I often wonder what life would be like WITHOUT social media. I remember life BEFORE social media, but I wonder what it would be like it social media just up and disappeared. Is there life after Facebook, Twitter and hashtags? Once my daughter was having a face-to-face conversation and she used a hashtag in that conversation. I forgot exactly what it was, but it was something along the lines of “hashtag mom’s crazy” (or something like that). 🙂
These days you are not on the map if you don’t have an account on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Vine and/or Instagram. Even ‘tweens and children are opening accounts on these sites (even though they are too young).
More and more businesses are also realizing that in order to connect with consumers is to reach out to them on the various social networking sites. It doesn’t matter if you are a major brand or a little rinky dinky “mom and pop” type store – if you want to remain competitive you MUST be active on the various social media sites.
My nephew graduated high school a couple of weeks ago. He has a VERY successful DJ and Lawn Care businesses. He’s also on Facebook and Twitter as his businesses.
It’s easy enough to open an account on all these sites, but it’s not so easy to engage with your followers. You can have hundreds, or even thousands, of people following you, but if you don’t post relevant content they will become bored and unfollow you.
I would consider myself knowledgeable on social media sites, however there is always room for improvement. I also need to find ways to better engage with people, especially on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
There is a “dummies” book for just about anything including Pinterest for Dummies, Acne for Dummies, Baby Names for Dummies and even Boston Terriers for Dummies. There are plenty of crazy “dummies” books as well as many really handy ones.
Now there is a book for social media called Social Media Engagement Dummies.
I received a copy of the book to review.
Social Media Engagement Dummies does not teach you how to get followers, per say, but more so what to do with them once you have them following you on the various social media sites.
I know a lot about social media but I learned so much more reading this book – things I would have never even considered doing and things I have never even heard of.
The book is geared more towards businesses but blogger can learn a lot from the book too. After all, a blog is sort of like a business too. You try and gain followers and find ways to keep them following you. This book will help with that.
The book is a powerful reference book. I plan on keeping it on my desk to refer to. They also list links to websites that can help you further, which I want to check out as soon as I have the time.
One great tip I learned from this book is setting up an editorial calendar. I have a calendar for my blog posts, so it makes perfect sense to have one for all my social media sites too. Actually I have just one calendar that I am going to use for all the social networking sites I’m on. I figured having multiple calendars would be too confusing.
Google+ has always been a bit of a mystery to me. I honestly didn’t understand what it was and how to use it. Thanks to the book I have a better understanding of Google+ and I can see how it can be beneficial to my blog.
Another handy section is Ten Social Media Engagement Mistakes to Avoid. Sadly I did many of these mistakes, such as posting sporadically (as I do on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest) and failing to let my personality “shine”.
LinkedIn is also explored in this book. That is one social media site that I never use. I didn’t realize that it could be a “gold mine” too to find new followers and others to network with.
I haven’t read the book from cover to cover. I’ve been jumping around to the sections that interest me the most. The beauty of this book is that you can go to the areas you want to improve first and foremost and read the rest of the book when you want to. You don’t have to read from cover to cover to understand the book. Each section is filled with everything you need to know.
I sometimes think that dummies books are redundant, but I must say that this book is very helpful and I consider it a great resource for helping me and my blog better connect with my readers.
Look for Social Media Engagement for Dummies where ever books are sold.
Kimberly
*I received a free copy to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Lisa says
I really could use some serious help with social networking. I plan on checking this book out. Thanks for the review!
Tina says
This is a book that I could definitely use. I am always looking to learning new things about social media and how it affects you. I do like some of the books for dummies. Thank you for the honest and great review.