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Let’s face it – Twitter is no longer new. But as I work with small business owners, I still am amazed at those who do not appreciate Twitter — oOr any social media, for that matter. To correct that under appreciation, I keep a list of reading material available that can tie some of the loose ends of social media together.
One book that can be a part of your list is Tweet Naked: A Bare-All Social Media Strategy for Boosting Your Brand and Your Business by Scott Levy (@FuelOnline). Founder of Fuel Online, Levy has offered SEO and social media insights since 1998. I discovered the book via NetGallery, and felt Levy adds a good resource for those who are still trying to tie loose ends of social media together.
Exposure In More Ways Than One
The book’s title almost misleads – The word “Tweet” implies that the book content covers better Twitter usage. Well, it does, as well as details for Facebook, Google Plus and Pinterest. To his credit, Levy does state that he has a preference for Twitter, he has over 364,000 followers, more than the 250,000 followers quoted in the book – and he uses Facebook heavily.
To the point of the book, the chapters do reflect the author’s preference, but they also do well to organize some details about social media usage in general.
In covering the platforms, Levy offers the right ideas for developing a basic social media strategy while offering a new spin or reminder on some tips that the reader may have seen before. For example, check out this tip about the ampersand character in Twitter, a note to deepen your tweets beyond mere retweeting:
“Lose the ampersand in both your profile and your tweets. For whatever reason, Twitter does not display the “&” sign correctly, so save your followers the trouble of figuring out what its says…”
There’s also the warning about “crying wolf:”
“One of the most important aspects of using social media is having something meaningful to say. Don’t be the boy who cried wolf – the boy who always sought attention for insignificant reasons but was then ignored when he really needed help. If you keep crying out for people to follow you, or you are tweeting or posting unimportant meaningless dribble about your every activity and thought, you minimize the value of your tweets or posts and hurt your brand building.”
A few social media basics applicable across platforms are examined with a slight SEO (search engine optimization) or analytics touch, such as a conversion rate. From the topics raised in the book, I got an impression of how much Levy connected social media strategy with some SEO aspects. Thus the value the book brings is a sensibility of organizing all those details, a good guide in summarizing what can be cross promoted consistently without overworking your small business resources.
Moreover, while explaining the ins and outs of using social media, Levy does raise great questions that do not appear in many social media books. In the chapter, “How To Build A Following,” he asks the question, “How many followers should you seek?” His insights into how he managed 250,000 Twitter followers in his own following infuses his advice on the degree of scale:
“How broad a following you want to build when your goal is to boost brand awareness of growth, or revitalize a struggling company, depends on the breadth of your brand …. Keep in mind that a larger following means you’ll need to spend more time –and resources – responding to them. So engaging with people 5,000 miles away who’ll never visit your local spa or use your plumbing service may be a waste of their time and yours. But if damage control is your priority, it doesn’t hurt to build a large following just on the chance that whoever you are engaging with has heard something negative about your business and/or industry.”
I felt a few details about measurement could have been addressed differently. The section on analytics provides a few great examples for how measurement can be effective – for customer service, for example – but tools were listed without deeply elaborating on distinguishing details between a Web analytics tool and a social media dashboard. More detail would make this segment a standout against other books on the subject.
You’ll weigh how this book aids your firm’s social media objectives. But overall give this book a try to grow your initial social media campaigns successfully. Combine this title with some other books we’ve reviewed (top social media books from 2013) and you certainly will be covered.
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