Re-think Everything

I’ve been reading David Meerman Scott’s book “The New Rules of Marketing & PR” in my spare time, and he has some great suggestions for marketers looking to reach an online audience by creating a relationship that the customer will value. I’m listing his original points here, with paraphrased explanations. These points are so good, they don’t need a whole paragraph to explain.

• Nobody cares about your products (except you). People care about themselves and ways to solve their own problems. People like to be entertained and to share in something remarkable. Thinking about your product as primary is putting the cart before the horse.
• No coercion required. If the product or content is good enough, people will spend money on things they value. There’s no need to get desperate with the delivery method.
• Lose control. We’ve never been able to control our public image (check out BP and Leroy Stick’s rant about how they’re missing the point), and the internet has exploded that idea and made it ten times harder to even maintain such an illusion.
• Put down roots. Understand the target audience by reading and participating in the forums where they spend their time, just as one reads the newspaper before writing a letter to the editor or pitching a story.
• Create triggers that encourage people to share.
• Point the world to your doorstep. If you are delivering the right content to the right people in the right way, they will come to you. Hopefully you are prepared