The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, Newsjacking, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly

by David Meerman Scott

The Old Rules of PR The only way to get ink and airtime was through the media. Companies communicated to journalists via press releases. Nobody saw the actual press release except a handful of reporters and editors. Companies had to have significant news before they were allowed to write a press release. Jargon was okay because the journalists all understood it. You weren't supposed to send a release unless it included quotes from third parties, such as customers, analysts, and experts. The only way buyers would learn about the press release's content was if the media wrote a story about it. The only way to measure the effectiveness of press releases was through clip books, which noted each time the media deigned to pick up a company's release. PR and marketing were separate disciplines run by different people with separate goals, strategies, and measurement techniques.