The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success [Paperback]

Lon Safko (Author), David K. Brake (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0470411554 | ISBN-13: 978-0470411551 | Edition: 1

The Ultimate Guide To Social Media Marketing

The Social Media Bible will show you how to build or transform your business into a social media—enabled enterprise where customers, employees, and prospects connect, collaborate, and champion your products, your services, and your way of doing business.

Using the systematic approach presented in this comprehensive guide, you'll learn how to:

• Increase your company and brand value by engaging people in new forms of communication, collaboration, education, and entertainment
• Determine which social media tactics you should be using with your customers and employees
• Evaluate and categorize the tools and applications that constitute the rapidly evolving social media ecosystem
• Make social media tools like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, blogging, podcasting, and hundreds of others a part of your business strategy
• Do a social media analysis inside your company to improve internal operations and outside your company to create and monetize relationships with customers and prospects
• Implement social media micro- and macrostrategies to give your business the competitive edge it needs to survive and thrive

Virtually every business can use social media to increase sales and profits, and The Social Media Bible will show you how. Part One introduces you to social media, and gives you a helpful framework, and presents practical and tactical tips for using some of these tools. Part Two introduces you to over 100 social media tools and applications in fifteen different categories, giving you a quick rundown of the features and functions of the tools that should become part of your social media strategy. Part Three offers mini exercises and assessments to help you conduct a social media audit of your company, your competition, and your customers, so you can craft the perfect strategy for your business.

If you want to grow your business, you have to stay connected to your stakeholders- whether you're a big corporation, a small business, or even a nonprofit. The Social Media Bible will show you how to harness the collective wisdom and viral value of your stakeholders and stay ahead of your competition.
www.TheSocialMediaBible.com

Editorial Reviews

Review

‘A Bumper guide to social media marketing…show you how to build or transform your business into a social media-enabled enterprise.' (Accounting Technician, December 2010). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Social Media Bible, Second Edition

"The social media phenomenon is still ramping up, and this book provides useful and timely business advice."
—Vint Cerf, Father Of The Internet

"Social media and customer care are rapidly coming together. This Second Edition is a must-read for any professional who wants to stay on top of this rapidly changing topic. From the basics to long-term social media strategy, this is the only resource book to have on your desk."
—Scott Ross, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, NCO Group, INC.

"Lon Safko and The Social Media Bible address the key questions—Why should I take part in social media? How should I take part? How do I reap the greatest benefits?—while also providing the push to take the next step."
—Jeff Hagen, Director, Consumer Services, General Mills

"Lon Safko is a serial technologist who really understands social media and is also blessed with the gift of being a great com-municator. His book deftly takes you from 'Social Media 101' all the way to PhD status in a format that is easy to browse, informative, and powerful."
—Tom Asher, Director, Consumer Relations, North America, Levi Strauss & Co.

The Social Media Bible, Second Edition delivers the most comprehensive single resource available for marketing in the social media universe. Here you'll find top-to-bottom coverage of the tactics, tools, and strategies to successfully grow your business in these new media channels.

Revised and updated with user-generated feedback and content, this Second Edition features the latest techniques, platforms, technologies, people, companies, and more, enabling you to make smart moves in the social media world and get the most out of your marketing strategy. Inside this new edition, you'll discover:

• The 100-plus best companies providing software, sites, apps, gaming platforms, and more

• The five steps for developing a successful social media marketing plan

• How to win in social media whether you're a one-person company or a Fortune 500 company

• Additional online content available for book purchasers

• Interviews with 50 different experts, from Twitter inventor Biz Stone to social media marketer extraordinaire Gary "V" to senior vice presidents at YouTube, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Google, and FlickrHow to measure social media ROI, including numerous examples from companies of all sizes

• And much more

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 840 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (May 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470411554
• ISBN-13: 978-0470411551
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 1.9 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #348,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #94 in Books > Computers & Technology > Business & Management > Social Media for Business

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

115 of 115 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but not a bible November 5, 2009

By A. S. Johnson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This book is a good way to get familiar with online social tools. The author covers ways to use email, social networking tools and publishing tools. He has good information about establishing some goals and determining a strategy for meeting the goals. He also has a lot of useful references if you want to get more familiar with a particular topic.

