Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest […] Almost everyone today has jumped onto the social media bandwagon. A whole industry of experts has emerged stressing the critical importance of social media marketing. Their usual argument is that socially engaged consumers increase revenues and long-term loyalty, while at the same time, they decrease the cost of sales, marketing and customer service.
This all sounds very nice. But it is easier said than done. While the importance of social media is undeniable, how exactly such a program stands to be implemented remains largely unaddressed. Building on their veteran social media expertise, including the development of early Facebook apps and work with global corporations such as IBM, authors Boudreaux and Emerick provide actionable advice as to how to create the structures and processes necessary for social media marketing. Specifically,
[…] we explain how you can create a systematic program that empowers your employees and business partners to leverage their professional expertise and skills to build a web of trust that supports and protects your brand.
We show you how to select, train, and retain them. We also show you how to navigate the complicated world of influence and how to protect employees and your brand from online threats to privacy and security. We explain how you can build a program team that suits the scale of your organization-be it large or small-and how to evaluate the readiness of your organization as well as measure the contribution of employees engaged in social media. And we show you how to bring executives on board so you can get the funding and resources that you need to succeed (p. 4).
The Most Powerful Brand on Earth is organized into ten chapters. Its first, Web of Trust: The Case for the Social Work Force, explains how marketing communications have changed, how conventional mediums are increasingly lacking and why organizations should empower their employees through social media. Chapter 2, Help Your People Do Well, shows organizations how to plan for the needed social media roles and skills and how to attract, train and support socially empowered employees. Chapter 3, Influence, Its Complicated, discusses how online influence is often misunderstood, how it really works and how organizations can become more effective in this regard. Chapter 4, The Power to Sway: Helping Employees Build Advocacy Online, presents a proven framework through which to plan, execute and manage relationships with online influencers. Chapter 5, You Will Measure New Things in New Ways, further elaborates the framework by showing how to measure the performance of employees, the social program and key business outcomes. Chapter 6, Safety and Security, addresses a series of issues that must be a priori resolved to ensure that employees, the organization, customers and other stakeholders remain safe throughout the social media effort. Chapter 7, How to Begin, covers the political challenges typically faced and how to build a business case for the social media program, gain support from organizational leaders and use pilots to prove the concept and increase support. Chapter 8, Build Your Team, explains who to recruit to develop and run a program that consistently delivers value. Chapter 9, Manage the Journey, explains the impact of organizational culture on social media programs and provides further suggestions as to how better navigate organizational change. Chapter 10, The Future of the Social Work Force, examines emerging trends that will affect social media in the years to come and how to better prepare for this new reality. The Most Powerful Brand on Earth then ends with an Index that allows readers to easily find topics. However, a Notes or Bibliography section is not offered. The sources for each chapter are instead provided as footnotes, which, unlike in most other books, allows for immediate and convenient access. A Table of Contents, Preface, Acknowledgements and About the Authors precede the book’s chapters.
The Most Powerful Brand on Earth should enjoy broad appeal. Academics might require more theoretical depth and rigor. However, the book’s insights are still bound to interest and update as to what is being done in industry. It is, therefore, practitioners who should find The Most Powerful Brand on Earth most useful. The book offers solid guidance as to how to actually implement social media programs. However, unlike other books, The Most Powerful Brand on Earth does not provide the usual generic recommendations. Examples help illustrate a variety of potential situations that might be encountered. The pros and cons of different approaches to these are also discussed. However, this is not done in isolation but in the context of other organizational activities. It is also not limited to present needs but also contemplates issues that might emerge long-term, such as digital asset ownership or succession. In the end, The Most Powerful Brand on Earth also provides a step-by-step social media implementation framework. More importantly, the book provides readers with a broad and balanced understanding of the issues at hand to tailor their programs according to particular circumstances.
Chapters in The Most Powerful Brand on Earth are typically split into short sections. They are also sprinkled with bullets, graphs and sidebars. This breaks up the reading, making it fluid, and better illustrating the points being made. Each chapter then ends with a Your Next Steps section. In it, readers are given a to-do list that not only highlights the chapter’s more important issues but is also conducive toward the establishment of their own social media programs.
The book’s style is casual and personal, as if speaking directly to the reader. It is also concise and to the point. All this keeps the train of thought light and engaging. Because of the above, The Most Powerful Brand on Earth should also be of value to students. The issues raised provide good food for thought and are bound to enrich any Internet/social media marketing class.
In sum, The Most Powerful Brand on Earth is solid, engaging and practical. Certainly, worthwhile for anyone interested in how to set up a social media marketing program. Highly recommended.
