This isn’t a blog post; it’s a book review, and a belated one at that. I’m often asked what digi-nerd books I recommend reading. I reel off well known digital titles like The Long Tail, Groundswell, The Cluetrain Manifesto, and Me and My Web Shadow, but I often forget to point people to this ol’ faithful on the bookshelf.
The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott was first published in 2007 but still offers timeless advice on ‘How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly.’
If you’re sick of being preached to on themes like ‘One-way interruption marketing is yesterday’s message’ (I had to read that three times to understand what that even meant) then I’m sorry to say this is an actual chapter title BUT don’t write it off completely. Skip straight through to Section III.
Actually there’s a lot you can gloss over in this book from the outdated (like the Pleo case study – R.I.P you cute robotic dinosaur) to the cringe-worthy. IMHO this book does suffer by selling the ‘go viral’ dream in some chapters but its strength is the clear strategic advice it consistently offers.
The chapter ‘You Are What You Publish: Building Your Marketing and PR Plan’ starts first with the question ‘What are your organization’s goals?’ This sounds obvious but it’s amazing to me how often this stage gets missed out of planning Social Media. Identifying objectives first are essential if you’re going to attempt tactics like ‘Linking content directly into the Sales Cycle.’ (And making it sound a lot less scary)
Three things you’ll get from reading The New Rules of Marketing & PR
1. Confidence
If I was paid by the number of time’s I’d nodded sagely when someone had referenced The Long Tail while secretly feeling completely clueless, I could’ve retired by now. This book takes the time to explain a lot of often referenced concepts in practical terms and what they really mean for marketing.
2. Straight answers
Scott directly addresses a lot of common questions like ‘What should you blog about?’ and breaks down areas like Search Engine Marketing in ways that help you actually take steps to implement best practice into your digital marketing – even if you’ve never done it before.
3. A marketing refresh
Not all people working in marketing, digital or otherwise, actually studied much marketing theory (myself included). Sometimes you need a reminder to go back to basics, really think about your audience, and get real about the brand proposition. Othewise I always think digital and Social Media can be like a magnifying glass showing up the flawed strategy.
Tempero on Google+
Thanks Darika – Writing books about new marketing techniques is tough because things change so quickly. In fact, many times I the 6 months between when the manuscript is due and the book is on shelves renders sections obsolete. I am now working on the 3rd edition which will be out in August 2011. And yes – I killed the dinosaur.
David, was really suprised and pleased you took the time to leave a comment here :-) I can imagine it’s a nightmare publishing Social Media books for the very reasons you outline (we didn’t even use the word Social Media in 2007). I thought it was interesting you spotted the emergence of Facebook as an important player though. Really looking forward to the next edition as I think this book should be on every marketers shelf.