Worthwhile reading from David Meerman Scott
Listening to the webinar with David Meerman Scott (@dmscott) hosted by MarketingProfs today reinforced the speed of change in the PR and marketing arenas. Over the course of the discussion, David offered his perspective on how the communications arena has changed since he published the first edition of The New Rules of Marketing & PR in 2007 (and has since been updated numerous times,) and the opportunities available to PR and marketing pros today.
His advice is great, but here are the three messages that really resonated with me.
Wow — @SarahSkerik sent her real-time blog post before my #mprofspro webinar was finished. Thanks! blog.prnewswire.com/2013/07/25/the…—
David Meerman Scott (@dmscott) July 25, 2013
Developing a real-time mindset: Future planning is necessary. But too much focus on a future email campaign or upcoming product launch will result in opportunity passing you by. Newsjacking, the art of getting in front of a trending news story and inserting the brand POV into the conversation & coverage, is one way to capitalize. For an organization that gets it right, speed and agility are decisive competitive advantages. To get there, the organization needs to develop the ability to monitor social media and identify news opportunities and develop response quickly. This takes some doing – the organization will need to up its clock speed, streamlining a host of processes. Organizations that are focused on the future and don’t cultivate fast-twitch communications muscle will miss out on myriad opportunities.
Never mind tomorrow. Today is the day. Create marketing campaigns w/a focus on reporting what's happening this instant. @dmscott #mprofspro—
Nancy Myrland (@NancyMyrland) July 25, 2013
Buyer Personas: You have to understand your buyer personas. While this has always been important, the personalization of information on the web today makes crafting content that speaks to specific personas crucial. David challenges us to create content around your buyers, not your products.
Gamification: Don’t be put off by the term ‘gamification.’ Put simply, gamification means giving your best customers – the people who are engaged with and have a strong affinity for your brand – incentive to stay engaged, and to talk about their engagement. Digital acknowledgement, such a badge, as well as real-life recognition can work together to give your customers a reason to keep coming back, and to keep talking about their experiences. If you’ve ever wondered how to identify and cultivate your brand’s advocates, this is where you start.
If you issue press releases, you have an immediate opportunity to ratchet up your organization’s visibility and the business results your messages generate. We hosted a fantastic webinar last week on new school press release tactics, in which the panel gave examples of using press releases to drive customer conversions, manage online reputation, build executive thought leadership and create ongoing media coverage and follow-on earned media. The recap, slide deck and a link to the replay are here: New School Press Release Tactics
Author Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president of content marketing, and is the author of the e-book “Unlocking Social Media for PR.” Follow her on Twitter at @sarahskerik
Tagged: marketing strategy, PR measurement
