Stuff nobody told me till I read Social Media Judo (book review)

It was Austen Weinhart who wrote me about a book that was announced May 2011. He felt  that the book Social Media Judo would be a good fit for my readership. If I was interested in speaking to one of the authors, or would simply like a copy of the book to review, I should contact him. I requested a review copy but did not request to speak one of the authors. After reading the book I regret that i did not seize that opportunity.

The content of the book is for me a fine example of disruptive marketing. Speaking frankly, the days of the Wild West in Social CRM, Social Media or Customer Service are gone. Readers of this blog are aware of the fact that we are heading  a more orderly environment, that enables us to structure our efforts and approaches and moreover, leadership and customers expect meaningful results. The book dives into many of the Ivy Worldwide marketing programs, some of the most successful campaigns. insights on what to avoid and what works.

The book outlines a framework consisting of

•                          The Discipline Social Media Judo
•                          Social Media/Influencers/Bloggers
•                         Consumer Generated Media/Blogging

Core of the message is that to promote your services or goods, your success will depend on getting even closer to the right bloggers, content producers and social media avenues. When done right, bloggers – chasing their own motives and perspectives – will take the message wherever they want to go and actually sell on your behalf. Which also implies acknowledging and respecting the autonomy of the blogger.

Working with these influencers, you can take advantage of the networks of the bloggers and influencers to promote your services and brand. And as stated in the book: the influencers understand social media, social crm or social customer service in general far better than many of the marketing managers, customer service managers or “social media experts” working today

The core

Ivy Worldwide, the leading social media and influencer marketing agency, today announced the publication of its new book, Social Media Judo, by Chris Aarons, Geoff Nelson and Nick White with Dan Zehr.

Social media judo is born out of the philosophy of successes Ivy Worldwide has in creating programs for clients by using minimal client effort and achieving maximum results. This is exactly why social media works for marketing and why it is drives ROI and is hyper-effective when done correctly.

Using the techniques found in Social Media Judo, marketers now have the information how to create their own “judo moves” that will

•      Increase sales
•      Cut marketing costs
•      Boost engagement and, most importantly
•      Pay for themselves with real revenue

Based on successful social media campaigns for major corporations as Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Adobe, AMD, AT&T, LG Electronics, Microsoft and Time, Inc. as well as a number of startups, the authors proved that social media marketing is effective in achieving maximum results without much effort on the part of the clients. Many companies start to use social media, but once it begins to work, they consider their campaign finished—they do not leverage the enormous untapped potential that is available with just a little more effort. The authors detail the best ways to help any business become “greater than the sum of its parts”.

Social Media Judo is a compelling read, full of fantastic information for any marketer that is trying to increase his or her company’s ROI through the very powerful medium of social media. The authors don’t hesitate to share their early failures as well as their successes, explaining how they rebounded after a particularly disastrous media campaign. They used their lowest point as a springboard for great success, and they offer concepts that can be utilized by any business, regardless of their size or what they are trying to sell.

My rating

4,0 stars on a scale 0-5.

This book is fun to read. It offers instructive lessons for every marketeer, manager and and professional bloggers.

Restricting their approach to a tech environment was for me a minor flaw. However, the outlined approach is also viable for any other environment.

Photocredit:  http://bikesandgirlsandmacsandstuff.tumblr.com

Judo artwork: http://femaleimagination.wordpress.com/

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