Engage!: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web Paperback – March 15, 2011

"Perhaps the biggest mistakes committed by businesses, personalities, and brands in social media occur when people jump into social networks blindly without establishing guidelines, a plan of action, a sense of what people are seeking and how and why they communicated, an understanding of where people are congregating, a definition of what they represent and how they will personify the brand online, and the goals, objectives, and metrics associated with participation." Albeit fairly late in the book, this sentence sums up the purpose of Brian Solis in Engage! One more book about Social Media, sure; but this one is one of the best written. It's almost reassuring to read sentences that exceed 140 characters (or twenty words), and, while you can find all the trendy buzzwords and expressions on virtually every page, the author authentically tries to assist social media managers as they transition from the broadcasting age to the intricacies of a new form of netcasting architecture where both users and corporations exchange "social objects." How well or efficiently can they do so? This book provides social media managers with the background knowledge and practical notions that they can leverage to design a consistent strategy.The first half of the book surveys the world of social media in general, describing all the aspects of social interactions and their impact on corporate marketing and communication, as well as customer service departments. Traditional marketing schemas have irreversibly imploded under the pressure of a crowd represented in a "conversation prism" that factors in behavioral guidelines implicitly or explicitly set by the multiple socialization channels. So marketers must listen. What can they do with so much information? "Instead of inhibiting the pace and breadth of information flow, we must channel relevant details and data," a task that does not only require "attention" (nice reference to Linda Stone's Continuous Partial Attention), but also some understanding of applied social sciences or researchers' and analysts' categorizations (such as Charlene Li's and Jeremiah Owyang's Socialgraphics). Achieving a state of the art "unmarketing" to use a time-stamped word by Scott Stratten - i.e. rebuilding a marketing strategy from the bottom up - entails, for many companies, a serious reassessment of some entrenched marketing habits. Hence the resolutely didactic approach of the two parts of the book: "The New Reality of Marketing and Creating Customer Service" and "Forever Students of New Media."The second half of the book comprises four parts that detail the new responsibilities that come up with the potential of social media, and focuses more specifically on what a "new marketing" approach may look like. One of the most remarkable sections is related to "defining the rules of engagement." It unambiguously shows to the skeptics that the social media revolution is not a passing phenomenon spurred on or controlled by influencers, but the reality of today's computing, one of the incarnations of the social Web, and that it is set to transform every single company from the inside. The examples of IBM's and Intel's guide-lines (and its digital IQ Program) do not only demonstrate the forward-thinking intelligence of people like Bryan Rhoads or Ken Kaplan, but also the proactive approach of highly regarded companies as they define new roles and responsibilities to adapt to a new world. Digital intelligence is not simply the prerogative of a handful of gurus appointed to task forces or advisory boards, it will also be part of the job description of most employees in the close future if they want to be up to par with educated customers. The scope of the book stops here, but it's clear that the social media revolution will lead to the reassessment of corporate cultures, employee empowerment methodologies, and linguistic and artistic skills. "Unmarketing" just like any vibrant "marketing" starts from within. Corporate stonewalling doesn't have too much future.End result: a serious book that gathers the Zeitgeist (and will bring many people up to speed with trends and idioms). Somewhat voluble, yet kindly extroverted and definitely useful if you want to create a social media plan.

Review:So why is this book so good?It's well written. This book is so useful because of how the author eases the reader into the language of marketing and social media. The book assumes nothing about the reader's previous knowledge, and explains each term that the author, Brian Solis, uses. Anyone can begin reading and immediately understand the author's writing . On top of that it's enjoyable to read. The informal tone of the book makes it easy to pick up the book and begin reading it.It’s comprehensive. Solis wants the reader to understand how to market their business through social media, and covers a lot of topics in this book. The early chapters are structured like a college curriculum; starting with Social Media 101 and going all the way through Social Media 901. They cover the basic and intermediate topics of social media; going through how to use Facebook and Twitter, detailing how blogging networks are different from Facebook users, and how to connect with customers on an individual basis through Twitter. These lessons are invaluable, for an individual starting a business to or even an established corporate entity.Solis gives out a tremendous amount of information during these chapters. He explains the reasoning behind his marketing strategies, he gives examples of how actual companies have been successful, and he reviews an incredible number of tools for people and businesses to use. I myself will be using tools from Chapters 19 and 20 to help establish my own business.Unfortunately, all this comprehensive content makes this a pretty thick book. Engage! weighs in at 316 pages plus a twenty page introduction. The other problem is that the author is written for a very broad audience. Since the book is trying to write to both a beginner and expert marketers, some chapters will bore the readers, while others will hopelessly confuse the. The last chapters of the book will swamp anyone without a formal marketing background, and subject is to skewed towards large corporate businesses.But the last reason this book is worth it, is because it states a plan of action. Unlike many other books, Solis gives a detailed and concise plan how to improve a business' social media policy. Chapter 26 details a step-by-step process to find your current standing, and then improve it.After all is said and done, is this book any good? Is it worth it?Yes. This book is a phenomenal resource to anyone who has an interest in social media marketing. Its well written, its informative, and it gives you a how-to guide to get yourself started.

I was very dissapointed on this book. I could not find a single original concept or idea that made the book worthy. It constantly repeat the idea of "engage or die" and, as the usual apocaliptic analysis, does not go one step further on that. As the creator of the conversation prism i expected more from him and not a list fo links and research done by others.If you have some experience of interest in this field, the book is basic. If in the other side, you are new, you may find it an great. But for me, very ver lame and boring.