Published over a month ago on Blurb.com, Connect! Marketing in the Social Media Era is a collection of 100 short blog post-like essays, edited by Jeff Caswell, inspired by The Age of Conversation, and labeled as The Project 100. A volunteer effort all around (round of applause for Jeff), the book’s proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
My entry, “We the People: Social media and sustainability”, appears on page 197. It feels strange to review the book I’ve co-authored, but since I provided less than 1% of total input and it’s for a good cause (and I like reviewing books), I’ve decided to put on my book reviewer hat anyway.
When I introduced the book in my networking group Bridges, someone said, “Isn’t it an oxymoron, a book about social media?” I say, permanent record, my friend! Indeed, with the accumulation of the social media marketing discourse online, a real, three-dimensional book may just be the ticket to education and wider social media adoption amongst marketers, business owners, or nonprofit managers.
In addition, this kind of mass collaboration, producing a single piece of content work via social media – I read the call for entries in my Reader on a blog; the book’s home resides on a blog – and on a self-publishing platform, precisely mirrors the spirit of the book’s content. Of the other authors, I personally only know Kent Lewis, yet we’re all connecting in this small volume.
So what’s in the book?
As can be expected, Connect! offers a diversity of perspectives on the topic of social media marketing. Representation runs from “A-listers” to small bloggers and from marketers, who wrote the majority of entries, to business owners to students. To get the most out of the book’s multitude of short entries and, again, simulate the online content consumption experience, don’t look for the table of contents: open the book anywhere and consume it in small chunks (I read it while waiting and on public transit). The book’s other great benefit is that each piece has the power to start a conversation, whether it’s with its big idea or a tidbit somewhere in the text. Several pieces have inspired my future blog posts. This is also that rare (only?) book that has printed tweets centered around its topic and sprinkled among the main entries.
Naturally, with one hundred individuals writing on the same subject more or less in isolation from one another, overlaps and similarities are inevitable. (Two entries from the field – “Marketing the fantasy” (adult entertainment) and “If moving at lightspeed weren’t fast enough” (real estate) – concluded with exactly the same sensible advice on using social media: know ‘your’ people/market, be interesting, and don’t sell.) The majority of posts take a general view at social media and respective marketing and branding. Community, relationship, communication, and conversation are the key words here.
It’s hard to highlight essays from such a rich pool of quality content. Here are a few entries that stood out for me (author links are at the end of this post):
Social science perspectives
- Adriana Gil Miner: “An ecological approach to digital communication” / Steven Larkin: “The changing landscape. The new marketing ecosystem” – Your marketing is an ecosystem, a living, evolving, networked, intra-and interrelated organism.
- Anjali Ramachandran: “Tightening the bond. The link between social media and social capital” – Social capital comprises the connections within and between social networks as well as connections among individuals. Participation in social networks strengthens people’s social capital. Brands can do likewise.
- Martin Ouelette: “Marketing with social norms in mind” – In social media, social norms – free, open, generous, people-driven – prevail over market norms – paid-for, copyrighted, accountable profit-driven.
Contrarians (to a degree)
- David Mullen: “Social media isn’t the second coming of you know who” – Avoid the shiny object syndrome of social media, it’s not a cure-all. Keep doing what works in your traditional marketing.
- Drew McLellan: “I don’t have a short attention span, I just…” – Use the social media tools responsibly, for your own and your clients’ marketing.
Individualization (and ‘communitization’) of brands
- Brian Morrissey: “Everything is connected” – In branding, small interactions are replacing big messages.
- Renee Barrett: “When the web went social, business became personal” – Business-to-business is now peer-to-peer.
- Shiv Singh: “The third dimension of marketing. Embrace it before it’s too late” – The rise of social influence marketing, i.e. marketing to the network of peers that surround and influence the customer across the social platforms and on brand websites.
- Victoria Caswell: “Loyalty platforms in the social media era” – Loyalty marketing is now a community dialog. Know your consumer, offer a compelling experience, support community growth to cultivate a community at the intersection of brand and consumer interest.
Case studies: Using social media to ‘market’…
- Hussein Fazal: “Social media helps feed the poor” – …fund- and foodraising.
- Jim Cahill: “Building a product community with Twitter” – …manufacturing process automation system
- Kat Lyonnais: “Marketing the fantasy” – …adult entertainment
- Robert Pratten: “Your friend’s friend is my friend” – …independent films
The book is best summarized in one of the tweets: “@agilminer Marketing in social media means there is no marketing. There is communication, storytelling, and building relationships with your customers.”
The Project 100 co-authors, in order of appearance in the book:
Adam Broitman * Adam Crowe * Adam Goldberg * Adam Kmiec * Adriana Gil Miner * Alan Wolk * Alison Woo * Ana Andjelic * Anjali Ramachandran * Ann Handley * Bill Green * BL Ochman * Blaine Mathieu * Brandie Feuer * Brian Morrissey * Bryan Hadaway * Carl Moggridge * Dave Knox * David Mullen * David Peck * Denise Cassino * Derek O’Brien * Dirk Singer * Dom Rodwell * Domenick Cilea * Doug Karr * Drew McLellan * Evan Stoudt * Eyal Danon * Facu Medina * Gavin Heaton * Gordon Plutsky * Greg Christensen * Gunther Sonnenfeld * Hussein Fazal * Iqbal Mohammed * Jacquelyn Corbett Cyr * Janeile Cudjoe * Jay Berkowitz * Jeff Bennett * Jeff Caswell * Jessica Valenzuela * Jim Cahill * Jim Canterucci * Joe Hage * Joe Pulizzi * Jon Hsia * Joseph Bachana * Julie Ann Grant * Kat Lyonnais * Kelly Mitchell * Kent Lewis * Kevin Broome * Kim Karalekas * Lani Anglin-Rosales * Lee Maschmeyer * Lisa Donnan * Marc Meyer * Maria Sipka * Marko Bon * Martin Ouellette * Maureen Streett * Max Mills * Michael Carrasquillo * Michael Hastings-Black * Michael Leis * Michael Mossoba * Miguel Cano * Nathan Beck * Oleg Vyadro * Patrick Davis * Paul Dervan * Paul McEnany * Pedro Rocha * Perry Hewitt * Peter Krainik * Peter Korchnak * Phil Barrett * Renee Barrett * Rick Krueger * Robert Pratten * Ronn Torossian * Selina Jane Eckersall * Shane Steele * Shiv Singh * Stephen Larkin * Susan Greene * Tom Humbarger * Victoria Caswell * Wallance Jackson
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Jeff Casswell, ed. Connect! Marketing in the Social Media Era, Blurb.com, 2009.
