In this post I interview David Meerman Scott, marketing strategist, keynote speaker, seminar leader, and the author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, an award-winning BusinessWeek bestseller published in 24 languages. David is a knowledge powerhouse and in this interview he shares some stories from the 2nd edition of his book: The New Rules of Marketing and PR, why you need to create free content so others can easily share it for you, and how sales reps can use this strategy to create more awareness and sell more effectively.
Chad: What makes the new edition of your book:The New Rules of Marketing and PR so compelling and different from the first edition when it came out two years ago?
David: This second edition of the book has gone through an extensive rewrite. Of course, I have checked every fact, figure, and URL. But I’ve also listened. In the past two years, I’ve met thousands of people who have shared their stories with me, so I have drawn from those experiences and included many new examples of success. While including so many new stories and examples has resulted in my removing many of the less interesting originals, I’m convinced that these exciting replacements are even more valuable.
When I wrote the first edition of the book, Facebook was only available to those with a .edu email address (students and educators), so I didn’t feature Facebook. And Twitter didn’t even exist at the time I was researching the first edition. So I have added extensive new information and examples on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. In fact, the rise of the term social media has been so strong in the past few years that I’ve even changed the subtitle of the book to include it.
Chad: What are a couple of favorite case studies in the book that are new and will be of interest to readers?
David I love all the dozens of examples because they are so diverse, but I’ll share two here.
Facebook group drives 15,000 people to the Singapore Tattoo Show
In its first year (2009), the Singapore Tattoo Show had an aggressive target of 5,000 attendees. Organizers launched via a Facebook group called Tattoo Artistry three months prior to the show. The group grew very quickly, securing a place as the center of tattoo artistry for the Asia region.
The passion of the Tattoo Artistry Facebook group members meant they would help promote the group to their friends, so the online community eventually included many people eager to attend the live event. Instead of relying on expensive advertising, show organizers built a community of passionate fans who built anticipation and buzz for the event. The Tattoo Artistry Facebook group quickly reached 3,000 members and was an important reason that more than 15,000 people attended the first Singapore Tattoo Show—that’s three times the expected number of attendees!
Film Producer Creates a World Wide Rave by Making Soundtrack Free for Download
As I say many times in the book, a great way to generate interest in products and services is to make select content available for free online. There’s no doubt that free content sells. The Graduates, a feature film released in 2009, is an award-winning comedy about four friends who head to the beach without a care in the world. Prior to release, the film had been developing a loyal following among the 18- to 34-year-old demographic following a dozen sold-out festival and sneak preview screenings. It had been advertised solely by word-of-mouth and in a clever marketing technique, via a free soundtrack download.
The film features the music of some incredible indie bands (The New Rags, Plushgun, Sonia Montez, The Mad Tea Party, Our Daughter’s Wedding, and The Smittens) that are popular with the buyer personas who might see the movie. So the idea of making the entire soundtrack available for free is a brilliant strategy.
Of course, the bands also benefit because new listeners are exposed to their music and, if they like it, may decide to buy an album or see them live. “We felt it made sense to give away the soundtrack to build loyalty, show off the product, and compensate for a zero-dollar marketing budget, all in one fell swoop,” says Ryan Gielen, executive producer of The Graduates.
I wondered about the musicians whose music was given away. Did any of them resist? “The worst-case scenario for even an established band is that we just crafted a $100,000 music video for them,” Ryan says. “The Rolling Stones should laugh us out of the room, but this is a good opportunity for many, many bands.” The strategy has worked well for Gielen. “The free soundtrack has been a real success,” he says. “The totally free music promo opened us up to many more people.”
Chad: How can B2B sales reps use free web content (a video, blog entry, interactive tool, or e-book) to get their customers and prospects engaged and talking? What kinds of opportunities can this create?
David:You can buy attention (advertising). You can beg for attention from the media (public relations). You can bug people one at a time to get attention (sales). Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free: a YouTube video, a blog, a research report, photos, a Twitter stream, an ebook, a Facebook page.
Most organizations have a corporate culture based on one of these approaches to generating attention (examples: Procter & Gamble primarily generates attention through advertising, Apple via PR, EMC via sales, and Zappos via earning attention on the Web). Often, the defining organizational culture is determined because the founder or the CEO has a strong point of view. When the CEO comes up through the sales track, all attention problems are likely to become sales problems.
Chances are that you’ll have to work on your boss to get him or her on board with option four. Since most organizations overspend on advertising and sales and under invest in creating great information online, this effort is well worth your time.
Chad: What is the first thing you would recommend sales reps do to make sure they remain competitive and at the top of their game?
David: You are running your own business. And today, your prospects are online. You must be online too if you are to be successful.
Chad: I couldn’t have said it better myself — thanks David!
To read David Meerman Scott’s blog Web Ink Now click here. Checkout the new edition of the New Rules of Marketing and PR by clicking here.
To subscribe to the New Sales Economy blog click here.
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David Meerman Scott is a marketing strategist, keynote speaker, seminar leader, and the author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR, an award-winning BusinessWeek bestseller published in 24 languages. He is also the author of the hit book World Wide Rave and three other books. His Web Ink Now blog is ranked by AdAge Power 150 as a top worldwide marketing blog.
He is a recovering VP of marketing for two publicly traded technology companies and was also Asia marketing director for Knight-Ridder, at the time one of the world’s largest newspaper and electronic information companies.
David has lived and worked in New York, Tokyo, Boston, and Hong Kong and has presented at industry conferences and events in over twenty countries on four continents.
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Thanks for taking the time to speak with me Chad. I appreciate it. David
Thanks for sharing these awesome stories from the 2nd edition. The rules have certainly changed.