This is the end... for now !

For our last blog posted in this class we have the chance to pick our own topic. I would like to focus on just how important it is to realize that marketing, public relations and advertising is constantly evolving and changing. It is crucial to continue to update your tactics and practices. You inevitably will fall behind if you stick to the traditional rules.
This semester in this New Media-New Markets class we studied how social media has grown rapidly over the past couple of years. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Blogger - all of these sites are blazing a new path in the world of marketing and pr. With each new media age you must follow new marketing strategies.

The book we read during this semester was by David Meerman Scott titled The New Rules of Marketing and PR. His book is a great guide to getting adjusted to the new rules! It is easy to follow and quite informative. In chapter 2 he listed the new rules for marketing and pr - including:

1) Marketing is more than just advertising
2) PR is for more than just mainstream media audience
3) You are what you publish
4) People want authenticity, not spin
5) People want participation, not propaganda
6) Instead of causing one-way interruption, marketing is about delivering content that at just the precise moment your audience needs it
7) Marketers must shift their thinking from mainstream marketing to the masses to a strategy of reaching vast numbers of undeserved audience via the web.
8) PR is not about your boss seeing your company on TV. It's about your buyers seeing your company on the web.
9) Marketing in not about your agency winning awards. It's about your organization winning business
10) The Internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on the media.
11) Companies must drive people into purchasing process with great online content
12) Blogs, online video, e-books, news releases, and other forms of online content let organization communicate directly with buyers in a form they appreciate
13) Social networks allow people all over the world to share content and connect with people and companies they do business with
14) On the web, the lines between marketing and PR have blurred
(Scott, 2011)

Read these rules, learn them and practice them. But do remember that these will most likely be updated and changed over the next few years.

I myself have set a goal of working in the music public relations field once I graduate. Its a difficult field to break into, but its not impossible. With the relationships I build and the people I work with here at the House of Blues I'm hoping to make connections and get the experience needed.
Public Relations, in music specifically, has a massive focus on social media. Bands have set up band pages on facebook and myspace. You can stream music, post photos, make major announcements and reach all of your fans all with the click of a button. The amount of social media use may directly relate to your success. People have become accustomed to looking for new music online. It is an effective andcost worthy and decision to build yourself an online profile.
With my current job, we have a facebook page for our Foundation Room which is managed by myself and the manager of the space. We use the site to build events, announce new shows and gain interest in our location. It is important to always be updating the site, listing information people want to see and keeping the site fresh. We also have a company wide twitter account that hold ticket giveaways and find out what shows people want to see come to the area.
The course has also taught us how to build a sturdy website, what sort of content is required and the key behind using HTML codes. Dreamweaver and photoshop do make the process one million times easier but it never hurts to be able to write code and its a great resume booster. The extra time in class to work on our websites was great as I do not have access to that specific computer software anywhere else. Being able to ask questions and being shown the process is the best way for me to learn.
When i check back in on this blog in about a year I hope to have the good news that I am the director of public relations for a major band, touring the world...hey a girl can dream ...right ?

Did you just say 107 TRILLION E-mails ?

This week Prof Boone assigned us an article titled Communicative Informatics: An Active and Creative Audience Framework of Social Media written by Professor Boone herself and Professor Gallant from Emerson. The topic of this weeks class discussion was the role of social media in PR. We compared the new rules of PR to the old rules of PR.
It is most important to note that Social Media gives PR professionals the ability to directly communicate with their audience. So long are the days where PR agents must rely on the media to get the attention of their potential clients and current stakeholders. It is vital to practice a two way form of communication, where  not only do you give out information, but you also take some in. You listen to your customer and pay attention to any feedback they are offering.
While Social Media is paving a new path for those practicing Public Relations it is also opening the door for us to access more information than we could ever conceive. One line in the article listed above, Professor Boone specifically pointed out to us states; " Every two days now we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003... pictures, instant messages, and tweets all add to this."
Do you have any idea how much information that is ??? Lets have a look at some of the numbers posted by pindom blog

in 2010:
107 Trillion - emails were sent on the Internet
255 Million - number of websites as of December 2010
1.97 Billion - internet users worldwide ( this is a 14% growth since last year)
152 Million - number of blogs on the Internet
25 Billion - number of tweets sent in 2010
600 Million - number of people on facebook at the end of 2010
30 Billion - pieces of content ( links,  notes, photos etc) shared just on Facebook along per month in 2010
2 Billion - the number of videos watched per day on YouTube
35 - hours of video uploaded to YouTube every hour.
5 Billion - photos hosted by Flickr

Those are amazing, astonishing and scary numbers !
Now what is important is to find a way to differentiate your information and your story from the trillions of other posts added to the web each day. How will you make sure your company does not get lost in the shuffle ? You must get creative. One proposition listed in the Communicative Informatics article is that the Audience is Creative.
Each day new photos, videos, releases and articles are being published on line. We live in a creative world with the most imaginative, inventive and inspirational people.

The Internet has truly revolutionized our way of life and social media is right there as well. Social media has provided us with ways to reconnect, ways to  tell our story and share our ideas. It has introduced us to a new form of communication and with this ability to freely communicate you have endless opportunities at your finger tips.... now we just have figure out how to best apply these opportunities.