Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Book Review – Successful Social Marketing

The Savvy Book Marketer’s Guide to Successful Social Marketing
Author: Dana Lynn Smith
Publisher: Texana Publishing Consultants (April 2009)
Pages: 210 pages

All successful authors know that defining and understanding their target audience is a key element in their marketing campaign. Participating in online social media gives authors an unprecedented way to interact with their audience. It takes them well beyond simply having a presence on the Web.

However, effectively managing on online promotional campaign can be an overwhelming task. Figuring out how to post the best information in the right place to maximize return-on-investment of time is difficult without proper guidance. That’s exactly where Dana Lynn Smith’s latest e-book, The Savvy Book Marketer’s Guide to Successful Social Marketing, can help.

The book contains in-depth sections on a wide variety of social marketing outlets including blogging, micro-blogging, social networking, reader communities, online forums, content sharing, bookmarking, and more. In fact, the book covers so many options that it contains a warning not to try all of them. Instead, Smith provides resources to help develop a marketing strategy that works best for you and your book using a combination of selected tools that maximize your time investment and will yield the best results. Besides the Action Plan that is at the end of each chapter, there is also a ten-step blueprint in the last chapter to help you develop your unique social marketing plan.

Smith goes well beyond simply listing what resources are available. She details step-by-step instructions for setting them up and using them properly. This includes information about the unique lingo and etiquette of each resource. She also gives tips on ways to attract an audience and common mistakes that will ultimately drive folks away.

I was particularly impressed with the depth of information on Twitter and Facebook, each having its own chapter. Even though I have been using these services for some time, I still found multiple examples of resources available on these two sites that I didn’t even know existed, much less how to use them effectively. In other sections of the book I also found resources and tips for using them in ways that I had not considered before. This is a hallmark in all of Smith’s books. Even if you have been in marketing for some time, you will still find new information to use. Her creative, yet practical tips will provide new marketing outlets to incorporate into your strategy.

Dana Lynn Smith is an expert in marketing and everything in The Savvy Book Marketer’s Guide to Successful Social Marketing proves it. This is the most comprehensive and well-researched resource available. If you only purchase one book on this topic, make it Successful Social Marketing.

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