A Conversation with David Meerman Scott, author of WORLD WIDE RAVE 

What is a World Wide Rave? 

A World Wide Rave is when masses of people around the world can’t stop talking about you, your company, and your products. Whether you’re located in San Francisco, Dubai, or Reykjavík, it’s when global communities eagerly link to your stuff on the Web. It’s when online buzz drives buyers to your virtual doorstep. And it’s when tons of fans visit your Web site and your blog because they genuinely want to be there. 

How is this different from viral marketing? 

A World Wide Rave is when people are talking about your company because they want to, not because they were coerced or tricked by “viral marketing.” 

Viral campaigns developed by most ad agencies involve buying access to audiences in the same old ways, such as purchasing an email list to spam or launching a micro-site that hosts a print- or TV-style ad. Worse, some of the dodgiest agencies set up fake viral campaigns where people who are employed or in some way compensated by the agency create reviews, videos or blog posts purported to be from a customer. For example, several publicists reportedly have written gushing (and anonymous) reviews on The Internet Movie Database. 

Going viral via a World Wide Rave is more authentic—and therefore vastly more effective--than going viral via gimmicks, silly contests and dishonest trickery. 

What’s been missing from all the talk about social media marketing? 

Most discussions about social media marketing focus on the technology. We hear discussions about blogging and blog software. We learn about YouTube videos and how to make them. Frequently, esoteric search engine optimization techniques are a big part of the discussion. And the relative merits of the various tools (such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace) are debated.  But what few people have figured out is what kind of content brings out the enormous potential of this technology. Without the right content, the technology won’t get one person to notice your ideas. 

What kind of content will cause a World Wide Rave? 

Content designed for people. When you build content especially for your audience, you build a relationship with people before you’ve even met them. When it’s obvious that you understand your buyers and their problems, it jars your visitors into paying attention. 

Why do so many online marketing campaigns flop and what sets apart the success stories? 

Many marketers steeped in the tradition of product advertising naturally feel drawn to prattle on and on about their products and services.  But I have news for you. Nobody cares about your products and services (except you). Yes, you read that right. 

What people do care about are themselves and how you can 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. Instead, create something interesting that will be talked about online. When you get people talking on the Web, people will line up to learn more and to buy what you have to offer.

What’s the hardest part of adjusting to the new rules of the rave? 

Most online marketing is nothing more than an alternative channel for the PR department or product marketers to spew their “messages” and “product vision.” Yuck. To paraphrase Yoda from Star Wars, “You must unlearn what you have learned.” It is so difficult for people to get out of the marketing habits they’ve developed over the years. 

You must unlearn the use of gobbledygook about your products and services. Instead start from the problems and needs of your buyer personas.

You must unlearn spin. Instead, understand that people crave authenticity and transparency.

You must unlearn interrupting people with "messages." Instead, publish online content they want to consume.

You must unlearn being egotistical and trying to force people to adapt to your terms. Instead create online content that addresses buyer problems.

You must unlearn the assumption that you must buy access. Instead, create something that becomes a World Wide Rave and let millions of people tell your story for you.

 What’s behind the fear of the World Wide Rave? 

Many company executives and public relations people trace their worries about social media to their belief that “people will say bad things about our company.” This fear leads them to ignore blogs and online forums and to prohibit employees from participating in social media. In every discussion that I’ve had with employees who freely participate in social media, I’ve confirmed that this fear is significantly overblown. Sure, an occasional person might vent frustrations online, and now and then a dissatisfied customer might complain (unless you’re in the airline industry and then it might be more than a few). 

But the benefit of this kind of communication is that you can monitor in real-time what’s being said and then respond appropriately. Employees, customers, and other stakeholders are talking about your organization offline anyway, so unless you are participating online, you’ll never know what’s being said at all. The beauty of the Web is that you benefit from instant access to conversations you could never participate in before. 

Why do you have to give up control for a World Wide Rave to work? 

For your ideas to spread and rise to the status of a World Wide Rave, you’ve got to make your Web content totally free for people to access, with absolutely no virtual strings attached: no electronic gates, no registration requirements, and no email address checking necessary. 

You’ve got to think in terms of spreading ideas, not generating leads. A World Wide Rave gets the word out to thousands or even millions of potential customers. But only if you make your content easy to find and consume.

What do you say to executives who are still reluctant to adopt this style of marketing? 

I point out that executives aren't really scared of social media and the idea of a World Wide Rave. They are scared of the unknown. People are comfortable doing the same old rubbish year in and year out. They spend tons of money at tradeshows. They spam their customers with inane email "campaigns" that typically include “offers” such as free shipping or some sort of discount pricing. They invest in television commercials and yellow page ads. They pay PR agencies the big bucks to get a mention on page 60 of a local newspaper, a laundry-list inclusion in an analyst’s report, or a quote in the tenth paragraph of a story in a trade magazine that almost nobody reads. 

I have a simple question for the executives: How’s this all working for you? 

Why do some videos spread but others don’t? 

Boring videos never spread. However, good videos that are too long also don’t spread and most are too long. People have short attention spans. There are millions of videos on YouTube, and it’s very easy to click away from yours. Although YouTube will accept videos up to 10 minutes (smaller than 100 MB), try to make yours between thirty seconds and two minutes. If you have more to say, consider creating a series of videos rather than making one that’s too long.

Why do you say that different standards of measurement need to be used to judge the success of a World Wide Rave? 

I’m often confronted with the issue of how to measure an online initiative’s results. Executives at companies large and small as well as marketing and PR people push back on the ideas of a World Wide Rave because they want to apply old rules of measurement to the new world of spreading ideas online. 

The old rules of measurement used two metrics that don’t matter when spreading ideas, especially online: 

1. We used to measure “leads”—how many business cards we collected; how many people called the toll free number; how many people stopped at the tradeshow booth; and how many people filled out a form on our Web site, providing their email address and other personal information. 

2. We used to measure “press clips”—the number of times our company and its products were mentioned in mainstream media like magazines, newspapers, radio, and television. 

While applying these forms of measurement might be appropriate offline, using them to track your success on the Web just isn’t relevant; they don’t capture the way ideas travel. Worse, the very act of tracking leads and collecting email addresses hampers the spread of ideas. 

What do you do when buzz about you, your company or your products turns negative?

When people talk they might indeed say something negative. But if you jump in and join the discussion, speaking like a human (and not a corporate automaton), you can frequently turn negative comments into positive feelings among those who read your contributions. These people will know that you and your organization care. However, when they’re saying bad things about you and your products and you don’t jump in and respond, you’re flirting with disaster in the form of what I call a World Wide Rant. 

Are there other areas outside of marketing in which World Wide Rave techniques might benefit someone? 

A World Wide Rave is about the spreading of any idea or story: Its great for churches, rock bands, government agencies, nonprofits educational institutions, and more. Even people. For example, the best way to find a job in this tough economy is not to rely on the traditional methods of resumes and networking. People tell me all the time that they find a job through their blog, or because someone influential listened to their podcast or saw their video. 

What’s the first step we should take if we want to spread a World Wide Rave about our company? 

Simple. Stop talking about your company’s products and services. Nobody cares.