from an experimental technique to a staple in every social media-savvy marketing department’s arsenal. Brands from across industry sectors fully embraced the strategy this year, increasingly taking advantage of current events to not only push their brand into the public consciousness, but to align themselves with certain ethical or moral positions. Blending ‘news’ and ‘hijacking,’ the word itself dates back to the 1970s with reference to the theft of newspapers in order to sell them to scrap dealers. Its contemporary iteration, however, dates from the early twenty-first century, as first popularized by marketing and sales strategist David Meerman Scott.” You will learn about Newsjacking in Chapter 21, where I have added several new examples in this edition of the book.
Since the last edition of the book was published, the number of people using voice assistants from the likes of Amazon, Google, and Apple has dramatically increased. That means understanding how people use voice to ask questions has become an important aspect of Search Engine Optimization, and I’ve added a section about this.
In early 2019 Google shut down its social networking service Google Plus (G+), so I needed to remove that section from the book. Google Plus launched in mid-2011 to great excitement. Initially available by invitation only—a clever ploy to get early adopters like me to sign on—G+ became the fastest growing social network in history when it opened to everybody in September 2011. However, once people started to use the service, it didn’t seem much different than Facebook. Most didn’t stick around. Less than a decade after launch, the service was abruptly shut down. We can learn several lessons from this saga: (1) “Me too” social networks never succeed, and (2) never tie the majority of your personal brand to a single social network.
I used my scalpel to cut other stories and concepts that I felt were no longer appropriate, including an entire chapter on viral marketing that was in previous editions. With the tremendous rise of social media, newsjacking, and real-time connections between people around the world, the fact that information travels quickly and grows in reach is an aspect of many ideas in various chapters in the book. The idea no longer needs its own chapter.
Finally, this edition includes a brand-new chapter on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Since the last edition of the book was published, the rise of AI in marketing and public relations has become an important way to automate routine tasks to save time and money as well as to increase the success of marketing initiatives. The chapter explores ways that AI can help marketers, such as analyzing which blog or email newsletter topics have the greatest chance of getting seen and shared, the best ways to write headlines for maximum exposure, the best time and day to post it, which channels are the best to share it on, and what hashtags are appropriate to use. As you consider AI in your organization, think about the routine tasks that drive business value that might be possible to automate. Even if you’re not using AI yet, you need to know what’s possible in this, perhaps fastest changing aspect of marketing.
Writing Like on a Blog, but in a Book
Because the lines between marketing and PR have blurred so much that the distinction is now virtually unrecognizable, the best online media choice is often not as obvious as it was in the old days. I had to organize the book by chapters for the various tools, including blogs, video, social networking, and so on. The truth is that all these techniques intersect and complement one another.
These online media are evolving very rapidly, and by the time you read these words, I’ll no doubt have come across new techniques that I’ll wish I could have put in the seventh edition. Still, I believe that the fundamentals are important, which is why Chapter 10 (where you’ll start to develop your own online marketing and PR plan) is steeped in practical, commonsense thinking.
The book is organized into three parts. Part I is a rigorous overview of how the web has changed the rules of marketing and PR. Part II introduces and provides details about each of the various media. Part III contains detailed how-to information and an action plan to help you put the new rules to work for your organization.
While I think this sequence is the most logical way to present these ideas, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t flip from chapter to chapter in any order that you please. Unlike a mystery novel, you won’t get lost in the story if you skip around. And I certainly don’t want to waste your time. As I was writing, I found myself wishing that I could send you from one chapter to another chapter with hyperlinks, like on a blog. Alas, a printed book doesn’t allow that, so instead I have included more old-fashioned references where I suggest you skip ahead or go back to review specific topics.
When I mention people and organizations, I frequently mention their Twitter IDs, which are preceded by the “@” sign. So if I were to reference my name and Twitter ID, you’d see it like this: David Meerman Scott @dmscott. This way, you can quickly learn more about the person or organization by checking them out on Twitter.
You’ll notice that I write in a familiar and casual tone, rather than the more formal and stilted voice of many business books. That’s because I’m using my “blog voice” to share the new rules with you. It’s how I like to write, and I believe it also makes things easier for you, the reader.
When I use the words company and organization throughout this book, I’m including all types of organizations and individuals. Feel free to mentally insert nonprofit, government agency, political candidate, church, school, sports team, legal firm, or other entity in place of company and organization. Similarly, when I use the word buyers, I also mean subscribers, voters, volunteers, applicants, and donors, because the new rules work for reaching all these groups. Are you a leader of a nonprofit organization that needs to increase donations? The new rules apply to you as much as to a corporation. Ditto for political campaigns looking for votes, schools that want to increase applications, consultants hunting for business, and churches seeking new members.
This book will show you the new rules and how to apply them. For the people all over the world interacting on the web, the old rules of marketing and PR just don’t work. Today, all kinds of organizations communicate directly with their buyers online. According to the International Telecommunications Union,2 an agency of the United Nations, 51.2 percent of the global population, or 3.9 billion people, were using the Internet at the end of 2018. Even more remarkably, there were 107 cell phone subscriptions for every 100 people in the world. Yes, there are more mobile phones than people in the world! So it’s no surprise that, in order to reach the individuals who would be interested in their organizations, smart marketers everywhere have altered the way they think about marketing and PR.
Showcasing Success
The most exciting aspect of the book is that, throughout these pages, I have the honor of showcasing some of the best examples of building successful programs on the web. There are more than 50 profiles throughout the book, many of them featuring the marketers’ own words from interviews with me. These profiles bring the concepts to life. You’ll learn from people at Fortune 500 companies and at businesses with just a handful of employees. These companies make products ranging from racing bicycles to jet helicopters and from computer software to men’s hair accessories. Some of the organizations are well known to the public, while others are famous only in their own market niches. I profile nonprofit organizations, political advocacy groups, and an inner city school district. I tell the stories of independent consultants, churches, rock bands, and lawyers, all of whom successfully use the web to reach their target audiences.
I can’t thank enough the people who shared their time with me, on the phone and in person. I’m sure you’ll agree that they are the stars of the book.
