Florida Gulfcoast University Public Relations Class 2 23 09

Why Now Could be the Best Time Ever to be a PR &

Marketing Pro…

…And how to make sure That you grab this unique

opportunity!

Public Relations: Nothing Has Changed in 50 Years

Public Relations: Everything Has Changed in 50 Years

Timeless Marketing Commandments

• Your job: – B to B: Make your customers successful– B to C: Make your customers’ lives better

• 1st understand, then be understood

• Listen, really listen to your customers

• Engage your customers in dialogue

PR & Marketing Realities

• From 1958 to 1998 Almost Nothing had changed

• Everything has changed from 1998 to 2008

You Face Game-Changing Transformations

• Buyer behavior

• Media upheaval

• Marketing strategy

How Buyers Used to Find Solutions:

• Talk to company sales reps

• Read trade publications

• Read product literature

• Go to trade shows

• See ads in magazines

Buying Transformation

• Make up their own minds

• Thorough research before contact

• Don’t want to be interrupted

• Don’t want to be sold

“Your Brand is What Google Says It Is,”-Author, David Meerman Scott

Is Starbucks Instant Java a Loser?

Here’s My Content Marketing

As I was finishing the presentation, an Email came from Starbucks

New PR: You Must Reach Beyond Traditional Media

• Old media near death

• Less influential

• Blogosphere rules

• Social media accelerating

• Buyers finding own solutions

• Buyers share experiences

• Smart marketers becoming the media

Public Relations & Content Marketing

Inextricably Intertwined

Content Marketing: It’s a Fundamental Mindset Change!

Content marketing is the art of understanding exactly what your customers need to know, and delivering it to them in a relevant and compelling way.

By delivering content that is vital to your target market you will begin to take on a trusted and valuable role in their lives. That’s the essential first step of turning prospects into customers.

Content Marketing Key Elements

• Be customer-centric

• Respond to new marketing realities

• Prepare for a very different future

• Think like a publisher

Content Marketing = Thinking Like a Publisher

• Who are your customers?

• What are their most pressing concerns, interests, problems?

• Provide relevant & compelling content to address those problems

• Become trusted source of information and potential solutions

• Make it easy for them to take action

A Trip Through the Marketing Time Machine:1958 to 2008

Dawn Donut 1958

Dawn Donut 1978• Started regional, went

global• Marketing choices

– Print advertising– Public relations– Trade shows

• 4 ad pages/month • Bakery Magazine

– 30,000 readers

• $300,000/year in today's dollars

Dawn Foods Website 1998

The classic brochureware site—not serious about the web

2008 Reality: Buyers Go 1st to Web

Who would consider huge B2B print campaign?

At Long Last, Mega Change

Media Timeline 1958 1978 1998 2008

Print publications x x x x

Radio x x x x

Television x x x x

Internet x xSocial media xMobile media x

"If you want something decent about you in Google you MUST blog. This is NOT optional anymore."

- Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer)

It’s All About Inbound Marketing

Your buyers find you

Old Media Role is the New Role of PR

Connect a community of buyers and sellers through relevant and

compelling information.

It’s All About Trust

• You become:

• First, a trusted supplier of information

• Then, a trusted supplier of products & services

Social Media are a Vital Component of 21st Century PR

• 114.5 Million US TV households

• 220 Million US web users

• 120 Million blogs

• 115 Million monthly Facebook & MySpace users

• Millions of Twitter users

• Going mobile with everything

Star Trek 23rd Century

Communicator—Boring!

21st Century iPhone—Now We’re Talking…and a whole lot more

5 Very Different Content Marketing Success Stories

• David Lawrence Center

• Pinsent Masons

• MindManager

• Dustin Meyer

• WillitBlend.com

David Lawrence Center:Becoming Really Accessible

• Trista Meister is only communications person

• Partnered with local web design firm

• Old website was content challenged

• New website is content-rich

• Easy entry for future clients

• Complements fundraising

Old David Lawrence Website

Old David Lawrence Interior Page

New David Lawrence Website

When You Really Need Help

UK Law Firm Makes a Content Marketing Transformation

• Abandoning traditional media

• Replacing traditional media function

• Absolute control of message

• Infinite reach• Measurable

Mind Jet & Mindmapping

• Mindmapping not broadly understood

• Word of mouth critical• No traditional marketing• 100% content

marketing• Wide online content

variety• Spectacular product

launch

New Version Launch Targets Press and Analysts with Unique Content

Facebook & Photographer

• Young demographic

• Word of mouse

• Visual power

• Go direct to students

• 50+% $$ from FB

How Can You Break Through the PR Clutter?

400% Increase in Blender Sales

Content Marketing = Thinking Like a Publisher

• Who are your customers?

• What are their most pressing concerns, interests, problems?

• Provide relevant & compelling content to address those problems

• Become trusted source of information and potential solutions

• Make it easy for them to take action

The Key to Your Success:

Don’t Just Influence the MediaBe the Media

Why You Will Thrive as PR Pros

• Content marketing + New PR = success

• You get social media

• You understand technology

• You will give marketers the clue they need

• You will bring companies into 21st century

You Will Surf the Content Marketing Tsunami!