Content drives action

reading

I started reading “The new rules of Marketing and PR” yesterday, and I like it. I’m at Chapter 3, and so far it’s a good summary of things I’ve discovered. Reinforcing experiences which I’ve been calling Low Budget Internet Marketing.

A couple of notes:

  • Today’s search engine setup means you can reach buyers directly.
  • One-way interruption advertising is over.
  • Good content will help buyers decide. There’s people like you and me that do their own research and consider a decision over a period of time before buying.
  • There’s a “long tail” effect for news announcements as well.
  • The lines between PR and marketing are blurry.

Meerman’s right about the way consumers and buyers do their own research, ignoring the advertising to a large extent. And evaluating on their own. Take me as an example: I’m in the marketplace looking for an entry-level DSLR and I’m reading review sites, asking questions, watching the news and prices.

(Yes. My evaluation process is long. And I overdo it sometimes. But then I’ve been working in IT for the past 9-10 years. 6 months minimum.)

The Learning Effect of Blogging:
There’s one effect I’d like to highlight: by setting up my own blog, posting short tumble blog-like entries, and keeping track of a couple of marketing bloggers, the new rules aren’t that new to me. Blogging is a great way to learn. Instead of watching from the sidelines, my advice is to dive in.

I’ll try to post a summary as I go along… Mlle. A. is reading the same book. Between the two of us, we’ll get some two-way discussion going. Feel free to join us.

Comments

3 responses to “Content drives action”

  1. Cyberwiter
    posted the above tweet
    on
    using social media to enhance your company’s online news
    room.

    The article lists ways how to aggregate text, images, audio and
    video to make it useful for corporations and their target
    audience.

    Ein gutgemachter Social Media Newsroom ist essentiell für die
    Online-PR: Er ”¦

    1. eröffnet einen schnellen Zugang zu den wichtigsten
    Unternehmensinhalten 2. lebt von aktuellen und vielfältigen
    Inhalten, die möglichst täglich erneuert werden 3. ist komplett
    per RSS abonnierbar und individualisierbar 4. basiert auf
    Pull-Elementen und nicht auf Push 5. spricht Journalisten wie
    andere Influencer gleichermaàŸen an 6. verweist nicht nur auf
    die eigenen, sondern auch auf fremde Quellen (Verlinkung) 7.
    öffnet seinen Pressespiegel für alle (Social Bookmarking
    erleichtert das) 8. ermöglicht den schnellen Kontakt für einen
    Dialog (Twitter, Facebook, Skype, etc.) 9. nutzt
    Real-Time-Elemente (Livestreaming auf Basis von Twitter oder
    Friendfeed) 10. erleichtert die Vernetzung mit den
    Ansprechpartnern im Unternehmen 11. bietet reichhaltiges
    lizenzfreies Video- und Bild-Material (gerne auch Pod- oder
    Vodcasts) 12. fordert alle Besucher zu Copy & Paste auf 13.
    regt Online-Diskussionen auf anderen Plattformen (Facebook,
    Twitter, Blogs etc.) an 14. Integriert eigene Corporate Blogs
    und Microblogs 15. bringt die News des Unternehmens zum Laufen

    The article lists a number of corporate examples.

    The web consultant hiding here at Chiperoni headquarters (errr”¦
    me!) believes this is one way corporations can profit from new
    media technologies.

    Build a better online newsroom using these new distribution
    channels. Instead of sitting on the sidelines commenting on the
    quality of content. While I don’t know which services will survive
    the next couple of years, I do know that the real-time web is here
    to stay. Unless we run out off electricity to power all of the
    server farms.Start small. Grow incrementally. Bring lots of
    endurance and patience. Remember that most people stop blogging
    after 3 months. A large percentage of Twitter is
    dormant
    .Avoid PR speak. Press releases no longer target
    journalists alone. Publish useful content that supports the buying
    process. Read
    David Meerman Scott’s book
    .Aggregate useful content. Become a
    subject matter expert on the web.Offer a quality filter for your
    company’s specific area of expertise. Don’t try to copy private
    bloggers or twitterers. Be authentic and personable. But don’t
    swamp us with blog posts and tweets from your coffee break. And
    please do check for spelling mistakes. I expect a newsroom to have
    a higher quality.

    And I’m not only talking. I have been using blogging technology
    and RSS feeds within a company context for over four years.

    My experience”¦ some traditional PR distribution services still
    don’t understand that it’s important to be included in Google
    News.

    It is. Whether you like Google or not.

    A newsroom is more than just collecting and archiving press
    releases”¦

    To build a community around Twitter or Facebook or similar, you
    will need a concept and a company policy regarding behavior in
    your communities. And before you quote me wrongly. I am not
    saying your company should start a Twitter or Facebook channel.
    Think about your time resources and goals beforehand. Ultimately
    you will want to draw people to your site or sub-sites. And there
    may be a different way that is better suited for your corporate
    environment. And most importantly, read the TOS before you start
    posting your content on third party sites.

    See my
    simple WordPress prototype here
    ”“ a quick test install to
    demonstrate how WordPress can be used for a simple corporate
    newsroom.

    I need to run and finish my MBA assignments for today”¦

    Share this:EmailTwitterFacebookTumblrGooglePrint

    Related posts:

    Late Nite Prototyping Media making and
    distribution tool set”¦
    Gaming the System Hiding in Full Public View
    Web Ink
    Now: Top ten PR tips for small businesses
    Pitfalls of
    Building Social Web Applications

  2. mlle a. Avatar
    mlle a.

    “Good content” – there is a corresponding ScanAlert research, which was mentioned at MarketingSherpa. Quality and well-structured content is more important than ever.

    As I said elsewhere, I agree with your summary about the learning effect of blogging.

    I hope to catch up with chapters tonight; Scoble’s introductory chapter was already a good read.

  3. David Meerman Scott Avatar

    Love the photo of the shoes and sunglasses with the BACK of my book. How totally cool. I’ve seen the cover often on blogs, but this is the first time for the back. Thanks! And thanks for readin.

    Cheers, David Meerman Scott

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