This January, one of the books I’ve been reading is the third edition of “The New Rules of Marketing & PR”, a must-read by David Meerman Scott.

A Review

In his book, he points out some of the biggest marketing mistakes many organizations make… Marketing tactics that may be repelling customers rather than attracting them. Many businesses are still trying to “push” their message onto potential customers, interrupting them with ads, radio and TV spots and other unsolicited, one-way broadcast-style advertising. These traditional methods can still be effective, but businesses need to make sure they are carefully targeting their messages and measuring their results to ensure they aren’t wasting their efforts.

The “new rules” of marketing and PR are based on studies of changing consumer behaviour, showing us that in an online world, your business needs to understand and implement online marketing strategies where the reach is huge, our messages can be more effective, and our efforts are easy to measure and inexpensive compared to traditional ads, TV commercials, etc. The “new rules” of marketing involve “pulling in” customers through inbound marketing practices such as Search Engine Optimization, social media, content strategy and blogging.

One of my biggest aha! moments

One of my biggest aha! moments in the book was when he talked about traditional PR tactics, where the common tactic is usually to send unsolicited story pitches to reporters or journalists who receive and ignore hundreds of these pitches every day. Instead, try following the personal blog or twitter account of the media personalities you would like to get exposure through and listen to what they write about. Try tailoring your pitch to a topic that interests them, and post a thoughtful comment about it in response to an article or tweet they publish. You’ll be much more effective at getting their attention with this strategy than by competing with their overcrowded inbox.

Word-of-Mouth has gone Global

He says in the Foreword, “something has changed in the past 10 years. Well, for one, we have Google now, but that’s only a part of the puzzle. What really has happened is that the word-of-mouth network has gotten more efficient — much, much more efficient.” Engaging with your audience, listening, providing them with a human face, a story and valuable relevant content can connect you with thousands of qualified potential customers if you do it smartly. This kind of activity empowers your customers to find and relate to your business through the principles of charm, social influence and the simple tactic of showing up in the right place at the right time.

Marketing has always been about attracting attention to your business. In this video, he points out the four major ways of getting attention, 3 old and 1 new:

1. You can buy it (with ads, email lists, etc.)
2. You can beg for it (PR pitches, media exposure)
3. You can bug for it (with aggressive sales pitches, unsolicited marketing)
or 4. You can earn it (by publishing fantastic content on the web and attracting a qualified audience)

Watch him speak in this video below and pick up his book on Amazon or the Vancouver Public Library. It’s a fantastic resource for any small business trying to navigate the world of marketing in 2012.

How to generate attention for your business from David Meerman Scott on Vimeo.

About David Meerman Scott

David Meerman Scott is an American online marketing strategist, public speaker and author of several books and a very popular blog. He once worked at Microsoft, was VP of marketing at NewsEdge and now writes for the Huffington Post and is on the board of advisors for Hubspot.

TAKEAWAYS: How are you leveraging the “new rules” of marketing in your business? What challenges are you facing and what successes have you experienced? Leave a comment below!

About Alyssa Burtt

Alyssa Burtt is Creative Director and Co-Founder of ZenHouse Media, a web design and inbound marketing agency servicing the small business and Non-Profit sectors in Metro Vancouver, BC. Her expertise in creative design and usability, Search Engine Optimization and lead conversion makes for a stellar combination of a left and right-brain approach to web development.

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