The smartest way to look at this book is to imagine it’s the Coles Notes of Social Media. Everything you need to know about a variety of Social Media platforms is jammed into the 232 pages while leaving out the fluff and filler.
Reading through I didn’t find myself skipping over pages to get to the meat or worse glazing over the writing to get a general gist of what is being said. Zarella takes a very smart approach to his writing by incorporating his own Social Media presence into the book. By allowing readers to see snapshots of his presence and how he is using the various platforms they are able to make a connection and see how the multitude of sites can work for them.
If you are already active on a lot of Social Media sites this book will have a handful of helpful tips for you but it may not offer any groundbreaking insights. Its power comes from those who are new to the scene. Newcomers to Social Media often don’t get it, or don’t see it working immediately from the get go and get turned off from the idea. When I first began using Twitter I was the same way. However Zarella is careful to outline some of the great benefits that come from being knee deep in Social Media and, my favourite part, recognizing the strength in making your blog your hub of information.
One of the strengths of the book is that it isn’t advocating the use of every system. Zarella does go through the process of outlining many of the more popular platforms but understands their uses may be limited amongst different individuals. Not every system will work for every individual, or organization, so a strategy is required and necessary before taking the steps forward in using Social Media effectively.
What Zarella touches on, which many overlook is the measurement systems that must come with Social Media usage. It is still being used as a communications platform, as content generation, as customer interaction, and as such still needs to be measured by the organization using it.
It’s a short read, but it contains some powerful information which is a benefit in itself. No fluff or filler to worry about, just content to help move you forward. The Social Media Marketing Book certainly gets thumbs up from us.
