Customer Reviews

Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Before reading the book, I had thought it would explain how you can maintain a strong presence for your business in only 60 minutes a day, but that's not quite what it's about. It is actually a sixteen-week program, taking you from planning to implementation and evaluating your results. Every day has an assigned task which should take approximately one hour to complete, making it ideal for readers who prefer a practical, structured approach to learning.

The "course outline" is as follows:

Month 1: Create the Plan and Get Started
Month 2: Establish Corporate Presence with Pages and Groups
Month 3: Create Demand with Facebook Ads
Month 4: Advanced Tactics and Campaign Integration

There is a wealth of valuable information in this volume, much of which is not limited to Facebook but is relevant to any form of social media marketing. It's next to impossible to talk about any component of social media in isolation, because they all work together so closely.

Facebook changes so often that no one can know for sure what the future will hold, so the Appendix containing the opinions of six industry experts on "The Future of Facebook" was particularly fascinating. It is clear that social media in general, and Facebook in particular, are going to continue to play a major role in people's lives, so it's going to become increasingly important for businesses to get involved if they don't want to get left behind.

Whether or not you choose to follow the daily steps, this book is an excellent guide for anyone wanting a better understanding of how Facebook works and how they can leverage it to promote their business.

Any user of Facebook needs this book. If you are a small business owner or active online promoting your brand it really helps to have a guide and a shortcut to being effective online.

I first met Mari Smith online as I was getting my profile and fan pages up and operating.

Since then I found that she is THE leader in anything Facebook and is accessible from her fan page to help with any updates or questions that might come up.

What I liked about Facebook Marketing An Hour a Day is that it gives you a background on Facebook, defines it, and then helps guide you into developing a strategy and how to measure it.

In addition it also teaches you how to use pages and groups, how to use ads, and advanced tactics--so it is great for the average user or the small business person or online marketing teams.

I selected the Kindle edition because of the rapidly changing nature of social media so I could get it right away.

Things in social media change so fast (just like Facebook's new revamps over the last two weeks) so I do encourage you to download and begin using it right away.

This book is well worth the investment--go get it now and then go find MariSmith on Facebook!

I heard one of the authors give an awesome presentation at a conference last year, so I was eagerly awaiting this book. Fortunately it didn't disappoint! Lots of great specific, actionable how-to instructions -- just what I need to get my Facebook marketing going. In fact, the book is better than many courses I've bought from other marketing experts for $500+ (and some of those were pretty good too). Highly recommended.

I started reading Mari Smith and Chris Treadaway's new book, Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day and it is slow going.

It is NOT slow reading because it is poorly written or dull.

I'm reading it slowly because I am literally using up my yellow highlighter marking important passages. Then I have to pause to write little margin notes. And then of course I must put those little sticker bookmarks on pages I know I'll want to refer back to again and again.

Not to mention that I have to jot down ideas gleaned from Smith and Treadway in a little notebook I keep with me at all times.

And all that doesn't include the time I spend being envious of these two and their brilliant ideas. I just wish I had written this book instead.

Treadaway and Smith have written that rare book that balances in-depth, expert advice without leaving the newbe behind in the dust. It is just packed with actionable ideas any marketer can use to take advantage of the breathtaking potential of Facebook to promote their business.

Facebook is so hot right now that businesses are jumping in without a plan or clue. This book is the kind of tool you need to dig in and create a strategy and master the technical stuff that can create so much frustration for the business owner already strapped for time.

The book will also help marketers demonstrate to CEOs and department heads reluctant to explore Facebook and other social media platforms how to treat Facebook as in integrated part of the marketing whole.

John Jantsch author of The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself

Books related to social media marketing keep coming out. The truth is that even if Internet and social media marketing aren't new, the information needs for marketing managers are huge: the more they read, the faster they will get the immersion feel enabling them to move from a tactical use of social media to a strategic management of social media campaigns.

Not all books are equally valuable, though. Count Facebook Marketing by Chris Treadaway (@ctreada) and Mari Smith (@MariSmith) among the great ones. Unpretentious and practical, it takes you by the hand and shows you how Facebook can work for you, as an individual with a personal practice, or as a social "editor-in-chief" for your company. Even if you believe that you already "know" a lot, read this book as it's quite possible that you might not yet be taking full advantage of what you "know."

