Some PR truths…

I started “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” by @dmscott this week, and I’ve already picked up some very valuable truths… I’m excited to get past the first few chapters, I have a feeling this book is going to be filled w/ golden nuggets of information for the PR world.

Here are some tips I learned simply from the first few pages….

1. You don’t need to spend $80,000 on marketing videos anymore. Instead, get a hand held and start posting to you tube. This could be huge for companies to save some cash. Make sure your in-house PR staff, or your agency, is familiar with filming and then have them do it for you rather than blowing your marketing budget to produce a video. Also, I think an important aspect of PR is to be transparent with your brand, and doing a “made at home” video is another way to do this. Use it as an opportunity to show your audience and customers what your brand is really about – behind the scenes. (Maybe this means I should get a flip camera for Christmas?)

2. Press releases are not only for the press… Dare to think outside the traditional PR box. You don’t have to only use Cision to send your release. Are there other organizations interested in your information, other outlets outside the traditional Public Relations-reach? Don’t hesitate to push your information out further. As long as your information is relevant to the person who you are sending it to, encourage yourself and your team to consider more than the traditional pitch-audiences.

3. Don’t underestimate the blogger. Reach out to bloggers much more often, and continue to build up that media list with blogs vs. print media. The internet is where people access their information now…and bloggers are the future.

4. Share information, don’t hide it. Don’t be nervous about competitors, if you have information that is valuable to customers, readers and buyers, share it!! (Example: several books started out as blog postings, and when the readership-grows then go on to be turned into books. Most authors wouldn’t think of publishing their information for free – but this is how some great books go their start!)

5. The old rules of marketing, are old. They no long longer apply in an online world. (AKA: Obnoxious pop-up ads don’t catch attention, they tend to annoy people.) Cater your marketing and advertising efforts to the mediums that people now communicate through. From delivery to design, advance your methods as the rules and trends change.