I love this book. It has a lot of virtues: it offers pithy rules for social media marketing; it's brief and concise; well-written, so easy to read; and while it is aimed at beginners, I think some of its points are useful for everyone to remember.
First of all, it answers the most basic question: why Social Media Marketing? Because a) that is where the people are, b) trust in advertising continues to erode and c), people are already talking about you (don't you want to be part of that conversation?).
This book focuses on using blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin to market your business. There's also a chapter on Google+, which I suspect is not on the radar of many libraries. Part of its appeal to businesses is that your Google+ p age will appear with search results. There are also 30 pages of case studies, mostly smaller businesses, and how they used these principles to grow their businesses.
One of the themes of the book is that, while you utilize an effective publicity strategy on social media, you need to also stick to the knitting: make sure that your product is top-notch. It's high quality and high value that is, in some cases, the key to success.
For instance, in Kabani's discussion of Groupon, Living Social, and other group buying sites, she points out that if you create a coupon to attract new customers, be sure to have a plan in place that includes high-quality service performance and customer service. Encourage your coupon customers to follow up on social media with comments about your product or service. BUT - be sure that the experience that your prospective customer has when they use a coupon is likely to merit a good review. If you think that staff are not ready for the highest levels of scrutiny, it might be wise to review some important customer service principles. To make the most of the opportunity afforded by the group buying coupon, a business leader must prepare to staff to cross-sell or upsell, without being too aggressive.
This book focuses on using blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin to market your business. There's also a chapter on Google+, which I suspect is not on the radar of many libraries. Part of its appeal to businesses is that your Google+ page will appear with search results.
I think that blogs, especially when they're part of your website (as she recommends), have the potential to be very useful to libraries. That's because, as this book points out, providing information that is useful to your patrons (in the case of a library), your consumers (people who read your content on social media and hopefully, are positively influenced by it), and finally your customers (people who actually consume your products and services), is key to social media success.
One way I would love to take advantage of social media is to use it to help answer the reader's question, "What do I read next?" whether that's a question about which book is next in a series, what's hot right now, or what's a strong recommendation for a good book to read.
She recommends blogs in particular because a) they are a better forum for conveying expertise than Twitter; b) you can ask your followers to subscribe to your blog, something that you cannot do with a website. However, you can use a blog to drive traffic to your website by inserting links to your website in your blogs (and Facebook, and Twitter, and Google+).
She is very specific about how often a blog author needs to post to create a new audience for a blog: twice a week. I guess "Content is king," but fresh content is even kinglier. Establishing a relationship with a consumer of your content is easier if you communicate more frequently.
However, as a online marketing textbook I recently read asserted, the nature of Google's algorithms determining ranking are such that, ultimately, high quality content may be more important that the strategic insertion of keywords in metatags.
Another theme is the "engagement" aspect of social media marketing. The old fashioned model for mass communication was broadcasting: one message sent to many people. Kabani points out that many ineffective social media marketers "abuse" social media by continuing to push out a message
that that may or may not be tailored to sub-audiences and which does not engage the visitor. Further, she repeated points out that while you cannot talk back to a TV, you can talk back on social media and that is its great strength. A social media marketer should be starting, and continuing, a conversation rather a one-sided communication.
In Chapter 4, she offers some "social media marketing tenets." They are:
1. Respect other people online.
2. Efforts to control and manipulate will backfire.
3. Don't chase everything new under the sun.
4. Traffic is nice but should not be the only goal of social media marketing.
5. It's a good idea to use your real name.
6. You have to be proactive (reach out to others; start a conversation).
She quotes marketing expert Nancy Marmolejo's advice to social media marketers: "to position yourself as an expert in your field .. you must market yourself as a highly visible, ideally matched source of for your audience. .. Always focus on providing valuable content, boosting your credibility, building trust, .. Value, credibility and trust. Add those three things to a high level of visibility and you have the social media recipe for success." (Implied in her remarks are the value of credibility, which should be part of any public relations effort. The way to build credibility is to be open, honest, and deliver what you promise.)
Social Media Policy
There was a time when a lot of libraries were concerned with this issue. I assume that most libraries that want to have a social media policy now have one.
Shama Kabani makes several interesting points about crafting a social media policy. One is that one size does not fit all, and it would be ideal for a social media policy fit your organization. Another is that it is not necessary to make social media rules punitive or draconian. She emphasizes commen sense, and points out that at Zappos, employees are encouraged to participate in social media and are trusted to present the company in a positive light. She points out that as of the writing of her book, Zappos has not had any problems with social media comments posted by colleagues. This reminds me that again, having a healthy company culture can do wonders in preventing these kinds of problems.
I think something that's implied is that when and if you adopt a social media policy, you spend some time talking with staff about their role in social media.
Some More Pithy Rules
"If content is king, video is the king of the bigger country."
"Many executives between the ages of 45 and 65 are digital aliens. They were not brought up in the digital age and feel overwhelmed and sometimes fearful of the new technologies."
"You might have heard the saying around SEO blogs and discussion boards that "Content is King," which is true. But optimizing that content is how to ensure your site performs better than your competitors'." (Chapter 3, "Search Engine Optimization," p. 30.)
