Katie’s Thoughts

In chapter 18 of the New Rules of Marketing and PR Scott talks all about videos. Scott says that the idea of organizations using video for Web marketing is still new. This amazes me because video has been around way longer than podcasting and blogging. The reason for the slow adaptation is because many organizations don’t have a service that lends itself to video.
 I think the slow growth of video online is in the process of changing. Now with You Tube people are uploading videos at a constant rate. There are many ways videos are now being viewed by customers online.
 I previously mentioned You Tube and the reason being is because it is the most popular video-sharing site on the Web. It leads the pack in its industry. Posting a video on You Tube couldn’t be simpler. All you need is video from a digital video camera or your cell phone and a You Tube account. You Tube also allows you to edit the video to make it look any way you want.
 Many organizations decide to use You Tube for many reasons but the most obvious is that over 41,000,000 visitors from the United States come check out You Tube in a month. Organizations are realizing that there are a large number of potential customers who are watching these clips.  

In chapter 16 of the New Rules of Marketing and PR Scott talks about a subject that is brought up frequently in my PR Writing class. This chapter is all about media relations and how to reach the media. There are many tools that PR professionals use in the media world to get journalists attention, in class we refer to all these tools as social media. They include blogs, online media kits, and social media press releases just to name a few.

 Technology has made all of these tools possible for PR professionals in recent years. Many people in the social media world have not realized that this new technology also comes with a new set of rules.

In the past, it was normal for PR professionals to use what Robert calls the push method of distributing news releases. This method is when releases are sent out in large numbers to anyone that may potentially read the information. Scott explains this old practice as “shotgun-blasting news releases and blind pitches to thousands of journalists at a time without giving any thought to what each reporter actually cover.”

This is not a good way to get reporters to notice your message. Most of this random mass mail that is being sent all over the web is received as spam in mailboxes. Scott says this PR spam approach doesn’t work and brands your organization as one of the “bad guys.”

Robert agrees and offers up a new approach for PR professionals, which he calls the pull approach. By selecting specific reporters and media outlets that have similar characteristics with your release the odds of getting published are much higher. You must also write specific pitches directed to them and not to a general audience. If your organization uses all of the tools social media offers reporters will find you.    

 In chapter 14 of the New Rules of Marketing and PR Scott talks about how to develop a news release strategy. He mentions that the most important thing to think about when beginning a news release program is the need to write for your buyers. Content rules this factor of public relations.
 The point of news releases is to reach the market and potential customers. Many organizations can become confused when trying to think of what to write about. Scott stresses that an organization can write about pretty much anything that it’s doing but don’t wait to write it.
 Some good examples of news release topics include, serving a unique market place, winning an award or having your CEO speak during a conference. These are all perfect examples of news release topics.
 Another tip that is given in the book regarding news releases is to write them the way you would write a news story. Important information should be given first while keeping the news release interesting and concise.

 In chapter 13, Scott talks about the Elements of a Buyer-Centric Web Site. The first element is to think about the buyers’ preferred media and learning styles. Different buyers are attracted to different mediums. Some may enjoy watching video clips but others may want to skim over certain points in the message. In the end the message the buyer receives is the same. By having different media formats buyers can learn about the message more efficiently.
 The second element is to develop a site personality. Here it is important that the site maintains its appearance. Consistency sets the tone for the site. Adding photos and images to tell the story is important because they bring a since of reality to the site. Staged photos are obvious and can leave the buyer feeling apprehensive about the site. I think the photos should be real and represent the organization.
 Some other elements include adding interactive tools and to make feedback loops available.  These elements get buyers involved with the site. Interaction is an important piece of the buyer-centric Web Site. Providing ways for customers to interact with each other is vital. In my opinion adding a wiki to the site gives the organization credibility. Customers can chat about their experiences and opinions with the support of the organization.
 The final element is to create content with pass-along value that could go viral. This happens when people pass on information about a site to others or link the content in their blogs. Going viral creates a buzz that all organizations desire.

Chapter 11 is all about thought leadership and how it can brand your organization as a trusted resource. Scott explains that thought leadership is just thinking like one of your buyer personas. As one of your buyer personas the question is what are you looking for? Your organization has a solution to that question, which it’s your product or service. But thought leadership has nothing to do with mentioning these products or services or even your organization’s name.
 Thought leadership is having content that answers a buyer personas question without selling something. Essentially it’s free and helpful information to anyone that visits your website. The first thing that came to my mind was speech-writing services.
 I remember when I was taking a public speaking class and I had to give a persuasive speech. I googled the topic and it brought my to a company who sells all different kinds of speeches. Along with their service they offered techniques and tips about writing your own speech. I found this information very helpful.
 Even though I didn’t purchase any of the company’s services I will remember them and they might become useful to me in the future. From podcasts and blogs to other website links on your company’s site thought leadership comes in many different forms.

In chapter 10 of the New Rules of Marketing and PR Scott talks about buyer personas and their importance to an organization’s success online. According to Scott a buyer persona is essentially a representative type of buyer that you have identified as having a specific interest in your organization or product or having a market problem that your product or service solves.
 
