new rules of marketing & pr

What is it about?

Do you want to boost your customer base? Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shan show you how. Inbound Marketing focuses on building relationships and delivering remarkable content to your customers instead of interrupting them with TV or radio ads. Furthermore there are several steps for each chapter which shows you how to execute these ideas.

Key points?

Track your progress: Whether you test a new layout or a new form of online activity, track your progress. Test what works and what doesn’t and act on this!

Remarkable content: It is important that you create content which is valuable to others. It should be so valuable that your readers decide to share your content with their peers.

Conclusion

What I really like about this book is that it gives you actionable advice. This point was missed by The new Rules of Marketing & PR. Additionally, there is one really cool list with about 20 points on how to promote your startup on social media or tips on how to name your blog/company.

In conclusion, Inbound Marketing gives you a great view about a lot of important topics in social media (marketing) and provides a solid base to work on.

What is it about?

In the first half of this book, David Meerman Scott explains different platforms, e.g. blogs, news releases or social networking. In the second half he writes about planning your marketing strategy and tips for execute them on these platforms.

Key points?

Segment your customers. Do not try to sell your product instead try to help your (prospective) customer. Give away valuable content and establish a relationship to your online community.

Conclusion

The first half is not that interesting for people who are not so new to the web. The second half includes some nice ideas. E.g. customer persona, i.e. you take one individual of your market segment and build a story for this individual. Also tips on individual topics like getting press coverage are quite useful.