(Her definition of social media:) "Online platforms where people connect and communicate." (Chapter 4, p.48.)
First of all, it answers the most basic question: why Social Media Marketing? Because a) that is where the people are, b) trust in advertising continues to erode and c), people are already talking about you (don't you want to be part of that conversation?).
This book focuses on using blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin to market your business. There's also a chapter on Google+, which I suspect is not on the radar of many libraries. Part of its appeal to businesses is that your Google+ p age will appear with search results. There are also 30 pages of case studies, mostly smaller businesses, and how they used these principles to grow their businesses.
For instance, in Kabani's discussion of Groupon, Living Social, and other group buying sites, she points out that if you create a coupon to attract new customers, be sure to have a plan in place that includes high-quality service performance and customer service. Encourage your coupon customers to follow up on social media with comments about your product or service. BUT - be sure that the experience that your prospective customer has when they use a coupon is likely to merit a good review. If you think that staff are not ready for the highest levels of scrutiny, it might be wise to review some important customer service principles. To make the most of the opportunity afforded by the group buying coupon, a business leader must prepare to staff to cross-sell or upsell, without being too aggressive.
This book focuses on using blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin to market your business. There's also a chapter on Google+, which I suspect is not on the radar of many libraries. Part of its appeal to businesses is that your Google+ page will appear with search results.
I think that blogs, especially when they're part of your website (as she recommends), have the potential to be very useful to libraries. That's because, as this book points out, providing information that is useful to your patrons (in the case of a library), your consumers (people who read your content on social media and hopefully, are positively influenced by it), and finally your customers (people who actually consume your products and services), is key to social media success.
One way I would love to take advantage of social media is to use it to help answer the reader's question, "What do I read next?" whether that's a question about which book is next in a series, what's hot right now, or what's a strong recommendation for a good book to read.
She recommends blogs in particular because a) they are a better forum for conveying expertise than Twitter; b) you can ask your followers to subscribe to your blog, something that you cannot do with a website. However, you can use a blog to drive traffic to your website by inserting links to your website in your blogs (and Facebook, and Twitter, and Google+).
She is very specific about how often a blog author needs to post to create a new audience for a blog: twice a week. I guess "Content is king," but fresh content is even kinglier. Establishing a relationship with a consumer of your content is easier if you communicate more frequently.
However, as a online marketing textbook I recently read asserted, the nature of Google's algorithms determining ranking are such that, ultimately, high quality content may be more important that the strategic insertion of keywords in metatags.
Another theme is the "engagement" aspect of social media marketing. The old fashioned model for mass communication was broadcasting: one message sent to many people. Kabani points out that many ineffective social media marketers "abuse" social media by continuing to push out a message
that that may or may not be tailored to sub-audiences and which does not engage the visitor. Further, she repeated points out that while you cannot talk back to a TV, you can talk back on social media and that is its great strength. A social media marketer should be starting, and continuing, a conversation rather a one-sided communication.
In Chapter 4, she offers some "social media marketing tenets." They are:
1. Respect other people online.
2. Efforts to control and manipulate will backfire.
3. Don't chase everything new under the sun.
4. Traffic is nice but should not be the only goal of social media marketing.
5. It's a good idea to use your real name.
6. You have to be proactive (reach out to others; start a conversation).
She quotes marketing expert Nancy Marmolejo's advice to social media marketers: "to position yourself as an expert in your field .. you must market yourself as a highly visible, ideally matched source of for your audience. .. Always focus on providing valuable content, boosting your credibility, building trust, .. Value, credibility and trust. Add those three things to a high level of visibility and you have the social media recipe for success." (Implied in her remarks are the value of credibility, which should be part of any public relations effort. The way to build credibility is to be open, honest, and deliver what you promise.)
Social Media Policy
There was a time when a lot of libraries were concerned with this issue. I assume that most libraries that want to have a social media policy now have one.
Shama Kabani makes several interesting points about crafting a social media policy. One is that one size does not fit all, and it would be ideal for a social media policy fit your organization. Another is that it is not necessary to make social media rules punitive or draconian. She emphasizes commen sense, and points out that at Zappos, employees are encouraged to participate in social media and are trusted to present the company in a positive light. She points out that as of the writing of her book, Zappos has not had any problems with social media comments posted by colleagues. This reminds me that again, having a healthy company culture can do wonders in preventing these kinds of problems.
I think something that's implied is that when and if you adopt a social media policy, you spend some time talking with staff about their role in social media.
Some More Pithy Rules
"If content is king, video is the king of the bigger country."
"Many executives between the ages of 45 and 65 are digital aliens. They were not brought up in the digital age and feel overwhelmed and sometimes fearful of the new technologies."
"You might have heard the saying around SEO blogs and discussion boards that "Content is King," which is true. But optimizing that content is how to ensure your site performs better than your competitors'." (Chapter 3, "Search Engine Optimization," p. 30.)
(Her definition of social media:) "Online platforms where people connect and communicate." (Chapter 4, p.48.)
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