The New Rules of Marketing & PR

Introduction 1 The New Rules 4 Life with the New Rules 6 What’s New 8 Writing Like on a Blog, but in a Book 10 Showcasing Success 11 I How the Web Has Changed the Rules of Marketing and PR 13 1 The Old Rules of Marketing and PR Are Ineffective in an Online World 15 Advertising: A Money Pit of Wasted Resources 18 One-Way Interruption Marketing Is Yesterday’s Message 19 The Old Rules of Marketing 20 PR Used to Be Exclusively About the Media 21 PR and Third-Party Ink 22 Yes, the Media Are Still Important 23 Press Releases and the Journalistic Black Hole 23 The Old Rules of PR 24 Learn to Ignore the Old Rules 25 2 The New Rules of Marketing and PR 27 The Most Important Communications Revolution in Human History 28 Open for Business 29 The End of Mass Marketing 31 Tell Me Something I Don’t Know, Please 33 KOREAZ Social Media Channels Deliver Digital Public Diplomacy as Entertainment 34 The End of Mass PR 36 The New Rules of Marketing and PR 37 The Convergence of Marketing and PR on the Web 38 3 Reaching Your Buyers Directly 39 The Right Marketing in a Wired World 42 Let the World Know About Your Expertise 43 Develop Information Your Buyers Want to Consume 45 Big Birge Plumbing Company Grows Business in a Competitive Market 46 Buyer Personas: The Basics 47 Think Like a Publisher 51 Know the Goals and Let Content Drive Action 52 Real-Time Business at American Airlines Reaches Buyers Directly 53 II Web-based Communications to Reach Buyers Directly 59 4 Social Media and Your Targeted Audience 61 What Is Social Media, Anyway? 62 Social Media Is a Cocktail Party 63 “Upgrade to Canada” Social Program Nabs Tourists from Other Countries 64 Social Networking and Agility 65 Do You Allow Employees to Send Email? How About Letting Them Use Social Media? 67 The New Rules of Job Search 68 Brewing Authenticity: How Kolkata Chai Co. Uses Instagram to Reach Interested Buyers 70 5 The Content-Rich Website 75 Political Advocacy on the Web 76 Content: The Focus of Successful Websites 78 Reaching a Global Marketplace 78 Make Your Site Mobile Friendly 79 Blogging to Share Your Passion 81 A Blog (or Not a Blog) 82 Not Another Junky Blog 84 Why You Need a Blog in the Age of Social Networking 86 Audio and Video Drive Action 87 How to Poop in the Woods 88 Putting It All Together with Content 89 Great Websites: More Art Than Science 91 6 Marketing and PR in Real Time 95 Real-Time Marketing and PR 96 Real-Time Customer Communications from Cubby Oil & Energy 98 Develop Your Real-Time Mind-Set 100 Real-Time Blog Post Drives $1 Million in New Business 103 The Time Is Now 105 Real-Time Video for Business 110 Crowdsourced Support 111 7 Artificial Intelligence for Marketing and PR 117 AI-Powered Marketing and PR 120 Your Marketing May Already Be AI-Powered 123 Find Ways for AI to Benefit Customers 125 Creating an AI Project 127 Making AI a Part of Your Marketing 129 Unlocking the Potential of AI for Use with Your Own Content 131 Remaining Human in a World of AI 134 Clams, Wagoneers, and Harings: Creativity Is Even More Important in an AI World 135 AI Companies and Content Creators Fight, or They Learn to Work Together 137 III Action Plan for Harnessing the Power of the New Rules 141 8 You Are What You Publish: Building Your Marketing and PR Plan 143 What Are Your Organization’s Goals? 144 Buyer Personas and Your Organization 146 The Buyer Persona Profile 147 Doritos Silent “Crunch Cancelling” Plug-In for Gamers 150 How Beko Develops Products Global Consumers Are Eager to Buy 151 Modern-Day Hippies! Meet Stoned Immaculate’s Unique Buyer Persona 152 The Importance of Buyer Personas in Web Marketing 154 In Your Buyers’ Own Words 155 What Do You Want Your Buyers to Believe? 157 Developing Content to Reach Buyers 159 Marketing Strategy Planning Template 162 The New Rules of Measurement 166 Asking Your Buyer for a Date 167 Measuring the Power of Free 168 What You Should Measure 168 Stop Thinking of Content Creation as a Marketing Expense 170 Stick to Your Plan 171 9 Growing Your Business: How Marketing and PR Drive Sales 173 It’s Time for a Sales Transformation 173 How Web Content Influences the Buying Process 175 Tips for Creating a Buyer-Centric Website 177 Step 1: Sales Begin with Informational Content 181 Step 2: A Friendly Nudge 182 Step 3: Closing the Deal 183 Triathlon Coach Delivers Content for All Ability Levels 184 Why Salespeople’s LinkedIn Profiles Don’t Sell 185 Salespeople as Content Curators 187 Your Company’s Salesperson-in-Chief 189 Educating Your Salespeople About the New Buying Process 190 Registration or Not? Data from an E-book Offer 191 Close the Sale—Continue the Conversation 193 Measure and Improve 194 How a Content Strategy Grew Business by 50 Percent in One Year 194 10 Strategies for Creating Awesome Content 199 Ways to Get Your Information Out There 200 How to Create Thoughtful Content 206 Using AI to Make Content Creation Easier 207 How RTX Uses Journalists to Create Interesting Content 208 Your Web Content Must Be Accessible 211 Content Creation in Highly Regulated Industries 212 Content Ethics and Employee Guidelines 215 Thought Leaders from Outside Your Organization 217 Who Wrote That Awesome White Paper? 