 One of Scott’s examples is a college website. This particular example really helped me understand the concept of buyer personas because I visit Auburn’s site everyday. It is obvious to me now that the site is set up for different kinds of visitors.
 
 As a student I read everything that might influence me. For that reason Auburn has defined student as one of their buyer personas. The language is appropriate and the information is formatted to be read quickly and clearly in these student sections.

 However there are other buyer personas that the website caters to. They include parents, alumni, potential students, donors, sponsors and many others. Auburn has found out as much as they could about these different groups of people. All of the little pieces of information are combined for each buyer persona. This information is used to find out what compels each buyer persona’s choices and decisions.

Chapter 8’s title in the New Rules of Marketing and PR is intriguingly named Going Viral: The Web Helps Audiences Catch the Fever. This title caught my attention immediately. I think the reason I was so excited to read this chapter was because I have some experience in web area.

While reading along I kept agreeing with Scott when he said that many companies have no idea what’s going on when it comes to the web. The web can work for and against a company. It can make them famous one day and out of business the next. Marketers need to be aware of the many occurrences on the web to handle any situation.

I think there are many situations that companies just don’t pay attention to when it comes to the web. One example for a company could be a rapidly spreading blog. A single consumer could post a negative experience with a company and then an hour later hundreds of other bloggers may have read and commented on that post. It’s always uncertain if blogs will catch on and who will actually read them.

Fortunately, there are many tools that markets have to handle unexpected situations. Scott said that Alexa is a very popular service in the marketing world. Alexa measures the reach and popularity of Web sites. I think Alexa is ingenious because it allows marketers to know where their company stands in comparison to others and with their publics.

I have come to learn that the web is extremely important for everyone. If used appropriately it can be a very beneficial tool.

In chapter 6 of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, Scott talks about podcasting. To be honest I had no idea what podcasting was until I read the definition from the book. Simply put, podcasts are just audio content connected to an RSS fed. And then it clicked! I knew what podcasts were called but I use them all the time. I’ve listened to podcasts just about everywhere from websites to my ipod.

 The Apple iPod should take credit for efficiently using podcasts through their iTunes system. I don’t know of many people who really listened to many podcasts from their computer before iPod introduced their own versions. 
These podcasts are really awesome because they specifically target my interests.
Scott mentions that targeting niche markets was extremely important for the growth of podcasts.
 Scott said, “With podcasting, people instantly liberate themselves from the tyranny of mainstream, hit driven broadcast radio…” I believe this to be an accurate statement because I don’t think that my friends or myself would even subscribe to podcasts from iTunes if we had to receive all of them.

 Podcasts have become a valuable tool for marketers. Having to push information onto different kinds of audiences who arn’t even interested is not an issue anymore. Subscribers welcome these feds because they want to hear them. The subscriber contacts the marketer so there is no need to try a target an organization’s target public. This makes to process so much easier for the marketer and the subscriber!   

In Chapter 4 of The New Rules of Marketing and Pr, David Meerman Scott discusses how blogging can positively enhance an organization. Scott gives three reasons why organizations should consider this form of online communication and how the many different ways to use it.
The first and most obvious reason is to find out what people honestly think about your organization. I believe that casual conversation can be extremely beneficial to an organizations growth. This basic information allows an organization to know where it stands with its customers and other competitors in the market.
Wanting and obtaining this information are two different things. In order for an organization to obtain this knowledge they have to understand the rules of blogging. To understand these rules an organization should simply just start reading different blogs.
 I agree with Scott when he says understanding the rules of blogging are important. I have only written a few blogs in my public relations classes but before I sat down to express my opinions I made sure to read others that were similar to what I wanted to write. These examples gave me ideas of how I should write.
Secondly Scott mentions that organizations should participate in blogs. They should use other blogs as communication tools. By participating in two-way communication many loyal readers will acknowledge the organization’s efforts to connect with its stakeholders. Finally, once the organization has credibility in the “blogging world” Scott suggests it should create its own.  

In chapter 2 of “The New Rules of Marketing and PR”, David Meerman Scott presents his view of why the old way of doing public relations does not work anymore. He believes that the old way of spending a bunch of money to maybe get a little bit of coverage from a specific and limited media outlet has become obsolete.

Scott believes for a business to have public relations success they should follow the “new rules”. The new rules apply a different method of getting coverage. This method takes the road less traveled where marketers and pr professionals target their audiences directly. They do this by communicating with blogers, online news sites and analysts instead of focusing on a large media outlet.

Being a college student I see thousands of identical advertising techniques and news stories everyday. I agree with Scott when he implies that one large public relations blowout cannot be as effective as thousands of online bloggers and analysts communicating to each other and other potential new buyers about an organization.

The uniting of marketing and pr in online forms seems to be an unacknowledged relationship until Scott presented the facts. When it comes to how people find information about an organization it really doesn’t matter how they do it as long as they find it. I never really realized how similar they both are. Whether it be through a news release or a web site hit, marketing and pr both share the same goal on the web.