I’m reading a very interesting book entitled “The new rules of marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly“:

I’m still reading it but its central idea is so simple and powerful that I wanted to share it here prior to finishing the book.

What is marketing and PR?

In the book, marketing is defined as the act of telling the world about your product, service, idea, art, belief, etc. to potential customers, volunteers, voters, followers, fans, etc. And public relations (PR) is the act of making the media talk about you and what you want to tell the world.

How marketing and PR are usually done?

Marketing is usually done primarily thorough advertisement in TV, newspaper, magazines and any other available media. PR is usually done sending press releases to journalists expecting to see a note in mainstream media.

How the internet changed marketing and PR?

People want to get more informed prior to any commitment to a purchase or an engagement with a cause or pursuing a new hobby or… People now have access to the internet and can search information. We normally buy or engage with who give us good information. Even journalists don’t wait for new information to come to them, they go after the information on the web the same way potential customers do, searching the web. And the journalism itself changed, since there’s much more than just the mainstream media as possible source of news and opinions.

The new rules of marketing and PR

And here are the new rules of marketing and PR as described in the book:

• Marketing is more than just advertising.
• PR is far more than just a mainstream media audience.
• You are what you publish.
• People want authenticity, not spin.
• People want participation, not propaganda.
• Instead of causing one-way interruption, marketing is about delivering content at just the precise moment your audience needs it.
• Marketers must shift their thinking from mainstream marketing to the masses to a strategy of reaching vast numbersof underserved audiences via the Web.
• PR is not about your boss seeing your company on TV. It’s about your buyers seeing your company on the Web.
• Marketing is not about your agency winning awards. Its about your organization winning businesses.
• The internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on media.
• Companies must drive people into the purchasing process with great online content.
• Blogs, online video, e-books, news releases, and other forms of online content let organizations communicate directly with buyers in a form they appreciate.
• On the Web, the lines between marketing and PR have blurred.