At Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in July, Bernd Hoeck, founder of bloodsugarmagic, had the chance to meet marketing expert David Meerman Scott, who also held several speeches at the conference. David is considered as being one of the „in
bloodsugarmagic: David, you are one of the intellectual fathers of newsjacking and monitor the trend since years. What has changed over the last 1-2 years in using newsjacking?
David: What I“ve noticed recently is that almost everybody talking about newsjacking is doing so about events that you can predict the timing of. While I am encouraged by people newsjacking the World Cup and other events where we know the timing, I think the bigger opportunity is when something unexpected happens and you can jump in when nobody else is paying attention.
By the way, congratulations to Germany on the World Cup. I think Lufthansa did a great job newsjacking – this went out at the moment Germany clinched the title.
bloodsugarmagic: Would you share your favorite newsjacking example of the last twelve months in the IT industry with us?
David: The Eloqua example is still my favorite but it was from 2010. I love it because the company can quantify that they made a million dollars in new business from one blog post.
(Real-time blog post gets Eloqua CEO tons of B2B ink
http://www.webinknow.com/2010/06/real-time-blog-post-gets-eloqua-ceo-tons-of-b2b-ink.html
One evening in May 2010, Oracle announced the acquisition of Market2Lead, one of the competitors of Eloqua. The news included basically no further information, no context. Joe Payne, by the time CEO of Eloqua sat down this precise evening and wrote a blog post on the Eloqua website explaining what this deal meant for the marketplace. When journalists came into their offices the next day they started searching for additional information to write their Oracle story and what they found was Payne’s blog post. That way, suddenly Eloqua was also part of the discussion.)
bloodsugarmagic: Do you see differences in the use of newsjacking in Europe and the US?
David: No. I don“t think there is any difference at all. I“ve seen people successfully newsjack from many different countries.
Your goal with newsjacking is to get your take on a breaking news story in front of journalists at the moment they are looking for additional information to put in their stories. And journalists everywhere are looking.
Google, Bing, and other search engines now index in real-time, which means that your blog post or update to your online media room will instantly appear in search results. This capability allows journalists working on a fast-moving story to find your post. The beauty of this technique is that reporters are looking for you by searching for keywords and phrases of the moment as they write their stories. Many journalists also use Google Alerts, which email them whenever certain keywords and phrases appear in blogs or on websites. To get found in this way, as reporters are looking for experts, you“ve got to post your take on a story right now. Not tomorrow. Not this afternoon. Now. Make sure to feature appropriate keywords and phrases that journalists are likely to enter, and write your headline so it clearly shows reporters that you have a fresh and compelling take on the story.
bloodsugarmagic: The real-time mindset started in PR and marketing. Do you see other areas like i.e. sales where it should be used?
David: The real-time mindset recognizes the importance of speed. It is an attitude to business (and to life) that emphasizes moving quickly when the time is right.
Developing a real-time mindset is not an either/or proposition. I“m not saying you should abandon your current business planning process. Nor do I advocate allowing your team to run off barking at every car that drives by. Focus and collaboration are essential.
The smart answer is to adopt a both/and approach, covering the spectrum from thorough to nimble. Recognize when you need to throw the playbook aside, and develop the capacity to react quickly no matter if you are in PR, marketing, sales, or customer service.
An immensely powerful competitive advantage flows to organizations whose people understand the power of real-time information.
bloodsugarmagic: We heard that you will publish a new book in autumn. What is it about?
David: Yes! The new book is „The New Rules of Sales and Service: How to Use Agile Selling, Real-Time Customer Engagement, Big Data, Content, and Storytelling to Grow Your Business“ and it extends my ideas into the sales and service areas.
The basics are: Authentic storytelling sets the tone with content as the link between companies and customers. Big data enables a more scientific approach to sales and service. Agile selling brings new business to your company, and real-time engagement keeps customers happy.
The New Rules of Sales & Service is neither an update nor a sequel to The New Rules of Marketing & PR; rather it complements the earlier book. Each book focuses on and outlines different strategies: Marketing and PR use online content to reach many buyers at once; Sales and Service use online content to reach buyers one at a time. The New Rules of Sales & Service tailors its strategies and tactics to reflect this difference.
Thank you, David!
(David has been interviewed by Bernd Hoeck, bloodsugarmagic)
About bloodsugarmagic
bloodsugarmagic is an international network of experts in positioning, marketing programs and go-to-market strategies for IT companies. We offer all that is needed for IT companies wanting to either enter a new market or to boost their market performance in existing markets with new positioning, messages and a unique selling proposition that resonates.
Based on many years of practical experience in marketing, business development and sales with leading IT companies, we support and guide these companies by creating unique and compelling positioning based on the organization“s specific strengths. bloodsugarmagic adapts each story and messaging framework to apply to the local market while offering ready-to-run campaigns and services for fast results.
Being truly transatlantic with offices in Germany and the US, bloodsugarmagic combines international reach with local market insight and networks to deliver unprecedented success upon a new market entry. Our clients span medium-sized IT companies and global IT players from the United States, the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and other high tech clusters worldwide.
Please find more information at www.bloodsugarmagic.com
Kontakt
bloodsugarmagic GmbH & Co. KG
Bernd Hoeck
Gerberstr. 63
780520 Villingen-Schwenningen
0049 7721 9461 220
bernd.hoeck@bloodsugarmagic.com
http://www.bloodsugarmagic.com
