Read Social Marketology to Create Profitable Social Media Marketing


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I ran across this study released in July that said that about 80% of CEOs do not trust marketing.  The root of the distrust comes from the perception that marketing is disconnected from ROI and that they are more focused on building brands on social media than getting and keeping profitable customers.

The results of this study didn’t surprise me – call me cynical, but that’s been my experience in the corporate environment; CEOs not understanding the marketing process, and marketers who were more enamored with fancy creative campaigns than the fundamentals of differentiation, positioning and conversions.

Social Marketology Brings Marketers and CEOs Together

When I received my review copy of Social Marketology: Improve your Social Media Processes and Get Customers to Stay Forever by Ric Dragon, CEO of DragonSearch, I didn’t know what to expect.  Would this be a book that would take our understanding and management of social media to a more functional and practical level?  After spending a Saturday morning highlighting text and dog-earring pages, I would say, “Yes!”

Marketing savvy small business owners, marketing managers, product managers and social media managers in larger organizations will appreciate this book because it bridges the gap between the profit-oriented C-Suite and the brand building, social-centered marketing teams.

Social Marketology will give each side of the organization a playing field where they can come together to use social media to achieve both their marketing and financial goals.

Social Media Gets a Process

One of the fundamental ways the Social Marketology bridges the perceived profitability gap between marketers and CEOs is by harnessing the history of social media, the measurement and analytical tools that are available and then building a process around these so that marketers can achieve their goals and CEOs can see the connection between social media campaigns and activities and profitability.

Ric Dragon introduces a social media process that businesses and brands of any size can use to achieve their marketing goals.  Here is just a summary of the process as it’s introduced at the beginning of the book:

  1. Focusing on desired outcomes; vision, goals and objectives metrics.
  2. Incorporating knowledge and development of the brand personality and voice.
  3. Identifying the smallest possible segments of your audience, customers, users or constituents.
  4. Identifying the communities that those microsegments belong to—how people behave in those communities and what they are saying.
  5. Identifying the influencers in those communities.
  6. Creating an action plan for your project.
  7. Execution, measuring and reinvention of social media activities and programs.

One of the key drivers of the book and the process is to help businesses and social media managers adapt to whatever new social media channels come up.  So instead of simply focusing on a specific channel such as Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, by learning to use this process, you will be prepared for any new channel that’s likely to come up in the future and quickly evaluate it and add it to your strategy.

Ric Dragon Creates a Roadmap for Social Media Management

I wonder if this book could only have been written by anyone other than a CEO, who has experience on both the executive and the marketing social media side of the spectrum?

Ric Dragon has extensive experience on both sides.  He has 16 years of experience in online marketing and software development.  He is co-founder of the software and web development company Oxclove Workshop.  Dragon is the cofounder and CEO of DragonSearch, where he has led social media strategy for brands such as Steuben, The Grammy Foundation and Raritan as well as several others.

It’s his balanced experience that allows him to create a social media strategy and process that anyone will be able to create and use inside their business.

Social Marketology is a Keeper

This is a book that is ideal for any business owner who is looking for ways to tie their social media marketing to ROI (return-on-investment).  Inside, you’ll find examples of spreadsheets and project management checklists that will help you overcome the overwhelm that comes with trying to figure out how to focus your social media marketing.

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Ivana Taylor Ivana Taylor is the Book Editor for Small Business Trends. She is responsible for directing the site’s book review program and manages the team of professional book reviewers. She also spearheads the annual Small Business Book Awards. Ivana publishes DIYMarketers, where she shares daily do-it-yourself marketing tips, and is co-author of "Excel for Marketing Managers."

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