I only gave it three stars for the following reasons:
- Too much coverage of the history of the internet, email, and web pages. If I was interested in that, I'd get a book on the history of the internet, email, and web pages.
- Misinformation on some tools, and missing information about other tools. For instance, the author mentions Joomla, a content management system that can be used to create websites and blogs. He mentions it in a way that may mislead people as to its uses when he states that it can pair with any number of applications. It might work with other applications, but that may require coding skills or money to pay someone to make them work together. He also ignores the multitude of other open source content management systems that are out there.
- A serious amount of repetition in sections one and two. A lot of what is stated in the second section is already in the first, so it added a few hundred pages without saying a whole lot.

This is a good book. It's less complete than the title suggests.

54 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Social Media Resource August 12, 2009

By David J. Perdue

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ask a hundred people what "social media" is, and you may get a hundred different definitions. Frankly, social media doesn't just connect people--it baffles them, too. The authors of "The Social Media Bible," however, have made a considerable attempt at creating a resource that helps readers gain an overall understanding of the social media "ecosystem" (to put it in the authors' terms) and how the social media phenomenon relates to business.

First, I think it's in order to discuss what this tome covers. Part I, Background Basics and Tactics, comprises the first 23 chapters. This section of the book defines social media, explains the different types of social media, and helps you understand why it's important. You get coverage here of everything from social networks to microblogging to virtual worlds. If you've read other books about social media, you may already be familiar with some of this content. If you're brand new to social media, you'll find it especially helpful.

Part II, Tools, comprises chapters 24-38 and revisits the different categories of social media, focusing on current popular tools. The authors discuss each tool, focusing on who should use them and why; you'll even find some more technical information in these chapters. Although I appreciated the broad look at all the different types of the social media, I felt that the sections could have gone into more detail. However, you could easily write an entire book on each type of social media presented, so the authors clearly had to limit coverage of each type of social media resource.

Part III, Strategy, includes the final chapters of 39-43 and offers some excellent advice on how to apply everything learned in the book. I appreciated the bits of advice spread throughout as well as the cohesive strategies presented. I especially found the chapter "The Four Pillars of Social Media Strategy" helpful, which discusses how a social media strategy should have goals of communication, collaboration, education, and entertainment.

Although some of the principles in this book will endure, much of the descriptions for current social media tools will quickly go out of date (as some already have). However, the authors clearly recognized this and intended it to be a timely book. If you're new to the concept of social media and seeking how to apply social media to your business, the "Social Media Bible" is a great resource. If you're already familiar with using social media, you may find yourself skipping some of the basic information in the book. Overall, I believe there is wisdom for everyone to find in this useful guide--the kind of wisdom that will help you to give new life to your company's online marketing efforts in the social media world.

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is an 800-pound guerilla when it comes to social media marketing. Four thumbs up! April 30, 2009

By Jeff Lippincott VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Great book! Loved it! It's huge and heavy and not particularly pricey. I found it to be well organized and well written. And it was certainly packed to the gills with content. There are 43 chapters split into three different sections: (1) Background basics & tactics, (2) Tools, & (3) Strategy. The chapters in the first part provide an introduction and framework regarding the book. The numerous chapters in the second part cover 100+ social media tools. And the last five or six chapters in the third part can help you do an audit of the social media marketing your company does (or doesn't do).

The book is comprehensive. I haven't seen a book that covers so much and in such depth on the topic of social media marketing (or Internet Marketing). There were a ton of "Expert Insights" sprinkled throughout the text that really made the book shine. And each chapter ended with three summaries: (1) Commandments, (2) Conclusion, & (3) Readings & Resources. Each were well done. In particular the Readings & Resources for each chapter were better than most books have at the end of an entire book. 6 stars!

PS. To see the chapter titles and how the book is specifically organized I encourage you to peek at the Search Inside feature Amazon offers for this book. With 43 chapters there are a lot of chapter titles to read.