Internet Marketing Blog

The HubSpot Inbound Internet Marketing blog covers all of inbound marketing - SEO, Blogging, Social Media, Landing Pages, Lead Generation and Analytics.

Subscribe to our RSS Feed
HubSpot RSS Feed

HubSpot on Twitter HubSpot on Facebook HubSpot on LinkedIn HubSpot on Google Buzz HubSpot Blog RSS

Subscribe via Email

Your email:

Get Certified in Inbound Marketing

Inbound Marketing University - Free Marketing Training Online Classes

Inbound Marketing Software

Learn how HubSpot can help turn your business into an inbound marketing machine.

Website Grader Badge

Marketing Resources

Grader.com Tools
 
inbound marketing book

Connect with Us

Want to share your Inbound Marketing advice with the community? Submit guest post ideas to rburnes[at]hubspot[dot]com.

HubSpot's Inbound Internet Marketing Blog

Current Articles | RSS Feed RSS Feed

How to Create Triggers That Get People to Spread Your Ideas

 | Submit to Digg digg it | Submit to Reddit reddit | Add to delicious delicious | Submit to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon | Share on Facebook Facebook | Share on Twitter Twitter | Share on LinkedIn LinkedIn 


This article is a guest post by David Meerman Scott. David is the bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR and the hit new book World Wide Rave. He's also a member of the HubSpot board of advisors

rave the rooster

What is it? That thing that everyone is talking about? You haven't heard? Didn't you get the email? It's everywhere! All over the Web!

Buzz....Hot....Cool.... You've just encountered a World Wide Rave. Congratulations.

Seemingly born overnight, a World Wide Rave happens when collectively, your product, your brand or heck, you are instantly known the world over. Most of the time they are accidental. But what if you could create one? How valuable would that be to you? Priceless?

You can.

You and I are incredibly lucky.

We're living in a time when we can reach the world directly, without having to spend enormous amounts of money on advertising and without investing in huge public relations efforts to convince the media to write (or broadcast) about our products and services.

There is a tremendous opportunity right now to reach buyers in a better way: by publishing great content online, content people want to consume and that they are eager to share with their friends, family, and colleagues.

One of the coolest phenomena on the Web is that when an idea takes off, it can propel a brand or company to seemingly instant fame and fortune. For free. Creating a World Wide Rave in which other people help to tell your story for you is a way to drive action. One person sends it to another, then that person sends it to yet another, and on and on. Each link in the chain exposes your story to someone new, someone you never had to contact yourself! It's like when you're at a sporting event or concert in a large stadium and somebody starts "the wave." Isn't it amazing that just one person with an idea can convince a group of 50,000 people to join in? Well, you can start a similar wave of interest online, a World Wide Rave. You can create the triggers that get millions of people to tell your stories and spread your ideas.

As I did research for my new book World Wide Rave, I discovered the six elements that are likely to lead to success. Many of the six are counter-intuitive and likely the opposite of what you're doing today.

In fact, these elements are so important that I call them your Rules of the Rave:

 

Nobody cares about your products (except you).

Yes, you read that right. What people do care about are themselves and ways to solve their problems. People also like to be entertained and to share in something remarkable. In order to have people talk about you and your ideas, you must resist the urge to hype your products and services. Create something interesting that will be talked about online. But don't worry-because when you're famous on the Web, people will line up to learn more and to buy what you offer!

 

No coercion required. 

For decades, organizations of all kinds have spent bucketfuls of money on advertising designed to coerce people into buying products. Free shipping! This week only, 20 percent off! New and improved! Faster than the other guys! This product-centric advertising is not how you get people talking about you. When you've got something worth sharing, people will share it-no coercion required.

 

Lose control. 

Here's a component that scares most people silly. You've got to lose control of your "messages"; you need to make your valuable online content totally free (and freely sharable); and you must understand that a World Wide Rave is not about generating "sales leads." Yes, you can measure success, but not through business-school Return On Investment (ROI) calculators.

 

Put down roots. 

When I was a kid, my grandmother said, "If you want to receive a letter, you need to send a letter to someone first." Then when I was in college, my buddies said, "If you want to meet girls, you have to go where the girls are." The same thing is true in the virtual world of the Web. If you want your ideas to spread, you need to be involved in the online communities of people who actively share.

 

Create triggers that encourage people to share. 

