Going Social by Jeremy Goldman - Book review

Going Social

Excite Customers, Generate Buzz, and Energize Your Brand with the Power of Social Media

By: Jeremy Goldman

Published: November 1, 2012
Format: Paperback, 294 pages
ISBN-10: 0814432557
ISBN-13: 978-0814432556
Publisher: AMACOM









"True social marketing is about developing ongoing relationships with your customers, rather than optimizing around a small specific campaign> writes social media marketer, communications manager, and AVP of Interactive and Social Media for iluminage inc., Jeremy Goldman, in his holistic and idea filled book Going Social: Excite Customers, Generate Buzz, and Energize Your Brand with the Power of Social Media. The author describes the importance of engaging with customers, who now live online, and building long term relationships to ensure customer loyalty.

Jeremy Goldman understands the necessity to establish a strong social presence on the social media platforms frequented by the customers of your company. The author presents a strong case for business people, regardless of the size of their company, to take advantage of the competitive advantage provided by establishing and nurturing long term customer relationships. Jeremy Goldman shares how social media presence is now one of the basic requirements for any business, and in any industry. The author offers the ideas and strategies for developing and growing customer relationships through social media, that connect with those customers, and on the platforms where they prefer to engage.

Jeremy Goldman (photo left) recognizes that people are, by nature, very social. As a result, they seek out other people with whom to engage, talk, and share ideas. For companies, this social aspect of humans is an important source of connections, to engage in conversation, and to build lasting relationships. The author provides the ideas for engaging with customers in an online, social media based world. At the same time, Jeremy Goldman also understands very well that social media is still in its infancy, and continues to evolve, create new platforms for connections, and that strategies must change as well to maintain the customer relationship.

Jeremy Goldman offers ideas for developing a social media strategy by considering the following areas of engagement:

* Developing engagement building content
* Focusing on the customer
* Staffing your company social media team
* Identifying and engaging influencers
* Establishing relationships with bloggers
* Transforming employees into marketers
* Engaging with results and return on investment in mind

For me, the power of the book is how Jeremy Goldman develops a comprehensive social media engagement framework, and shares the real world tested ideas that turn that framework into an effective strategy. The author, to his credit, doesn't promote a single set of rules and laws to follow, but instead offers a set of general guidelines and suggestions for engaging customers. These guidelines recognize the fluid and rapidly evolving nature of the internet in general and social media in particular. To his credit, Jeremy Goldman describes his concepts as simply being suggestions, as change is so rapid in social media that hard and fast rules will be outdated very quickly.

The author presents examples of tactics that have worked for his company, and for other businesses, in the real world. This experience is utilized well in the holistic approach to social media, and to developing long term customer loyalty, as presented by the author. The emphasis is placed on customer focus, and that message is timeless.

I highly recommend the very comprehensive and customer oriented book Going Social: Excite Customers, Generate Buzz, and Energize Your Brand with the Power of Social Media by Jeremy Goldman, to any business leaders, brand managers, or entrepreneurs seeking a clear and all encompassing guide to building long term customer loyalty through social media engagement. This book will help you establish those all important customer relationships that provide that much sought after competitive advantage.