The Zen of Social Media Marketing Book Review

The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue (affiliate link)

Shama Kabani is a leader in social media marketing.  She is trusted and she is well known.  Aside from the fact that she is pretty and that she will charm your socks off, she is an incredible communicator.  She communicates the basics of social media marketing as well as anyone I know.  If you have visited her website, Shama.tv, you will have learned lots of very helpful information while enjoying her video clips.

It is no surprise that she is the first to put out a book on the basics of social media marketing.  She actually published it in an e-book form a couple of years ago.  I had already downloaded and read the e-book last year, but when she announced that it was coming out in a book, I was excited.

Shama (@shama) breaks down the reasons why you may need to incorporate a social media marketing plan in your business.  She addresses different questions and how social media marketing can be useful for all types and sizes of business.  But wait, just so you know that is not all theory, she has included 12 case studies with real life examples of businesses using social media marketing to improve their businesses.

Shama lays a foundation by addressing the basics of online marketing.  Then, she moves in to the use of websites, blogs and gives the reader a crash course on search engine optimization and how it can help improve your website in the rankings.  She recruited Steve West to write the SEO section.  In fact, Shama recruits Dave Kaminski to write the section on videos.  I like that she asked experts in other fields to contribute to the book.

Shama then turns her attention toward the “big three” in social media: Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook.  She gives the reader good advice on how to use the tool as well as how it can help you business.  These sections are worth the read because she gives information that is not widely known.  For instance, she gives information on the difference of a profile, a group and a fan page on Facebook and in which instance it is best to use one over the others.  After she writes about the “big three,” she turns the forum over to Kaminski to talk about why and how to use videos on websites.  This is an eye-opening chapter and has the potential to give business owners new ideas for online marketing.

Shama wraps up the book by addressing how and why a company should set up a social media policy.  It is worth learning and implementing before a crisis hits. Finally, she gives out a few suggestions on using social media such as how to synchronize updates using ping.fm and how to measure your efforts.

The section in which I like the most is the back part of the book.  Shama has included a “practical” section.  I mentioned earlier the case study section, but she has also included the Q&A section.  I am impressed with how easily she takes something that can seem so theoretical and communicate it in terms of the practical.   That is a skill that is rare, and Shama is one of the best I have seen.  Of course, in true Shama form, she included a way to enhance your experience using the book by offering an ongoing community online.  You will have to read the book for that information!

Shama utilizes quotes from several “experts,” and the forward is written by Chris Brogan.  For my friends in Central Arkansas, is worth noting that Shama quotes Samantha Hartley in the book who is also from Conway, Arkansas.

Thanks Shama for this book!  I enjoyed it even more than the e-book version.