When a product or service solves someone's problem or is very valuable, interesting, funny, or just plain outrageous, it's ready to be shared. To elevate your online content to the status of a World Wide Rave, you need a trigger to get people talking.

 

Point the world to your (virtual) doorstep. 

If you follow the Rules of the Rave as I've described them, people will talk about you. And when they do, they'll generate all sorts of online buzz that will be indexed by the search engines, all relating to what your organization is up to. Forget about data-driven search engine technologies. The better approach to drive people to your stuff via the search engines is to create a World Wide Rave. As result, your organization's Web sites will quickly rise to prominence in the rankings on Google, Yahoo, and the other search engines.

 

How will YOU create a World Wide Rave of your own? What do you have to lose?

 

Want to Learn More About World Wide Rave?

Download David's free webinar. He'll explain how companies can create a world wide rave, by getting people to spread and share their ideas for free.

Inbound Marketing Kit

Learn more about inbound marketing and how to combine blogging, SEO and social media for results.

Download our inbound marketing kit.


Posted by Rick Burnes on Fri, Feb 13, 2009 @ 07:01 AM

COMMENTS

I particularly love your statement about losing control of your "messages" and providing free content that can be distributed and most importantly shared. It's amazing how many people get stuck on the traditional ROI measure for online campaigns when most of the free content such as videos, blog posts or ebooks are more about branding & identity building than about providing a simple linear path to a sale. Great post and looking forward to the webinar this afternoon.

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 8:21 AM by Eric Guerin


So true about just letting the traditional approach go. It's a whole new way to calculate ROI. Looking forward to this afternoon.

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 8:45 AM by Rick Torres


I am incredibly lucky to be alive today to experience the new generations buying habits through the internet! The tremendous opportunity to share globally!

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 10:52 AM by Nini Torres


Outstanding post. Specific, to the point and succinct. This idea of inbound internet marketing is an exciting idea, a great alternative to "old school" marketing.  
 
 
 
Now can we expect info-mercials and QVC to change? I am frankly getting tired of a certain bearded television figure shouting at me about the benefits of his product.  
 
 
 

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 11:09 AM by Dave King, Cross Harp Chronicles


I represent an established/published writer client who has written a 4-quadrant screenplay. Market tests show this story could be an epic film on the level of Gladiator or even Ben-Hur. It is historical fiction. a true story with a main character heroine who would have powerful marketing potential in U.S. Europe and South America. We have tested going viral and BOOM it exploded but we pulled back- FAST... for fear of a studio stealing the story (like the movie "the 300" versus Stephen Pressfiled's "Gates of Fire") . Any ideas on how to protect intellectual property that can be monetized when it is based on historical events?

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:04 PM by Joe Orlandino


Great webinar today! 
 
Some questions I had: 
 
- How do these rules apply to humble small businesses like candy stores, t-shirt stores, etc.?  
 
- I work in a HigherEd Volunteer Office that works to promote engagement, which isn't "easy" to promote, can these rules still apply from a creative angle?

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:05 PM by Howard


How do we find the bloggers that write about my industry - fundraising?

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:05 PM by Karen Weinstein


What are your suggestions on using a podcast to promote your business and how how exactly would I go about using a podcast

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:06 PM by Kentisha Thomas


Great webinar. 
What I want to know is what if your audience is not online? 
I mean - what I want to reach people that are not using the internet very often, don't know about youtube, don't use google? 

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:06 PM by Martha


Awesome Webinar!  
 
David Meerman Scott kept my attention, gave me great ideas and was FUNNY! 
 
 
Thanks HubSpot! 
Thanks David Meerman Scott!

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:06 PM by Coretta Jackson, MBA Businessethos.com


Excellent webinar today! Sounds like World Wide Rave will be a great followup to The New Rules of PR and Marketing - a book that I have given to many clients. 
 
 
 
- Krista

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:08 PM by Krista Neher


Just Fab!  
 
We like the idea of jargon free marketing. 
 
Many Thanks!! 
 
 

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:11 PM by iVirtualProfessionals.com


Great article and webinar and I'm looking forward to the book coming out. For those who are service businesses, it's harder to create the incredibly valuable tangible item. Would you alter anything in this case? BTW, I'm a huge fan of The Grateful Dead too, my favorite song is Sugar Magnolia. You?

