The most updated edition yet of the benchmark guide to marketing and PR, with the latest social media, marketing, and sales trends, tools, and real-world examples of success This is the fifth edition of the pioneering guide to the future of marketing. The New Rules of Marketing & PR is an international bestseller with more than 350,000 copies sold in over twenty-five languages. It offers a step-by-step action plan for harnessing the power of modern marketing and PR to directly communicate with buyers, raise visibility, and increase sales. This practical guide is written for marketing professionals, PR professionals, and entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses and create success. Learn how companies, nonprofits, and organizations of all sizes can leverage web-based content to get timely, relevant information to eager, responsive buyers for a fraction of the cost of big-budget campaigns. This fifth edition the most extensively revised edition yet includes: * Dozens of compelling case studies with revisions * Real-world examples of content marketing and inbound marketing strategies and tactics * A fresh introduction * A new chapter on sales and service * Coverage of the latest social media platforms, including Periscope, Meerkat, and Snapchat The New Rules of Marketing & PR is an unparalleled resource for entrepreneurs, business owners, nonprofit managers, and all of those working in marketing or publicity departments. This practical guide shows how to devise successful marketing and PR strategies to grow any business. David Meerman Scott is a marketing strategist, bestselling author of ten books including three international bestsellers advisor to emerging companies such as HubSpot, and a professional speaker on marketing, leadership, and social media. Prior to starting his own business, he was marketing VP for two publicly traded US companies and was Asia marketing director for Knight-Ridder, at the time one of the world's largest information companies.Foreword by Robert Scoble xix Introduction 1 The New Rules 3 Life with the New Rules 5 What s New 7 Writing Like on a Blog, But in a Book 8 Showcasing Success 10 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 Public Relations Used to Be Exclusively about the Media 21 Public Relations and Third-Party Ink 22 Yes, the Media Are Still Important 22 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 Communication Revolution in Human History 28 Open for Business 29 The Long Tail of Marketing 32 Tell Me Something I Don t Know, Please 33 Bricks-and-Mortar News 34 The Long Tail of 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 40 Let the World Know about Your Expertise 41 Develop Information Your Buyers Want to Consume 43 Big Birge Plumbing Company Grows Business in a Competitive Market 44 Buyer Personas: The Basics 45 Think Like a Publisher 48 Staying Connected with Members and the Community 48 Know the Goals and Let Content Drive Action 51 Content and Thought Leadership 52 II Web-Based Communications to Reach Buyers Directly 53 4 Social Media and Your Targeted Audience 55 What Is Social Media, Anyway? 56 Social Media Is a Cocktail Party 57 Upgrade to Canada Social Program Nabs Tourists from Other Countries 58 Social Networking and Agility 59 The New Rules of Job Search 61 How to Find a New Job via Social Media 63 Insignificant Backwaters or Valuable Places to Connect? 65 Your Best Customers Participate in Online Forums So Should You 68 Your Space in the Forums 71 Wikis, Listservs, and Your Audience 73 Social Networking Drives Adagio Teas Success 74 5 Blogs: Tapping Millions of Evangelists to Tell Your Story 78 Blogs, Blogging, and Bloggers 80 A Blog (or Not a Blog) 81 California Lawyer Blogs to Build Authority and Drive More Business 83 Understanding Blogs in the World of the Web 85 The Four Uses of Blogs for Marketing and PR 87 Monitor Blogs Your Organization s Reputation Depends on It 88 Comment on Blogs to Get Your Viewpoint Out There 89 Work with the Bloggers Who Talk about You 90 Bloggers Love Interesting Experiences 92 How to Reach Bloggers around the World 93 Do You Allow Employees to Send Email? How about Letting Them Blog? 94 Not Another Junky Blog 95 The Power of Blogs 97 Get Started Today 97 6 Audio and Video Drive Action 99 Create Goodwill with Customers 99 What University Should I Attend? 