Book Review – Enterprise Social Technology by Scott Klososky

I’m a Penguin. A very clever Penguin with some serious social media smarts. However I do enjoy a good social media based read and Enterprise Social Technology by Scott Klososky falls in to that bracket. The tagline for the book is ‘helping organizations to harness the power of social media, social networking and social relevance’ and I do believe that by taking the 12 step process illustrated in the book, businesses and organisations of all sizes will gain a strong grasp of the processes, techniques and best practices that must be utilised in order to benefit from the social media space. Read on for the full low-down…

Let me break this down for ya’ll…

Positives

The book has been crowd-sourced, meaning the reader gets a balanced & varied view
Very well structured that aids understanding but also ensures the book can be used as a guide
Each chapter has key aims with a nice ‘key point’ summary at the end of each
Very helpful section regarding the part that each area of a business can play in a social media strategy
Strong focus on ROI and how to measure it

Negatives

The word ‘free’ is used too much, all social media work costs – even if just based on salaries
Some of the case studies have been used too much in other publications
The recommended time-scale for implementing the plan is 12-18 months – from experience this would be a luxury, the majority of businesses will want to see action in a shorter period of time

All in all this is a very strong guide to using social media for business, its strengths lie in the practical nature of the advice it contains and the applicable nature of its structure. People at all levels of business will benefit, and while experienced social media practitioners may not learn huge amounts from it, there is still learning potential from the way the author is able to rationalise the use of the social media channel. In a sea of social media books, the practical nature of Enterprise Social Technology helps it sit on the crest of a wave.

Rating – 7 Penguins (out of a possible 10)

WIN! – We have two copies of the book to give away, to enter, leave your favourite social media for business tip in the comment section below, and we will pick our favourites who will go in the hat for a chance to win!

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http://www.strategicmail.com Rob Z

Have someone that you can dedicate to social media. You can’t have someone trying to wing it between other job duties. Social media takes time, effort, planning, and integrating into the overall marketing plan. To truly succeed in hitting whatever your goals are with social media, you have to treat it as a serious part of the model with someone to hold accountable for it.

http://www.thesocialpenguinblog.com Mike McGrail

Hi Rob, thanks for the comment, some news for you – http://bit.ly/kGrhQN

Dara

Facebook is where your customers are. Utilize it in your marketing efforts both through traditional and digital media streams to reach a relevant target audience. Facebook PPC can offer greater ROI than many other methods at the same price point.
http://www.marcus-taylor.net Marcus Taylor

Remember to invest just as much in deepening relationships with your existing audience as building new relationships – the extra time spent making an existing visitor / customer feel amazing could tip them into ‘advocate’ mode and then they will fuel creating new relationships for you.
http://www.mikeritchiemedia.co.uk Mike Ritchie

Social media has undoubted benefits but the personal, dare I say “human” touch, is still hugely important in business and shouldn’t be shuffled off into the sidings with the typewriter.
http://andreamfuller.com Andrea M Fuller

Social media when done right is driven by business goals that are adapted appropriately to the social media platform where their pre-defined target audience lives AND designed to delight users and invite conversation.
Fiona McAuliffe

Pull not push factor is key to social media success. Messages need to have value for the customer, after all it is their ‘community’ you are in.

http://www.thesocialpenguinblog.com Mike McGrail

Hi Fiona, thanks for the comment – some news for you…http://bit.ly/kGrhQN

Pingback: Winners of our Enterprise Social Technology book competition… |
http://www.thesocialpenguinblog.com Mike McGrail

Thanks for all of the comments guys! Some crackers there!
http://www.klososky.com Scott Klososky

Thanks for doing the review Mike!! For all of you, I just want to say that I spend the majority of my time working with clients putting in leading edge strategies for social tech. I have a pretty clear picture of where it is going int he future, and it is clear it will have more of an impact than people realize at this point. Organizations need to be structured about how they are approaching these new tools. Too many are playing with this like it is a toy and that will cost them…

http://www.thesocialpenguinblog.com Mike McGrail

Hi Scott,

No problems, Dave enjoyed reading the book and writing the review! Totally agree, the structure is key, like you I have been involved in bringing social media/tech to large businesses and a solid structure can help those at the top understand its importance.

Thanks for the comment and for the competition prizes!