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:12 PM by Julie White


Great seminar! I really appreciated the book example. I would like to hear more from both sides on asking for emails. We are kind of in the same boat of having to sell in order to make money. I'm trying to figure out how to convert free to paying. Any ideas?

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:14 PM by Christi Wharton


I have the same question as Martha above. I'm finding more of my fans and enthusiasts aren't online (if you can imagine that). How do I create a rave with them?

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:15 PM by Kathy


It was very nteresting to follow you, thanks to give to me this opportunity. I can see we are "all in the some sheep", infact share mostly questions and ideas of the other attenders. Expecially I totally agree with Eric Guerin. The mayor problem I face wen I try to "sell" an unconventional communication campaign are expectations: how I can previously quantify the results of the campaign?

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:36 PM by Gioia


It was very nteresting to follow you, thanks to give to me this opportunity. I can see we are "all in the some sheep", infact share mostly questions and ideas of the other attenders. Expecially I totally agree with Eric Guerin. The mayor problem I face wen I try to "sell" an unconventional communication campaign are expectations: how I can previously quantify the results of the campaign?

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:37 PM by Gioia


It was very nteresting to follow you, thanks to give to me this opportunity. I can see we are "all in the some sheep", infact share mostly questions and ideas of the other attenders. Expecially I totally agree with Eric Guerin. The mayor problem I face wen I try to "sell" an unconventional communication campaign are expectations: how I can previously quantify the results of the campaign?

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:39 PM by Gioia Feliziani


There seems to be a euphoria about social media which is similar to the Web 1.0 mood before it crashed. I think it would be foolish to hold up a few examples (taken from different industries over decades) and say that these results are typical or can be easily replicated.  
 
 
 
There is a thin line between motivating people and misleading them with overly high expectations.

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:53 PM by Liz


I have a question vs. comment. I am an Integrated Marketing Consultant and Content Producer... Do you have you have social media staffing suggestions? e.g. what is reasonable to advise for my small business clients?

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 1:03 PM by Anna Butler


Thanks all, for your comments and for participating on the webinar.  
 
I am going to answer a few questions but in a general way if that's okay. 
 
I do think these marketing strategies are for all businesses. That's why I selected them from a variety of businesses - large, small, B2B, B2C, author, etc. 
 
I don't advocate dropping all existing marketing programs and doing these things exclusively. I think there is still room for advertising, media relations, and direct sales. However, today everyone goes online to solve problems and research products & services and you need to be in front of them. 
 
Regarding how do you find blogs and what specific tools to use, the answers can be found with your buyers. Find ten or twenty representatives of your buyer persona and interview them. Find out what blogs they read and if they would listen to a podcast or what other things they do online. 
 
Thanks again, 
 
David

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 2:25 PM by David Meerman Scott


David Meerman Scott has done it again. Rules of the Rave are the rules of the road for success with social media and blogging. His first book the New Rules of Marketing and PR created a paradigm shift in the traditional PR community. World Wide Rave will not doubt effect the business community in the same way. 
 
 
 
Bravo! Innovation will always find an audience.

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 2:59 PM by Melinda Emerson


Great post! Very informative and well written.

posted on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 12:28 PM by Michael J. Byers


After taking part in the webinar, I ordered your book today. I'm really looking forward to drop-kicking the "same old same old" Marketing tips in my inbox. Thanks for a fresh perspective.

posted on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 3:52 PM by Laurie D. Cox


I always find it interesting how these posts compare with the information that I am being taught in my Internet Marketing class. A lot of what is stated here is very true. Much of it coincides with what is being taught in a classroom setting as well. I actually had a project that tried to get us to create a "viral video" about internet marketing on the web. I really wish I knew some of these pointers before I tried to create the video. It would have helped tremendously. 
 
I find it very interesting though, that if you create a World Wide Rave, you don't need to worry that much about search engine placement. It will mostly take care of itself. That can be a very useful thing, if used correctly of course. There have been some times when an individual has done something to start a World Wide Rave, but it was against their company or their views.

posted on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 10:41 PM by Andrew B.


Thanks for the heads up.. I would say using funny cartoons in your website could also get people to spread your ideas...

posted on Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 2:42 AM by Effendy Lie


Everyone's goal should be: How will YOU create a World Wide Rave.  
 
One place to consider investing is to use the skills of a journalist. Hire one full time (print or broadcast journalist) or part-time or freelance on an hourly basis.  
 