101 The Best Job in the World 102 Have Fun with Your Videos 104 Audio Content Delivery through Podcasting 106 Hack the Entrepreneur Podcast Delivers New Customers for Host s Business 107 Grammar Girl Podcast 109 7 Going Viral: The Web Helps Audiences Catch the Fever 112 Minty-Fresh Explosive Marketing 113 Monitoring the Blogosphere for Viral Eruptions 114 Creating a World Wide Rave 116 Rules of the Rave 117 Film Producer Creates a World Wide Rave by Making Soundtrack Free for Download 119 Using Creative Commons to Facilitate Mashups and Spread Your Ideas 120 Viral Buzz for Fun and Profit 121 The Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Jerry Garcia s Toilet 122 Clip This Coupon for $1 Million Off Fort Myers, Florida, Home 123 When You Have Explosive News, Make It Go Viral 124 8 The Content-Rich Website 127 Political Advocacy on the Web 128 Content: The Focus of Successful Websites 130 Reaching a Global Marketplace 131 Putting It All Together with Content 132 Great Websites: More Art Than Science 134 9 Marketing and PR in Real Time 137 Real-Time Marketing and PR 138 John Green Thumps Tom Cruise 141 Develop Your Real-Time Mind-Set 142 Real-Time Blog Post Drives $1 Million in New Business 144 The Time Is Now 147 Chronicle Your Life and Business with Live Video Feeds 152 Crowdsourced Support 155 III Action Plan for Harnessing the Power of the New Rules 159 10 You Are What You Publish: Building Your Marketing and PR Plan 161 What Are Your Organization s Goals? 162 Buyer Personas and Your Organization 164 The Buyer Persona Profile 165 How Beko Develops Products Global Consumers Are Eager to Buy 169 Reaching Senior Executives 170 The Importance of Buyer Personas in Web Marketing 171 In Your Buyers Own Words 172 What Do You Want Your Buyers to Believe? 174 Developing Content to Reach Buyers 176 Marketing Strategy Planning Template 179 The New Rules of Measurement 183 Asking Your Buyer for a Date 184 Measuring the Power of Free 184 What You Should Measure 185 Stop Thinking of Content Creation as a Marketing Expense 186 Obama for America 188 Stick to Your Plan 192 11 Growing Your Business: How Marketing and PR Drive Sales 194 It s Time for a Sales Transformation 194 How Web Content Influences the Buying Process 196 Tips for Creating a Buyer-Centric Website 198 Step 1: Sales Begin with Informational Content 203 Step 2: A Friendly Nudge 204 Step 3: Closing the Deal 205 An Open-Source Marketing Model 205 Salespeople as Content Curators 207 Your Company s Salesperson-in-Chief 209 Educating Your Salespeople about the New Buying Process 210 Registration or Not? Data from an E-Book Offer 211 Close the Sale Continue the Conversation 213 Measure and Improve 213 How a Content Strategy Grew Business by 50 Percent in One Year 214 12 Online Thought Leadership to Brand Your Organization as a Trusted Resource 219 Developing Thought Leadership Content 219 Forms of Thought Leadership Content 220 How to Create Thoughtful Content 225 How Raytheon Uses Journalists to Create Interesting Content 226 Thought Leadership in Highly Regulated Industries 228 Leveraging Thought Leaders outside Your Organization 231 Who Wrote That Awesome White Paper? 