover those changes thoroughly.
Terence P Ward - Terence P Ward has a business writing website, but spends a bit too much time writing press releases, blog posts, and thought leadership ...
