Book Review – The Digital Handshake

Digital Handshake by Paul Chaney
Part One of The Digital Handshake begins by outlining five consumer trends turning the business world upside down:

  1. Consumer skepticism and resistance to advertising
  2. Current state of media fragmentation
  3. The growing  trend toward consumers being in control of marketing/advertising messages
    1. Marketing is no longer a one-way street, but an engagement in conversation with customers and potential customers.
  4. Pressure  businesses face to improve targeting of their marketing and advertising to increase relevance and minimize waste
    1. Tomorrow’s best companies will be those who can most effectively use social medial  by connecting people in profound new ways and changing the way communities and individuals buy.
  5. Companies being held to a higher level of accountability than ever before

The most effective points The Digital Handshake made for my own business are as follows:

  • It answered my long-standing question, “How and why do I want to use a blog?  I don’t even know what SEO (search engine optimization) stands for!”
  • You need to have a specific purpose in mind before you start –  Social networks are more about who you are, while online communities are more about the value you provide. See http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000834.html for more information)
  • Determine your budget limits– what is your expectation of ROI” Enough said.
  • How much TIME will YOU spend on this type of marketing?
  • How do you measure the effectiveness of a social media marketing plan?  The days of touch-feely, warm-and-fuzzy thinking about social media marketing are over!
  • Know how social marketing measurements differ from other forms of online measurements
  • Don’t measure everything; do measure the right things:
      • Quantitative vs. qualitative metrics
      • Social media marketing measurement tools to use

Conclusion:  We have come a long way in a short time and the journey has just begun.  The Digital Handshake quotes Ali Behnam, co-founder of Web analytics software company Tealium, “Outputs equate to who is talking about you; outtakes, what they are saying about you, and outcomes measure the impact on your business.”

NOTE FROM PETEY – Move past GO– collect $200 and buy this book ASAP.  You’ll learn what the BIG deal is about SEO.  This book was written with two primary audiences in mind:  Professional practitioners in the fields of marketing a public relations and small business owners.   READ The Digital Handshake before you spend any more time or money making expensive non-productive errors based on unrealistic perceptions.