No Bullshit Social Media – The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing,
By Jason Falls and Erik Deckers
image via socialmediaexplorer.com
Everyone grappling for a toehold in the puzzling, evolving business world of today has at some point to have wondered at the stampede to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. What the authors of this book put forth in no uncertain terms is that social media is now a necessary tool for all businesses.
What does social media change in the accepted business model? The role of consumers. Social media – whether or not businesses embrace it – will affect any business’ products, services, and the well-being on the corporate entity itself. The authors cite case after case in which social media has affected organizations as diverse as Greenpeace, Papa John’s Pizza, and Verizon. The new business model driven by social media, the authors contend, is bottom-up, not top-down. Since customers are already talking about your product and service, you may as well listen – and respond constructively.
The authors caution that using social media isn’t something to immediately enhance your return on investment (ROI); instead, it’s all about an opportunity to get to know your public, to build trust through community. This may sound New Agey, but my own limited experience screams that this is the way commerce – and social media – work in the 21st century.
This doesn’t mean, however, that business should work on feelings and vibes. There are ways of measuring your impact on the marketplace through social media, and the authors offer a few new, more exact tricks for business metrics.
image via mattters.com
This rather crusty-toned book does have a drawback or two: one is that social media – and the world of commerce it affects – are still evolving. Hence a lot of what the authors put forth will no doubt change as some approaches work and others don’t. My other reservation is that the book tends to swoon into social media’s effects on major organizations, rather than on smaller, entrepreneurial businesses, such as that of writers like me. I suppose, though, that the larger organizations are where the resistance is. But all in all, the authors do a damned good job of presenting social media in pragmatic, useable ways.
My rating: 17 of 20 stars