The first chapter is one of the simplest and best written short history of Internet Marketing I have seen in a while; it summarizes how customer targeting is quickly evolving towards building up coherent sets of motivated and intention-driven social commerce addressees, and takes you to the second chapter and what Facebook is: a platform that brings people to real or virtual places or stores based on who they are, what they like, or what they are looking for. In other words, people who have described themselves in their own terms. Based on this understanding of the potential of Facebook as a sales and marketing platform, you are able to define your "social media product," because "the social media presence is, in effect, an interactive online product." Promoting or positioning this "product" requires a structured view of your social media project, so start with the beginning: Create a campaign. Facebook Marketing is one of the few books reminding you of this simple, yet critical concept of "campaign": it's what kicks off the entire work process and your operational plan.

Chapters 4 to 7 take you through a month-by-month (as well as week-by-week and day-by-day) planning and execution plan. This is yet another real plus of this book: the authors are hands-on practitioners sincerely willing to transfer their own experience and turn you into empowered, rather than dogmatic, professionals. Because measurable success will not come overnight. It's the result of an iterative process composed of a collection of adjustments, experiments, and reassessments. "Remember," the authors warn, "these projects involve a lot of trials and errors." So, generally speaking, no matter how convinced you may be that you are cutting edge, always temper your own expectations, don't over-promise, and measure impact and results like crazy.

The last three chapters offer a variety of tips and advice - from leveraging Facebook apps to picking up the right people and vendors - and invite you to remain on the look out. Facebook has quickly become a marketing power-kingdom. Continued learning will be part of your continued success. Incidentally, keep abreast with the authors' sites and wisdom.

I was so excited to purchase this book and its been an amazing read! For anyone on Facebook or in business, this is a must have book! I've been in social media for 13 years and I've learned a lot from Mari Smith. She is an amazing social media Guru and I have her to thank for my successful Virtual Assistant business. You both ROCK!!
Vicki Elam
[...]

This book goes far beyond the high-level tips & tricks for using Facebook to market your offerings. The authors have actually set up a detailed blueprint for the activities so that even the most novice Facebook user can take advantage of the whole platform by following their clearly defined steps. Most steps take under an hour to complete, so the investment is minimal and they show you how to start measuring the return within the first few weeks. Even better, the book doesn't assume you have any marketing experience, so everything is spelled out so that anyone can follow the steps.

Another thing I liked a lot about this book was that it follows proven marketing practices. While marketing on Facebook is a somewhat unique experience, any seasoned professional will recognize that the focus on planning, execution, and measuring results aligns with other efforts, whether they're online, print, or other forms of customer outreach. If your company already has a formal marketing process, these tactics will fit right in. If they don't, this can fill in nicely.

The book title says it all when it comes to who this book is intended for. If you're a casual Facebook user or a developer looking for Facebook programming guidance, this book is not for you. However, if you work for a company that wants to take advantage of Facebook to grow its customer base and/or satisfaction, this book is for you.

This is an extremely useful guide to understanding Facebook and how it can be used to promote businesses. Simple and easy to follow, this book is an invaluable resource for those looking for realistic and actionable insights on Facebook marketing.

The book is well organized--it begins with a detailed background on Internet marketing and social media to bring readers up to speed and provide them with necessary context. It then delves into Facebook, outlining its features and defining a step-by-step process to planning, executing and implementing a marketing plan on this platform. Readers are walked through a detailed sixteen-week plan that lists daily tasks that can be achieved in as little as an hour.

What is appealing about this book is that it gives realistic and implementable advice. It goes beyond defining Facebook's features to recognizing real challenges in developing a Facebook marketing plan, such as creating buy-in within a firm or defining appropriate performance metrics, and advises on how to approach these issues in a practical manner.

Overall, this book is worth buying because its clear and simple approach lends itself to any type of reader. Even though it positions itself as a "practitioner's guide", beginners and non-marketing professionals will find it easy to understand.

I bought the e-reader version, which made it easy to click and view website links in the book. However, I would strongly suggest buying the hard copy for easier note-taking and referencing, while reading the book or implementing the steps mentioned in it.

I follow Mari Smith and Chris Treadaway on Facebook and Twitter and was happy to purchase their book, "Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day. Their book not only increased my Facebook knowledge, but it also affirmed what I already knew.

This book covered everything from soup to nuts and is an excellent guide for anyone who wants - and needs - to use Facebook to grow their business.

Eydie :)