Tag: Marketing and Advertising

The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott, A Book Review

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The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott

The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott was a fascinating book that I had as required reading for Quinnipiac University’s Social Media Platforms course (ICM522).

The Premise

World Wide Rave Spotted In Ireland David Meerman Scott
World Wide Rave Spotted In Ireland (Photo credit: Krishna De)

First of all, the premise is, like a lot of other books about the Internet and social media marketing, that marketing has become less of a one-size-fits-all/push system. Instead, it has instead evolved into a far more balanced bilateral conversation.

And perhaps the most interesting part of the book consists of the rules themselves, which are in Chapter 2, on page 31 and are as follows –

The New Rules

The New Rules of Marketing and PR

  • First of all, marketing is more than just advertising
  • In addition, public relations is for more than just a mainstream media audience
  • You are what you publish
  • And people want authenticity, not spin
  • People want participation, not propaganda
  • Instead of causing one-way interruption, marketing is about delivering content at just the precise moment your audience needs it
  • Furthermore, marketers must shift their thinking from mainstream marketing to the masses to a strategy of reaching vast numbers of underserved audiences via the web
  • In addition, public relations is not about your boss seeing your company on TV. It’s about your buyers seeing your company on the web
  • Marketing is not about your agency winning awards. Instead, it’s about your organization winning business
  • And the internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on media
  • Furthermore, companies must drive people into the purchasing process with great online content
  • In addition, blogs, online video, e-books, news releases, and other forms of online content let organizations communicate directly with buyers in a form they appreciate
  • And social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn allow people all over the world to share content and connect with the people and companies they do business with
  • Finally, on the web, the lines between marketing and public relations have blurred

Because customers are talking back.  And companies and their marketing departments had better start listening.

Rating

Review: 5/5 stars.

Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans, A Book Review

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Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans

Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans was a book that I might have read a little too late in the semester. In all fairness, I read this book toward the end of my first social media class at Quinnipiac (ICM 522).

KD Paine and Liana "Li" Evans Liana Evans
KD Paine and Liana “Li” Evans (Photo credit: wordbiz)

Hence it felt like I already knew a lot of what was being written, but that was likely more a function of timing than anything else.

Sorry, Li.

Been There, Done That

The book is interesting. However, I had just read a ton of other works about very similar work, strategies, and ideas. Therefore, it ended up being maybe one book too many. And it ended up an optional read, anyway. Furthermore, other works seemed to have said it better. And these days, books just do not get published fast enough to take proper advantage of trends and new insights. Blogs, in general (although not always!) end up more current and relevant.

Possibly the best takeaway I got from the book was when Evans talked about online communities, particularly in Chapter 33 – You Get What You Give. And on page 255, she writes –

  • You need to invest your resources
    • Time to research where the conversation is
    • Time and resources to develop a strategy
    • and Time and staff resources to engage community members
    • Time to listen to what they are saying, in the communities
    • Time and resources to measure successes and failures
  • Giving valuable content
  • It is similar to a bank account
  • Don’t bribe the community
  • Rewards come in all fashions
    • Research who your audience is
    • Give your audience something valuable and/or exclusive
    • Don’t expect you’ll know everything
    • Listen to what your audience says
    • Admit when you are wrong
    • Thank your community

Finally, much like we’ve been telling people for years on Able2know – listen before you speak!

Rating

Review: 4/5 stars.

Quinnipiac Assignment #15 – Reflections about ICM 522

Published on by Janet1 Comment

Quinnipiac Assignment #15 – Reflections about ICM 522

With the end of my first Social Media class came a request for our overall impressions of how things went. Hence, I prepared Quinnipiac Assignment #15 – Reflections about ICM 522.

Quinnipiac Assignment #15 – Reflections about ICM 522

My classmates and I were also tasked with showcasing what we felt was our best work.

I was so very pleased that I had a few works to choose from, but I narrowed my choices down in order to save some space.

My reflections essay included comments about the video and essay portions of Module #4, Module #9, Module #10, Module #11,  and my Final Project; that video is duplicated below.

Module Four was about the Ad Astra Star Trek fan fiction writing community. Module Nine was about the Facebook page that my partner, Kim Scroggins, and I created for our ‘client’, the as-yet undiscovered Rhode Island rock band, J-Krak. Module Ten was about the creation and growth of the Twitter stream that we made for J-Krak. And Module Eleven was all about our less than successful experiments in spreading the gospel of J-Krak to MySpace and Google+ (the former was a particularly abysmal showing. At least our client’s presence on Google+ assured better placement in overall search results).

The class was great fun, and I could not get enough of studying for it. I have never, ever had a course like this before, where I was so into it that I could not wait to study, and I did all of the extra credit because I wanted to, and not because I necessarily needed to. That has never, ever been my experience with a class before this one. This overwhelmingly positive experience has given me the incentive to not only finish my Social Media Certification training, but I am also rather seriously considering going on and getting my Masters’ Degree in Communications, with a concentration in Social Media.

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A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action

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A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action

Blogging Less?

I’ve been running through life lately by shooting along at seventy gazillion miles per hour, and it’s catching up with me.

A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action
English: Infographic on how Social Media are being used, and how everything is changed by them. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I suppose that’s to be expected. After all, hurtling along like that should, eventually, lead to some form of burnout. So I am looking to cut back.

Now, I love to write. I truly, madly, deeply love it. But lately it’s been something of a chore to get the blog out. It’s been — oh Gawd, I’ve gotta do this again? And that’s led to, what are to my mind, some less than stellar blogs.

Perhaps you have noticed them, or maybe you have not. Or you are too polite to say so. Or, I am just talking to myself. I don’t discount that as a possibility, either. And that’s fine, too. Hey, it happens.

But in my head, some of the joy was getting sucked out because it had turned into much more of a chore than a labor of love. And — gasp! — I had been running out of things to say. Things had stalled, and I was floundering, and it was all moving more slowly and I am sure that you all don’t want to hear, yet again, about my exploits shoveling snow — fascinating as they may be.

Hence I have decided to pull back a bit, and write less. Instead of sustaining a twice per week blog, I am pulling back to a once per week blog. And, sometimes, that may even turn into a no times per week blog. It’s silly to merely pump out content for the sake of pumping out content. I want to write when I have something to actually say. And I suspect you — if you are out there — would much rather read my blatherings if they have a coherent point and a purpose.

I don’t want to waste my time. And I don’t want to waste yours.

So here I am, disengaging a bit.

The mountains will not crumble. The seas will not boil away.

And Social Media will be there when I get back.

Thanks for listening. I’m never too far away.

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