Buyer Personas... wk8

After reading Chapter 10 in The New Rules of Marketing and PR, I was definitely struck by some of the things Scott was saying. In order for a new PR strategy to be effective on the Web, we have to make sure we're thinking like/speaking to our buyer rather than our product/service.

To me, it only makes sense that these strategies change. Web sites and blogs get put on the internet for anyone, but are only found by people who want/need them. The only way for those people to find such sites and blogs are if they're tagged correctly or if they're giving the buyers the information they're seeking.

It makes me laugh when I think of the "NASCAR dads" or "security moms" examples of buyer personas, but when I really think about it, it's not a laughing matter! People really sat around and delved into the types of people they were trying to reach and provided a culmination of their research by creating these profiles.

If I had to give myself a buyer persona, I'd probably say this:

"Casey the college senior is a 4th year public relations major. She is 22 years old and ready to graduate next fall. She enjoys the bustling city life and would prefer to find a worthwhile job in the metro area. As a member of Generation Y, she is very independent and seeks a place she can use her talents and creativity without feeling restricted. She is well versed in the ways of Facebook, MySpace and YouTube and knows of several other avenues for seeking and finding information she needs. She will be looking for a job that offers those kinds offers those kinds of opportunities, utilizes them and is seeking potential employees such as herself."

That was actually kind of fun!

Yay for Podcasting!.... wk 5

I have to say that I love love love The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott. I was especially excited to learn more about podcasting, because so far this is the only thing we've talked about in class that I haven't tried on my own yet!

Chapter 6, though it was short, was just the kind of information I needed to know. I guess I never really looked into podcasting because I thought there was some kind of subscription fee. There was a quote that especially stuck in my head, it read "by appealing to a niche market and delivering audio that people choose to hear, an organization is seen as a thought leader and is the first choice for listeners looking to make a purchase." (page 70) Looking back on it, it seems like that is such an obvious statement. If the purpose of an organization is to reach it's consumers, then why did it take this long for consumer-targeting products like blogs and podcasts to appear? It makes me really excited to live in an age where advantages like this exist at my fingertips! The only hard part is figuring out which podcast to subscribe to!

On a side note, I checked out the band mentioned in the book, Uncle Seth, and I will have to agree with Scott on this one... they're pretty good!