217 How Much Money Does Your Buyer Make? 218 11 How to Write for Your Buyers 221 An Analysis of Gobbledygook 222 Poor Writing: How Did We Get Here? 223 Branding Gone Amok™ 225 Effective Writing for Marketing and PR 225 The Power of Writing Feedback (from Your Blog) 226 Injecting Humor into Product Descriptions 228 Brand Journalism at Boeing 229 12 Social Networking as Marketing 231 How to Use Facebook to Market Your Product or Service 232 Increase Engagements with Facebook Groups 235 Check Out My LinkedIn Profile 238 Tweet Your Thoughts to the World 241 Social Networking and Personal Branding 242 Write Your Biography in First Person 245 The Sharing More Than Selling Rule 246 Which Social Networking Site Is Right for You? 249 Nextdoor, the Social Network for Local Businesses 251 You Can’t Go to Every Party, so Why Even Try? 252 Optimizing Social Networking Pages 253 Integrate Social Media into an Offline Conference or Event 254 Build a Passionate Fan Base 255 Social Networking and Crisis Communications 257 Why Participating in Social Media Is Like Exercise 260 13 Blogging to Reach Your Buyers 263 Understanding Blogs in the World of the Web 265 The Four Uses of Blogs for Marketing and PR 267 Monitor Blogs—Your Organization’s Reputation Depends on It 268 Comment on Blogs to Get Your Viewpoint Out There 269 Bloggers Love Interesting Experiences 270 What Should You Blog About? 271 Blogging Basics: What You Need to Know to Get Started 272 Bling Out Your Blog 275 Building an Audience for Your New Blog 276 Tag, and Your Buyer Is It 277 Cities That Blog 278 What Are You Waiting For? 280 14 An Image Is Worth a Thousand Words 281 Photographs as Compelling Content Marketing 281 Images of Real People Work Better Than Inane Stock Photos 283 How to Market an Expensive Product with Original Photographs 285 Sharing Beautiful Images on Instagram 286 Marketing Your Product with Photos on Instagram 288 Sharing with Pinterest 290 The Power of SlideShare for Showcasing Your Ideas 292 Infographics 294 Infographics as a Marketing Asset 296 15 Video and Your Buyers 299 What University Should I Attend? 299 Business-Casual Video 300 Have Fun with Your Videos 302 Stop Obsessing Over Video Release Forms 303 Your Smartphone Is All You Need 304 Video Made for Just £100 Grows Fans of a Welsh Hardware Store 305 Facebook Live Is Great for Real-Time Content Marketing 306 Create and Connect Through Live Video 308 Video to Showcase Your Expertise 309 A Lawyer with Seven Million TikTok Followers 311 Creating a Great Virtual Event 314 Getting Started with Video 316 Building a Business One YouTube Video at a Time 318 16 Audio Content via Podcasting and Social Audio 323 Grammar Girl Podcast 324 Podcasting 101 326 Clubhouse and Other Social Audio Apps 329 Creating Elegant Calls to Action in Social Audio and on Podcasts 333 17 How to Use News Releases to Reach Buyers Directly 337 News Releases in a Web World 339 The New Rules of News Releases 339 If They Find You, They Will Come 340 Driving Buyers into the Sales Process 342 Developing Your News Release Strategy 343 Publishing News Releases Through a Distribution Service 344 Reach Even More Interested Buyers with RSS Feeds 345 Simultaneously Publish Your News Releases to Your Website 346 The Importance of Links in Your News Releases 346 Focus on the Keywords and Phrases Your Buyers Use 347 If It’s Important Enough to Tell the Media, Tell Your Clients and Prospects, Too! 349 18 Your Newsroom: A Front Door for Much More Than the Media 351 Your Newsroom as (Free) Search Engine Optimization 352 Reaching Reporters and Editors and Telling Your Story 353 Best Practices for Newsrooms 354 Ontario University Shines Spotlight on Faculty Researchers 362 A Newsroom to Reach Journalists, Customers, and Bloggers 365 19 The New Rules for Reaching the Media 367 “Re:” Nontargeted Pitches, and Other Sleazy Tactics 367 The New Rules of Media Relations 369 Media Relations Using X 370 Working with Brand Advocates 372 How Blog and Social Media Mentions Drive Mainstream Media Stories 374 Launching Ideas with the U.S. Air Force 376 Legal Caution Versus PR Clarity: Navigating Media During Crises 378 How to Pitch the Media 379 20 Newsjacking Your Way into the Media 383 Journalists Are Looking for What You Know 385 Get Your Take on the News into the Marketplace of Ideas 386 How to Find News to Jack 388 X Is Your Newsjacking Tool 394 Beware: Newsjacking Can Damage Your Brand 395 Newsjacking for Fun and Profit 396 21 Search Engine Marketing 399 Making the First Page on Google 401 Search Engine Optimization 402 Own Your Marketing Assets Instead of Renting Them 403 All Search Is Niche 404 The Importance of Voice Search 405 How to Get Found in LLM AI Chatbot Search 406 Carve Out Your Own Search Engine Real Estate 409 Using the Amazon Search Engine as Marketing 410 Web Landing Pages to Drive Action 412 Optimizing the Past 415 Search Engine Marketing in a Fragmented Business 416 22 Make It Happen 419 Your Mind-Set 421 The Journey from a Traditional Marketing Executive to a Modern CMO 421 Manage Your Fear 422 Mixing Business with Your Personal Life on Social Networks 423 Getting the Help You Need (and Rejecting What You Don’t) 425 Bringing It All Together: Brand Journalism at Cleveland Metropolitan School District 430 Great for Any Organization 432 Now It’s Your Turn 435 Acknowledgments for the Ninth Edition 437 About the Author 439 Index 441 Master Newsjacking the Online Course 459 Have David Meerman Scott Speak at Your Next Event! 461