David

posted on Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 7:37 AM by David Meerman Scott


Absolutely fabulous! Who doesn't want people to talk about them? This is totally awesome!

posted on Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 10:41 AM by Easy Internet Business


Great presentation. In a time where competitive intelligence reigns for corporate assets the idea of losing control will create that rave. The best way to spread ideas is to give them away for free.

posted on Monday, February 16, 2009 at 8:12 AM by Joe Gauder


I love these ideas, and want to increase business, but am afraid of losing my privacy. Recently, someone forwarded one of my personal (not business) emails to someone who then blogged about it, without asking my permission. Viral marketing seems to require leaving yourself open to personal attacks---the Lose Control rule. What do you do, if anything, to help prevent cruel or misguided postings, especially if they get personal?

posted on Monday, February 16, 2009 at 10:15 AM by Sue


The presentation was full of new and useful information... thank you! I received the followup email that was promised, but there was no link to the slides used in the presentation, as HubSpot said there would be... is it possible to get them? 
 
Thank you!

posted on Monday, February 16, 2009 at 12:35 PM by Janice


We've found one way to create customer excitement is through contests. If you have enthusiasts to begin with (even with a local candy shop or tee-shirt shop) and you have a fun contest with a great giveaway, word spreads quickly through like-minded people.

posted on Monday, February 16, 2009 at 12:42 PM by Jean Wnuk, www.allthingsjeep.com


I like the article. It makes marketing sound and feel natural. When the rave spreads and flows, it touches natural followers. I am looking forward to the Webinar.

posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 at 1:40 AM by George


Interesting article - I guess the idea for the trigger is crucial. Wish I had a bit more creativity sometimes!

posted on Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 4:17 AM by Richard Hill


I'm truly agreed with your statement about 'Nobody cares about your products (except you)'. In order to achieve your goal you have to think outside the box.

posted on Monday, May 04, 2009 at 5:05 PM by zal


I'm here late in the game as i just heard the podcast on this subject and would like to comment. 
 
I work in motion picture finance and distribution, and I can tell you that the idea of allowing people to have your information without registration and without purchase and this idea of FREE everything and brand hijack is just a tactic that is used by people who are paid to tell people how to earn a living on the web. 
 
A huge issue in the attention economy right now is getting people to put some skin back in the game as all this free stuff puts a very odd sense of values on things and this needs to change, not back to where it was...as I disagree with the old guard, but this idea that people should taste your wares, and then spit it out is getting to be a bit old. 
 
Nothing satisfies the appetite more than making money for your time and that's why we think that the next level of entertainment ownership, marketing and participation will be financially driven and will allocate revenues for people who assist in making your media successful.  
 
If you are going to launch a RAVE campaign should you not reward every single person who helped you build it into that successful machine or campaign? After all its their time that they're wasting on you is it not? 
 
We call this SoCap or socialist capitalism and its the basis of our latest endeavor in what we think is going to how people will engage with products on the web.  
 
Put some skin in the game and pay people and companies for their time and efforts.  
 
FREE has no value! 
 
P.S. Why did you get fired from Thomson? 
 
cheers 
dave

posted on Friday, May 08, 2009 at 7:47 PM by david geertz


@dave - thanks for the comment.  
 
I agree with you. I charge money for my books, for my speeches, for my strategy work with companies just like you charge for the films you distribute.  
 
However I also give things away for free such as ebooks, this Webinar, and my blog.  
 
But you give away things too, don't you? Isn't that what a movie trailer is? Free content? Do you have a registration requirement before you allow someone to see a trailer?  
 
My take is that valuable free stuff helps to sell.  
 
Take care, David

posted on Saturday, May 09, 2009 at 6:28 AM by David Meerman Scott


Great job, great post and great ideas 
It really can help people make great income money from internet. 
 
thank

posted on Sunday, May 17, 2009 at 10:52 AM by Bapak Ridha


• Email Marketing is very powerful and effective marketing to reach target market in short time and with short spending. By effective email letter you can reach your Hidden customers as well as build strong relationship with your existing customers.

posted on Wednesday, July 01, 2009 at 1:12 AM by hereditary breast cancer


 
Useful information for me, many thanks, by nike air max 95 running shoe,

posted on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 10:09 PM by serenalin


Great topic, they are more attractive than others, i appreciated it, nike air max 90 running shoe on new model

posted on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 10:10 PM by serenalin


Comments have been closed for this article.