As creator and host of a podcast called Marketing Voices for PodTech, I interview many thoughtful guests. One of the recent interviews I did was with David Meerman Scott who wrote a book called The New Rules of Marketing and PR. For this podcast, I asked David Scott to give listeners his top three “new” rules. They are…
1) You are what you publish today as content is king
2) Understanding one’s target audience(s) is paramount–know the needs and desires and communicate targeted messages to these audiences and segment messages based on the audience and
3) understand that marketing and PR are working more closely together today given what is happening in the business of communications.
David and I also discussed how the practice of “PR” has morphed from “communicating with one’s publics” to “MR” or communicating with the media during the last 15 years.
I have really pushed back on clients over these years who always assume the only audience for practioners of the public relations profession is the media. Many of those whom I counsel do not understand that PR, as all marketing and public relations practioners know, means communicating to all the publics or audiences that a company or person is hoping to influence– not solely working with the media to distribute information. PR practioners must develop strategies and programs that address many audiences not just the media. Programs like this are much more beneficial and results more widespread for a company.
I am eager to hear what the community thinks about the situation today as it relates to this topic.
Tags: books, business, David_Meerman_Scott, Jennifer_Jones, Marketing, PR
Good interview, Jennifer. Web 2.0 has changed the way we market and practice PR, yet it seems that there’s a slow adaptation – by clients and some PR agencies alike. The “media” is more than traditional print outlets and it’s now so much easier to get messages to the public through online means.
These 3 tips are sage advices. Knowing whom to target will definitely save money and headaches on the backend. And it’s true, in a cyber world that is so full of contents, good content is king and we will be judged by what we wrote (like you are judging me right now by how intelligent this comment is)
Cheers,
Cindy
Great information! Just an FYI MarketingProfs conducted a recent seminar with David “The New Rules of PR: How to Use Press Releases to Reach Buyers Directly” here’s a link to the seminar in the Online Library.
Enjoy,
Penny
Whoops here’s the link:
http://www.marketingprofs.com/premium/seminar_detail.asp?semid=64
Thanks, Penny for giving us the link.
The Top 3 ‘New’ Rules of Marketing and PR????
This should have been called ‘A statement of the obvious’.
Rule #1 is so frequently overlooked as a branding element. What is published belies the brand. It can help define and create it, and it can enhance and further it – but it definitely contributes to it and may be the strongest part of establising customer perceptions. This applies to anything written – ad copy, websites, blogs, internal communication, letters, press releases, printed interviews, advertorials, packaging copy, and outdoor signage.
Steve
The better, more creative p.r. people over the years have always considered our job as more than just communicating via the media. Media relations is a major part of what most of us do every day, but we’ve reached out to our various publics with a wide array of tactics and tools that often don’t rely on the media. And it’s really great when the p.r. and advertising programs are working closely together, which is hardly a new thing.
Of course, social media and user-generated content opens up so many new ways to do p.r. without relying on the media.
Sharon and David, I understand your points. I do think that many of these “new” rules are not so new as they are now “reintroduced” with a “new” emphasis.
Jennifer,
First time listener, but loved the interview. It was good to hear professionals refuting the notion that PR is not merely media relations. This is something I was taught in my classes (just graduated with a degree in PR), but very different in the real world. Three of the four PR internships I did were focused solely on media relations.