Here are some main ideas from the Book:
First the New “Rules”
- You are what you publish – you need a content strategy to succeed with social media. Hire a journalist and organise yourself like a publisher
- People want authenticity, not spin – say no “astroturfing”, corporate-speak, marketing-hype – and never buy from anyone using the words ‘scalable’, ‘groundbreaking’, ‘cutting-edge’ or ‘industry-leading’ in social media
- People want participation, not propaganda – do not use social media to for the hard sales pitch. Instead, listen, respond, help and converse.
- Instead of causing one-way interruption, marketing is about delivering content at just the precise moment your audience needs it. Identify the content your different audiences needs, when they need it – and if appropriate use social media as a delivery channel to supply it
- Marketers must shift their thinking from mainstream marketing to the masses to a strategy of reaching vast numbers of underserved audiences via the Web. Social media is “Long tail Communication” – lots of meaningful interaction with small niches rather than broadcasts-style campaigns
- PR is not about your boss seeing your company on TV. It’s about your buyers seeing your company on the Web. Social Media PR is about disintermediation – direct to public PR.
- Marketing is not about your agency winning awards. It’s about your organization winning business. Social media marketing can only be successful if social media objectives are aligned with business objectives
- The Internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on media. Disintermediation. Get over it.
- Companies must drive people into the purchasing process with [a publishing strategy] built around great online content.
- Blogs, online video, e-books, news releases, and other forms of online content let organisations communicate directly with buyers in a form they appreciate. Don’t start with what you want to say, start with the problem people need solving.
- Social networks allow people all over the world to share content and connect with the people and companies they do business with. Social media is fundamentally a vehicle for connecting and interacting with your target audience, directly.
- On the Web, the lines between marketing and PR have blurred. Social media and more generally online communication makes the already somewhat artificial separation between marketing and PR yet more blurred – managing your reputation (PR) and promoting your business (marketing) both require delivering useful or entertaining content
On Social Media Strategies:
There are three basic social media strategies [our interpretation]
- “Entertain Me” (Stunt Strategy)
- “Help Me” (Thought Leadership Strategy)
- “Love Me” (Fan Strategy)
- The Entertain Me/Stunt Strategy: Using social media to run PR stunts to get third-party coverage in mainstream media. Top examples include
- Queensland Tourism – Best Job in the World (generated 1100 TV spots)
- Blendtec – Will it Blend?
- Coke/Mentos – Fountain
- Rich Ricciani – $1m coupon
- Oakley – Chile Miners
- P&G Old Spice – Smell Like a Man
- The Help Me/Thought Leadership Strategy: Using social media to establish expertise, credibility and authority in your category with blogs, forums, surveys, presentations, infographics, reviews and how-to guides
- Key is a problem focus – understand problems people have, and how you can solve them using social media, finding products, evaluating products, using products.
- The Love Me/Fan Strategy: Using social media as fan media – to drive loyalty and advocacy among you ‘promoters’ – customers who love you and would recommend
Here are some important takeaways from the book:
- You are judged or percieved by what you publish
- They want it real
- They want to be a part of it - participate
- They want to find you, they are looking for you
- make specific content for specific niche audiences
- The goal is to make sales, not just look pretty online
- All the information you put online is public - they will find it
- Create content then publish the information in more places
- Get good at creating different kinds of content for different kinds on online media, videos, photos, slideshows, memes, articles, blogposts, whitepapers, press releases
- social media is your access to the public - create content, publish on social media, build your community
- Aim for making your information fun, useful and worth sharing
- Social Media is good for
- real-time communication
- crisis communication
- two-way communication
- influencer outreach
- customer service/pre-sales
- customer loyalty
- search engine optimisation (getting on the only front page that matters ‘Google’ – for searches around you, your staff, your product, your category)
Why you need a blog
- Why you need a blog: A blog is your social media publishing hub for publishing news, driving discussion about you and shape conversations, serving as a forum for customers and prospects to connect with each other and you, providing your with a real-time platform for crisis management, enhancing search engine visibility.
- Auto publish from your blog to other social media hubs – Facebook, Twitter (Networked Blogs), LinkedIn (WordPress App) and RSS (really simple syndication)
The Truth about Press Releases
- The News Release: What is the single biggest annoyance cited by journalists when describing PR professionals? Press releases – described by journalists as “Mindless, vapid, useless, annoying, misdirected and clueless…”
- If you must do them, don’t send them, publish them as news on your blog, and submit them to online news release syndication services (marketwire, prweb, business wire)
The Web is a great disintermediator. From a PR standpoint, I can tell you that running a solid communications program directed to customers, partners, and prospects will prompt them to stream your news area RSS feed directly on their reader. As far as they're concerned, your hitting publish on your Web site or blog is all it takes to get your news -- they don't need media in the mix.
Think about it. You get your name out there, become your own publisher and have a chance to share your subject matter expertise. You can post rebuttals and corrections to stories without having to beg reporters and media outlets to do so. And, you get the benefit of engaging your customers directly, while commenting on industry trends, and being found in search.
We still get things done through search.
This is not just about your own blog. It's about participating in a blog ecosystem; commenting, reading other people's viewpoints, and interacting with professionals who may be passionate about your field -- and influential because of it.
Video Interviews with David Meerman ScottI watched and reviewed many video interviews with David Meerman Scott. These four videos were the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klKUPeaZV0g Great Interview with David Meerman Scott about the third edition of the book
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xxu00m2VMU Greg Jarboe,interviews David Meerman Scott and previews his keynote address at SES New York in 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dISOmIFPyKk Examples of how small businesses use the new rules
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ucm71lrMdw A good interview with some good insights with David Meerman Scott
Content Marketing Blogs:
http://content-marketing.alltop.com/
David's Blog:
http://www.webinknow.com/
David's Website:
http://www.davidmeermanscott.com/
