The Groundswell is available on Amazon.com starting April 21st
For those of you in social media eager to get your hands on plenty of real world examples and case studies, “Groundswell” is definitely going to tickle your pallet. I just finished reading the book and must say that it was a fantastic. Charlene and Josh clearly demonstrate their expertise as both analysts and authors. The data is sound and plentiful and the writing style is engaging and interesting. What more could you ask for?
The book lays out some valuable strategies for getting involved in social media and discusses many of the successes and the pitfalls that a company can go through. What I really like about this book, is that it really portrays social media as what it is…damn hard work. So many companies are under the impression that social media is as simple as creating a blog, this book will serve as a great wake up call. Creating a successful social media strategy is probably one of the most difficult (fun and rewarding) things your company will do.
If you are company executive or just some guy looking to get involved in social media, this book is really going to open your eyes. In fact this book should be required reading for any company seeking to dive into the social media pool…seriously.
The beginning of Groundwell provides a great overview into what social media is, what some of the more popular social media tools are, how they threaten institutional power, and how people can use them. More importantly the beginning of the books talks about why it so important to participate in the “Groundswell” and why the “Groundswell” is happening now. The meat and potatoes of the book cover the actual steps that a company should follow to implement a successful social media strategy.
As a little bonus the books comes with a link to the priceless Forrester technographics profile tool that lets your profile your users by country, age, and sex. I am going to write an entire post about this soon, in the meantime read the book!
Perhaps the most effective way to convey the value of the Groundswell, is to provide the chapter titles and briefly point out some of the questions that they address.
Why the Groundswell – and why now?
- What is the Groundswell and why should you care?
- Why is the Groundswell happening now?
Jujitsu and the technologies of the Groundswell
- What are some valuable Groundswell technologies and how do you use them?
- What are some new and emerging technologies?
- How do the technologies threaten institutional power and enable relationships?
The social technographics profile
- What is technographics and how can we use it?
- Why are technographics profiles valuable?
- Why do people participate in the Groundswell?
Strategies for tapping the groundswell
- What is the planning process for getting started in the Groundswell?
- What should your objectives look like?
- What can go wrong?
Listening to the Groundswell
- Do you really have control of your brand?
- What does listening mean?
- What are some effective listening strategies?
- How will listening change your company organization?
Talking with the Groundswell
- What’s the difference between talking and marketing? (the conventional funnel)
- What are some successful tips and tactics for talking with the Groundswell?
Energizing the Groundswell
- What does energizing mean and how do you do it?
- What are some valuable strategies to energize?
Helping the Groundswell support itself
- How does Groundswell support differ from traditional support?
- What are some support applications and their benefits?
- How will the new support change the company and what does it mean?
Embracing the Groundswell
- How do you embrace the Groundswell and what does that mean?
How connecting with Groundswell transforms your company
- How does the Groundswell spread?
- What are some things you should avoid that can lead to failure?
- How do you prepare for the transformation?
The Groundswell inside your company
- How can you leverage your internal Groundswell?
- How can you nurture and foster an internal Groundswell?
The future of the Groundswell
- How do you start the Groundswell thinking?
- What is the ubiquitous Groundswell?
As you can see the book really does cover a lot, the case studies alone are worth purchasing this book, throw in the stratagies, tips, techniques, and all the other great information and this book is practically a steal!
Great job Charlene and Josh, I will be recommending this book to many colleagues and friends.
Are you in the Groundswell?
I haven’t read the book but will order it. Can’t agree more with your statement that social media is…damn hard work and that most company don’t realize that yet. I warn my customers about it all the time, not to stop them but to manage their expectations accordingly. May be it’s because the technology side seems so limitless and is talked about a lot more than the rest, leaving the impression that it’s gonna be easy and simple. A one click affair! The reality is as always different. For example, finding relevant conversations isn’t simple but time consuming. Assembling a list of blogs in which a business can engage isn’t done via a simple search in google or technorati. There may be 100’s or 1000’s of relevant blogs out there to monitor for a given business and it’s takes a lot of time to find them. And that’s just the first step in the process. Kind of like getting to the basecamp of mount everest on the way to the top 😉
Jacob
Thanks for this review. You’ve certainly heightened my interest in the book. Amazon page says it has not yet been released (April 21) so I guess you had a review copy?
Hi Des,
Yes I have an advance reader copy which Charlene and Josh were both kind enough to sign, maybe ebay? 🙂 They really did do a good job with the book, hope you will enjoy it!
Hi Lauren,
managing expectations is key, I actually just wrote a post about that the other day as well. https://thefutureorganization.com/managing-expectations/
It should never be a one click affair. Managing and maintaining successful relationships is the hardest thing in the world to do. Just ask someone who broke up with his/her boyfriend/girlfriend (or wife/husband). Thanks for reading Laurent, hope to see more of your comments in the future.
Pingback: Groundswell and Social Media in the Global Economy
Thanks SO much for the review, and for pointing out that this is really, really hard to do. It’s not an easy panacea that you can just throw out there.
And I’ll be checking eBay 🙂
Thank YOU for writing the book Charlene! It’s definitely not easy, and until people start to realize that, they aren’t going to succeed.
Haha, don’t worry it’s not going on ebay, it’s a great resource!
I am nearly finished with Groundswell myself and it’s a FANTASTIC book! In fact, I recommended it yesterday during a presentation to marketers at a Fortune 20 client. Nice work on the review Jacob and thank you Charlene, for sending me a copy. I’ll have a review of my own up soon.
Thanks so much for your review. BTW despite the earlier notation on Amazon the book is in stock right NOW on Amazon.com and BN.com.
Pingback: What is Your Technographics Profile? | Jacob Morgan's Marketing Ideas and Rants
Pingback: Putting people first » Book review: Groundswell
Pingback: Putting People First in italiano » Recensione libro: Groundswell