Engage! by Brian Solis Review

Title: Engage!: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web 

Author: Brian Solis

Genre: Social Media, Marketing

Page Count: 316 pages

Publish Date: March 15, 2011

Book Type: Owned Paperback

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

ISBN: 9781118003763

Picture from Goodreads

My Review: Solis really emphasizes the idea of companies acting like human beings and having a solid plan. This is a huge aspect of social media marketing. If companies can use social media to interact with and learn about their customers, they can learn so much. The best way to do this is by having conversations with them. Solis explained all of this, throughout the book, in a well written way that was easy to understand. Solis not only tells the reader how to do something, but why they should be doing it. “Engage!” would be a great asset for any company looking to increase their involvement in social media and improve their customer relations. “Engage!” is set up almost like a textbook, albeit an interesting textbook, that is jam-packed with valuable information.

Solis set up about half of “Engage!” as if it were a college course, which was extremely effective. These sections, titled “The New Media University,” detailed the steps a company can take in order to use social media to their advantage. For those people who have some experience in social media, this section can act as a refresher, but for those people who are relatively new, this section can act as a detailed introduction.

This book is best suited for people with some background knowledge of social media. While the beginning of the book does a nice job outlining how and why a company should use social media, the latter part of “Engage!” delves into slightly more advanced metrics and programs. Therefore, some knowledge of social media analytics would be beneficial before reading. The glossary at the back of the book is helpful for a refresher on some terms that may be a bit unfamiliar and the companion website, www.engagingbook.com, helps to bridge the gap between publish date and any updates to social media.

Flip the Funnel by Joseph Jaffe Review

Title: Flip the Funnel: How to Use Existing Customers to Gain New Ones

Author: Joseph Jaffe

Genre: Social Media/Marketing

Page Count: 286 pages

Publish Date: February 1, 2010

Book Type: Hardback

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

ISBN: 9780470487853

Picture from Goodreads

My Review: Throughout “Flip the Funnel,” Jaffe really stresses the importance of transparency among businesses. Flipping the funnel is all about empowering and trusting the customers. He also stresses the idea that a company should focus on their existing customers. This makes a lot of sense. Businesses are always giving out incentives to become a new customer, but it seems as if the rewards for existing customers are not as prominent.  

The notion that customers are not predictable because they are not linear also makes sense. Two mothers in their thirties with two children each could lead drastically different lifestyles--even if they share other defining characteristics. Perhaps it is time for companies to start looking at their customers on an individual case-by-case scenario. If a company can find a way to keep their existing customers, some of the pressure of finding new ones will be alleviated. If customers are happy with a product or service, they are likely to share their experiences with other people. Essentially, a company’s current customers can be the ones to find new customers. 

The whole idea of flipping the marketing funnel sounds really good. Instead of getting customers to focus on the product or service, the flipped funnel is having the business focus on the customers.  

Jaffe brought up a lot of valid points and examples. “Flip the Funnel” was well written and researched. It would be well suited for high school and college students, as well as any company looking to make a change in their marketing department. Jaffe uses the basic set-up of, where we are now, where we should be, and then what happens after that. The main takeaway is for companies to focus on their existing customers and then to let them attract new customers.

Marketing, social media and books--my favorites! What do you think?