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I decided to review "The Social Media Marketing Book" by Dan Zarella based on a recommendation from a friend.
I am going to give this book a two star rating, which may be somewhat controversial. I was excited to read a social media marketing book. I do not feel like this book lived up to that expectation. The author is obviously very knowledgeable about social media, but there is virtually no information in utilizing these resources for marketing purposes. I was a little concerned in the beginning when the author spent such a great deal of time defining websites like Twitter and Facebook, and went to great length with terminology like "friending" and "tweeting." I do not say this lightly, since I think most everyone would be familiar with this terminology, at least anyone with a basic Facebook page. Having said that, there is relevant information for the reader. The reader will learn many websites and terms than can certainly assist in increasing the learning velocity of a web "newbie," but that was not the book that I was expecting to read. I wanted the book to end in a climax of material that the reader would be able to combine into a solid plan to market or build a presence on the net that would translate into real dollars. If the book could have delivered more on the marketing aspect, I would have gladly given it more stars.
I believe that for the right reader, this book is relevant, right now. I think most people in their twenties, would find this book too basic, or entry-level. I do not think that in five years, this book will be relevant. The problem with technology and technology based information is that it becomes a victim to rapid evolution of technology. There are dozens of companies that I could site to provide a basis for the fact that a technology and social media applications have and will continue to change at such a rapid pace that one can only imagine the social media that will be available five years from now. MySpace was a pioneer in social media, and now it is dwarfed by Facebook. Facebook will eventually be dwarfed be the next big thing. I am not saying that social media will cease to be relevant; I think it will continue to grow. I just believe that this specific book will not be relevant. It is the nature of technology. The Law of Accelerating Returns suggests that progress will continue to grow exponentially as humans learn more; we also learn how to learn better and faster.
In terms of how this book is applicable to me specifically, I think any information that allows me to learn more about web based commerce and marketing will assist me in communicating effectively with my clients and prospects. I do think this is an area that I got a lot out of this book.
I was not aware that a business could have a presence on every social media site tied or integrated together. The author stated that you could set up Twitter to re-tweet information from other sites. I thought you had to check each site independently of the other, but that is not the case. In other words, update one site, and then it updates the others. This is an incredible way to more effectively leverage your time.
One thing I learned, which in retrospect I should have listed first, is the incredible amount of trust consumers put into online opinions and reviews. I was honestly shocked to learn that 70% of consumers trust online opinions as opposed to only 62% who trust television. Newspaper and radio are even further down the list. For this reason alone, I would suggest that any business person should want to have at least a minimal web presence which would include some aspect of social media. Online opinions are not only trusted, they are brand segmentation at its best. People researching online are customers, customers who are ready to purchase. The point is, the discussion is happening now; you just need to decide on if you are going to be involved, or is your competition?
I really like the idea of using social media to respond to customer complaints or issues. The most recent example of this would be the Dominoes Pizza ad campaign built around their new pizza, which came about as a result of consumer complaints. As a business owner, it is virtually cost free to make a video in response to a YouTube complaint. It costs nothing to respond to a friend on facebook, etc. Let's face it, if a customer cares enough to complain, they are telling you that they want to like your product or service. After all, many people will not take the time to complain. I will just quietly stop using a product and move on to another. Today, business owners have an easy way to provide customers a soap box to complain on, and then address the complaint head on and correct the issue. The author states that you should address the issue using the same platform in which the complaint was received. This was good information for me to learn.
I also like the idea of the CTA (call to action). A business owner can go online to a social media site, and encourage all of his or her customers to engage in an action that would benefit the business owner and hopefully the customer as well. You may, for example, suggest to all of your "friends" that they go check out your new video on YouTube, and then comment on it, or re-post it to another website. Not only does this exponentially grow your presence on the web, but it engages your customers. I think that a CTA operates much the same way. By an occasional CTA, you can create hundreds or even thousands of unpaid salespeople. And remember from earlier, your customers will put more faith in these little champions than most all of your other advertising outlets. This allows you to leverage your time and your money.
Another take away for me, and is just how trusting people are of online reviews and opinions. I am amazed that with all the time and money spent on television ads, people trust an anonymous online review even more. I cannot emphasize how big that is to learn. What that says to me, is you are either in, or out. This is happening. I cannot afford to put my head in the sand and pretend that it is going away. This last year, I had five customers that went out of business, because the economy slowed, and their overhead became unbearable. I think back and I do not think any of these customers were implementing a social media marketing plan. If they had customers linking to their website and providing reviews, maybe they could have kept their sales up with very little capital outlay on their part.
The most amazing thing is how much value users of social media are getting. This is all very inexpensive. I hear people every day talk about advertising, and how difficult it is for them to tell whether it is working for them or not. With social media, you can be up for next to nothing if you already have internet access. These sites are free. With increased competition, business owners need to make every dollar count.
This concludes my review of "The Social Media Marketing Book." I thing the material I useful, I just with there was more detail on the Marketing aspects of social media. I look forward to what will surely be a newer and more updated version in the future.
Shane Pittman has over 20 years of experience in Marketing and Finance. I have advanced training in Negotiations and Marketing as well as an MBA.
http://www.shanepittman.com/
