Scott, David Meerman. The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing & Online Media to Reach Buyers. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009. ISBN: 978-0-470-37928-8.
Meet the Author
David Scott Meerman is an award-winning marketing strategist, best-selling author, conference speaker and seminar leader who is best known for writing this book: The New Rules of Marketing & PR (published first in 2007, then updated in 2009). Previously he was the VP of Marketing for two publicly traded companies. To learn more visit his website.
Book Basics
The old rules for marketing and public relations are dead or dying because they are not appropriate for an online world. The new rules focus on the web-based environment and enable companies and non-profit organizations of all sizes and even those with very limited budgets to engage in effective marketing. The book is all about leveraging the internet to market your business or organization.
When creating an internet marketing presence and strategy for your organization, consider some of these new rules of marketing:
- You are what you publish
- People want authenticity not spin
- People want participation, not propaganda
- Instead of causing one-way interruption, marketing is about delivering content at just the moment your audience needs it
- Blogs, podcast, e-books, news release, and other forms of online content let organizations communicate directly with buyers in a form they appreciate
So What?
Admittedly this is not the traditional book I review. However, I am in the midst of some targeted reading to consider how best to do just what this book is all about: use the internet as effectively as possible to reach an intended audience. Scott is aware that the principles apply to the non-profit world and even uses National Community Church as an example of an entity that understands and effectively utilizes the new rules of marketing and public relations.
For churches and parachurch organizations, it is essential to continue to adapt marketing and outreach strategies to effectively reach new people. Instead of working to make a website fancier or more aesthetically pleasing, most would better invest time and other resources to focus on content. While navigation is important, “what really matters is content” (p. 105-06). When writing content, consider your intended audience and build the site or pages (if you have several target audiences) with them in mind.
Finally, don’t forget to explore new possibilities. Does your organization have a facebook page? Do your key leaders blog? Are sermons or key speeches available as podcasts?