Time 9:14

Here’s a new way to look at your marketing department, as a newsroom. Why? Because it is a powerful way to tell a story, a way to insert your company into news cycles, a way to be a part of the action, a way to be a thought leader, and a way to create dynamic valued information that works with a sales cycle.

Companies are not limited to brochures, more importantly; their audiences are accustomed to getting all kinds of formats, when and where they want it.

Here is a list to help determine if your company can tap into a newsroom.

1. Do you have internal or access to expertise in your field
2. Are you impacted by external events such as regulations, markets, safety
3. Does your company improve the human condition such as healthcare, adoption, and poverty

Author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR David Meerman Scott gives his take on the newsroom angle in a wonderful post about how the real estate industry can benefit from it.

Scott and I get into the topic in this interview on the Marketing Edge podcast. It was recorded on October 13, the day his popular book came out in paperback. Scott will be appearing at the Minneapols/St. Paul Social Media Breakfast on October, 31

(Disclosure:A client of Provident Partners) Softbrands manufacturing is a good example of treating their company as a newsroom. Under their brand Fourth Shift Edition http://www.fourthshiftedition.com/ website, they use video, podcasts, a blog, and twitter, they tap the right format and network to engage in a conversation, get ideas, insert their ideas into news cycles and other objectives.

Do you have what it takes to be a news organization inside your company? Leave a comment here or call the comment line 206-600-6887

Time 16:56

A major change for a company marketing today is the transformation from “messaging to the masses” to “valuing the individual.” This value can be shown by first understanding lifestyles, priorities and associations of a company’s buyers, rather than their age and income, then tailoring a personal approach that is relevant to their needs.

We discussed this issue with David Meerman Scott, author of the New Rules of Marketing and PR. In the podcast, we highlight the following:

–The need to move away from messaging to return to a more personal style of communicating. I would term it a function of transforming from the industrial age to the service age. Service is about the individual, and industrial is more about the masses.

–How companies can take advantage of the value web search engines place on relevant and fresh content. That means companies need to put greater emphasis on being a provider of valued content. For example, our client Technomic Asia doing the China Business Podcast to discuss issues related to - you guessed it - China business. Or Whirlpool, an example of a company that uses its podcast as a vehicle to discuss issues of concern to its audience, rather than discussing Whirlpool’s products. That podcast covers topics like juvenile diabetes, toddler safe play, and how to get organized — nothing to do with appliances but everything to do with what their audience values.

Scott has a bit of different perspective on the issue of “conversations as marketing.” He does make a distinction from these new marketing and PR rules and the conversation that is usually reflected in social media. He contends social media is a subset of the new rules of marketing. Some situations are more about being relevant for your buyer’s persona and they may not be looking for a dialogue. Companies that are unsure of whether they should blog can still implement tactics hat allow them to benefit from the new rules of marketing.

According to Scott, the new rules of marketing do not necessarily equal conversations. The first steps are about achieving a greater understanding of the individuals in the communities a company is attempting to serve and creating content that they value.

The Marketing Edge book drawing for April will be Scott’s book. Send an e-mail to marketingedge@providentpartners.net with the words “New Rules” in the subject line.

Also the NewComm Forum www.newcommforum.com is coming. As a listener and reader of the Marketing Edge podcast and blog, if you are interested in attending this conference, shoot me an email for a discount code you can use when registering. It has an excellent line up of speakers with focused conversations on strategies for business communications. I will be there and look forward to seeing you.