Monkbam Pro Audio Marketing Blog

I got my hands on an advance copy of Paul’s new book on social media marketing and just finished it on the train this morning. I loved it—it’s a wonderful introduction to this field and it is perfectly written to speak both to marketers who want to find out what the buzz is about, and also to those who run a business and want to take advantage of “new” marketing principles.

I know a bit more about social media marketing than the target audience, but I still found the book incredibly well laid out and there’s no question I learned a lot from it. Even those with a lot of experience in this field will find that the book helps organize the social media discipline and categorizes the myriad of tools used to reach customers. It puts the field into context and makes it accessible-that is why this book is important. It also looks at important topics like social media marketing metrics, how to pitch the idea to C-level executives, and how and why the field developed into what it is now.

Paul’s writing style is conversational and approachable. He doesn’t get up on a soapbox and preach—he engages the reader. It’s even more appropriate since social media is about engagement, not throwing a message down the pipe and hoping it hits a few people.

I like Paul’s point that social media is a kind of natural progression back to human interaction. Back in the day, there were no brands because you knew where everything came from and you associated people with those goods. When large corporations came by and broke the connections between the producers and the consumers, brands were needed to differentiate the products and restore that trust in the transaction. Today, it’s becoming easier than ever to reach individual consumers directly again. It’s the individuals within companies who blog, or Tweet, or are on Facebook who restore that trust in the transaction.

Social media marketing is important because marketers don’t control the message anymore. Consumers now have a large degree of control, and brands must be part of the conversation. At the same time, finding a unique way to connect with your customers through unconventional means can often be the cheapest and the most rewarding advertising.

Links:

More info on Paul Gillin and the new Secrets of Social Media Marketing book.
Paul Gillin’s social media blog.