introduction to marketing today

The New Rules of Marketing and PR

Over the past 3-5 years, marketing has changed dramatically. The harbinger of this change has been the web and how it has shifted the way we advertise and market products from the point of view of the advertiser to the point of view of the buyer. Annoying, interruption-based marketing (pop-up ads, for example) has been replaced by customer-controlled and niche-targeted marketing. The customer/buyer has the power now. Now we know that obnoxious pop-up ads and spam emails do not work. In fact, they cause prospective clients to distrust and dislike you. And building trust on the web is one of the keys to success in today's market.

In his seminal book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, David Meerman Scott explained this revolution in detail. You may need to be more computer savvy than most to grasp all of information in this fabulous text, but his latest book, World Wide Rave, is written in terms the majority of people can understand while still providing excellent marketing tips. I don't care if you are marketing your music career, your retail store or your book, you need to read one or both of these books or at least ally yourself with a reputable online marketing specialist that can guide you through this new territory.

Here are David Meerman's Scott's 13 New Rules of Marketing and PR. The book explains each rule in detail and gives you ideas on how to implement them and make them work with your business:

1. Marketing is more than just advertising.
2. PR is for more than just a mainstream media audience.
3. You are what you publish.
4. People want authenticity, not spin.
5. People want participation, not propaganda.
6. Instead of causing one-way interruption, marketing is about delivering content at just the precise moment your audience needs it.
7. Marketers must shift their thinking from mainstream marketing to the masses to a strategy of reaching vast numbers of underserved audiences via the Web.
8. PR is not about your boss seeing your company on TV. It’s about your buyers seeing your company on the Web.
9. Marketing is not about your agency winning awards. It’s about your organization winning business.
10. The Internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on the media.
11. Companies must drive people into the purchasing process with great online content.
12. Blogs, podcasts, e-books, news releases, and other forms of online content let organizations communicate directly with buyers in a form they appreciate.
13. On the Web, the lines between marketing and PR have been blurred.

Why the web is the most powerful marketing tool

1. Cost - it is much more expensive to produce materials for print, radio or television than it is to create advertising & marketing online.
2. Market - advertising is focused directly to your target or niche market.
3. Information - 72% of Americans use the web to get information, shop, ask questions & connect with people in their business & personal lives.
4. Accessibility-Anyone can advertise without the need for a large budget or a middle man.

The 3 most important things you Need to Know About Marketing Today:

1. You must find out who/what your niche market is and do everything to reach them in ways that solve their problems. Do this by creating buyer profiles.
2. What and how you write for the web (called "web content") is more important than the design of your website. Search engines find you through words, not images.
3. The goal now is to target a specific audience (your niche) with the right product/service at the right time.

This new type of marketing even has its own language. Check out our Tech Jargon Defined page for definitions to terminology discussed in this marketing issue.

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