Today I listened in to a GREAT webinar with David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly (probably my favorite new media marketing book). David is launching a new book called World Wide Rave, and he shared some of the insights from his book with us.

The 6 Rules of the Rave Include:

1) Nobody cares about your products (except you).

Do you inherently care about a product? No. You care about your problems and about solutions to your problems. The product is meaningful because it is a solution. To create something meaningful you have to forget about your products and focus on the problem and solution. That is what people care about.  Speak to consumers the way that they speak! Don’t use jargon. Be on the same level as your audience.

2) No coercion required.

People have to want to spread your message without being coerced. “The back button is the third most used feature”. Why? Because lots of internet marketing focuses on confusing consumers and getting them to click on links that they aren’t really interested in. A great and meaningful message with spread without offering a free prize or the chance to win an ipod.

3) Lose Control.

For your ideas to spread you need to allow consumers to control the media. Example – The Greatful Dead allowed their audience to record the concert and thousands of people recorded the concerts. The concerts were shared for free, and it helped the music to spread virally. They became the most successful touring band in history. Example – MailerMailer created an email marketing report; initially you had to provide your email address to get a free download. After the report was made free with no requirements, the report took off because it was sharable. People could talk about it and link to it. They now have the #1 search result for Email Marketing Metrics. What is better? Collecting 1 email address or exposing 20 people to your idea.

4) Put Down Roots.

Be a participant. “If you want to meet girls go to where the girls are”. Engage with your audience. Be where they are. Join the community.

5) Create Triggers to Encourage People to Share.

Encourage your audience to photograph, record and share their experiences related to your company. Example – Girls Fight Back encourages participants to record themselves practicing self-defense and share the videos with friends and family. Make your message sharable.

6) Point the World to your Virtual Doorstep.

After the content of your message provide information to drive action. Point people to your product, website or a place where they can learn more. Example – Where the Hell is Matt? Was a viral video of “Matt” dancing with people around the world ans was sponsored by Stride Gum.  The video contains no messaging but at the end there is a link to Stride. Matt said that Sincerity is the most important thing is creating “A World Wide Rave”.

And Remember Kids, Play Nice

If you play nice you won’t offend people.  In the new world where messages can spread, if you don’t play nice people will know.

Example – Scott Ableman put 14,000 postit notes on his friend’s Jaguar. The photos spread virally across the net and 3M contacted him and requested to use the photos. Scott asked for $2K for 3M to use the photos; rather than use his photos they created their own. The story of 3M ripping off his idea took off with headlines like “3M carjacks the postit note jaguar”.

- Photo by Scott Ableman

You can also see the summary post on Hubspot.

Anyone else have examples of companies (big, medium, small) creating a World Wide Rave?

- Krista Neher