Book Review: Invest in Social Marketology by Ric Dragon

Ric Dragon is terrifyingly smart, that’s why he wrote Social Marketology.

He wanted to write a book that did not clamor about how social media is changing the world. He wanted the reader to have a book that offered a practical guide to help you organize a social media marketing process. He weaves ideas of sociology, psychology, history, statistics, process methodologies and philosophy into practical application for a social media business strategy. For golly’s sake, even the first chapter opens with a reference to the efficiency movement of the early 1900s. There was also mention of Russian Soviet Union satellite Sputnik and MTV! But you will have to read to find more of these goodies and see why it makes sense.

Well, he delivered! I carried his book (Social Marketology) in my purse for some time. I felt armed with knowledge. (You might have to refer to a dictionary once or twice though). And I would carry it again. It’s still on my coffee table not gathering dust.  You want to invest in the book if you’re handling social media – novice or veteran – or at the very least strongly encourage your community/social media manager or team to read it.

I know it gets overwhelming when you have to ransack countless blog posts, ebooks and free PDFs to figure out what – and especially who – can really teach you meaningful and profitable social media marketing. If you go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble in search of a book it still can be tough. But I’m here to tell you that Ric will, as his title states, help you “improve your social media processes and get customers to stay forever.”

To summarize, Ric explains the sub-processes that will be inserted in the master – meaning action – plan and those include:

• Clarifying the brand’s values and voice – “Focus on desired vision, goals and objectives metrics”
• Monitoring online behavior
• Audience segmentation (seriously whittled down to microsegments such as the Airedale Terrier Club of Greater Atlanta)
• Discovering target communities
• Identifying key influencers in these communities
• Executing, measuring goals and staying innovative

Scenarios are included to exemplify Ric’s points. Do I sense a sigh of relief? Yes, yes because examples are incredibly helpful and memorable.

You know, because of the rapid evolution of social media sometimes I wonder if relevant books are so 2010. Or 2011. If you’re worried, there’s no need.  The book acknowledges ongoing change in this industry and is designed to be a versatile framework that holds fundamental principles of social marketing. Heaps of great content are found online but some books still demand a physical presence and this is one of them – at least for me so I can dog ear pages and bookmark Social Marketology with post-its containing inspired ideas.

 

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