232 How Much Money Does Your Buyer Make? 233 13 How to Write for Your Buyers 235 An Analysis of Gobbledygook 236 Poor Writing: How Did We Get Here? 237 Effective Writing for Marketing and PR 239 The Power of Writing Feedback (from Your Blog) 240 Injecting Humor into Product Descriptions 241 Brand Journalism at Boeing 242 14 Mobile Marketing: Reaching Buyers Wherever They Are 245 Join the Revolution 246 Make Your Site Mobile Friendly 248 Build Your Audience via Mobile 249 Geolocation: When Your Buyer Is Nearby 250 QR Codes to Drive People to Your Content 251 The Mobile Media Room 254 An App for Anything 255 Cyber Graffiti with WiFi Network Names as Advertising 256 15 Social Networking as Marketing 259 Television s Eugene Mirman Is Very Nice and Likes Seafood 260 Facebook: Not Just for Students 261 How to Use Facebook to Market Your Product or Service 262 Increase Engagements with Facebook Groups and Apps 265 Why Google Plus Is Important for Your Business 267 Check Out My LinkedIn Profile 268 Tweet Your Thoughts to the World 271 Social Networking and Personal Branding 272 The Horse Twitterer 275 The CIA Joins Twitter 276 The Sharing More Than Selling Rule 277 Connecting with Fans 280 How Amanda Palmer Raised a Million Dollars via Social Networking 281 Which Social Networking Site Is Right for You? 283 You Can t Go to Every Party, So Why Even Try? 285 Optimizing Social Networking Pages 285 Integrate Social Media into an Offline Conference or Event 286 Build a Passionate Fan Base 287 Social Networking and Crisis Communications 289 Why Participating in Social Media Is Like Exercise 292 16 Blogging to Reach Your Buyers 295 What Should You Blog About? 296 Blogging Ethics and Employee Blogging Guidelines 298 Blogging Basics: What You Need to Know to Get Started 299 Pimp Out Your Blog 302 Building an Audience for Your New Blog 303 Tag, and Your Buyer Is It 304 Fun with Sharpies (and Sharpie Fans) 305 Cities That Blog 306 Blogging outside North America 308 What Are You Waiting For? 309 17 An Image Is Worth a Thousand Words 310 Photographs as Compelling Content Marketing 310 Images of Real People Work Better Than Inane Stock Photos 312 How to Market an Expensive Product with Original Photographs 314 Why I Love Instagram 315 Sharing with Pinterest 317 The Power of SlideShare for Sharing Your Ideas 319 Infographics 321 18 Video and Podcasting Made, Well, as Easy as Possible 324 Video and Your Buyers 324 Business-Casual Video 325 Stop Obsessing over Video Release Forms 326 Your Smartphone Is All You Need 327 Video to Showcase Your Expertise 328 Getting Started with Video 330 Video Created for Buyers Generates Sales Leads 332 Podcasting 101 333 19 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 Include Appropriate Social Media Tags 349 If It s Important Enough to Tell the Media, Tell Your Clients and Prospects, Too! 349 20 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 361 A Newsroom to Reach Journalists, Customers, and Bloggers 364 21 The New Rules for Reaching the Media 366 Re:, Nontargeted Pitches, and Other Sleazy Tactics 367 The New Rules of Media Relations 368 Blogs and Media Relations 369 How Blog Mentions Drive Mainstream Media Stories 370 Launching Ideas with the U.S. Air Force 373 How to Pitch the Media 375 22 Newsjacking Your Way into the Media 379 Journalists Are Looking for What You Know 381 Get Your Take on the News into the Marketplace of Ideas 382 How to Find News to Jack 385 When the Story Is Already (Sort of) about You 390 Twitter Is Your Newsjacking Tool 391 Beware: Newsjacking Can Damage Your Brand 392 Newsjacking for Fun and Profit 393 23 Search Engine Marketing 395 Making the First Page on Google 397 Search Engine Optimization 398 The Long Tail of Search 399 Carve Out Your Own Search Engine Real Estate 400 Web Landing Pages to Drive Action 401 Optimizing the Past 404 Search Engine Marketing in a Fragmented Business 405 24 Make It Happen 407 Your Mind-Set 409 The Journey from a Traditional Marketing Executive to a Modern CMO 409 Manage Your Fear 411 Getting the Help You Need (and Rejecting What You Don t) 412 Great for Any Organization 416 Now It s Your Turn 419 Acknowledgments for the Fifth Edition 420 About the Author 422 Preview: The New Rules of Sales and Service 424 Index 443 Have David Meerman Scott Speak at Your Next Event! 458