For marketers that haven’t grasped the fundamental changes occurring in our industry, The Age of Engage will be an eye opener. For the rest of us, it’s an aid to realign our approach and remain relevant in today’s conversational, connected and collaborative culture.
Over the past two months, I’ve gotten to know Denise Shiffman, the book’s author by reading her book, blog and tweets. Experiencing the author in this The Age of Engage fashion confirmed to be that: she gets it; she speaks it; and she lives it. That’s an admirable achievement for a 23-year marketing veteran.
“Social media will eventually become a part of every company’s DNA. Anyone in marketing without this knowledge and skill set will be left behind,” Shiffman told Social Meteor. “At some point we will come out of the economic downturn and companies that have set the stage for growth will rebound the quickest. Success will be determined by today’s priorities. And companies that prioritize customer experience, loyalty and affinity high will gain in market influence and momentum.”
Social media is a cost-effective way to reshape customer experience, build loyalty and increase positive
word-of-mouth. And, Shiffman told us there’s no more important time to do it than now.
The Book
The Age of Engage is a strategic manual for marketers, public relations professionals and other communicators who have honed their skills in the ‘Age of Influence’ and want to remain relevant professionals in the current culture, which Shiffman deems appropriately as the ‘Age of Engage.’ At less than 200 pages, it’s one of the easiest ways for a professional to remain relevant during a challenging economy. After reading the book, they’ll be able to describe new tactics and thought processes companies need to deploy to be enduring, relevant and successful.
The book’s paradigm for marketing in today’s culture is founded in six V’s:
- Venture – the deep integration of product, services and channel distribution;
- Value – Creating inherent “marketingness”;
- Voice – The perception created by vision and story;
- Verification – Developing credibility through proof, truth and transparency;
- Vicinity – Harnessing communities of the Live Web; and
- Vehicle – Incorporating Web 2.0 (and beyond) strategies.
Chapters dedicated to each of the V’s provide more value than the list alone, which are easily blurred with outdated thinking if taken out of context provided by the book.
“The Live Web is about openness, sharing, collaborating and interacting,” Shiffman writes. “Companies that incorporate these elements empower their organization’s ability to innovate, establish differentiation, and connect with their audience.”
In an economy where everyone has already thrown out their marketing plan, strategic communicators will hand deliver this book to executives and peers to and apply some of the marketing exercises included in the book to their organization, industry and customers.
The Blog
Readers that don’t read Shiffman’s blog, ageofengage.com, are missing the point – regardless of their viewpoint. Having access to the author’s stream of consciousness is a great demonstration of the paradigm she preaches.
I enjoy the content of Shiffman’s blog. You can tell that she’s worked at PR agencies earlier in her career. Topics are relevant and actionable. Recent entries include:
- Suffering from negative attacks online? This post includes seven tricks for responding to negative comments;
- Ghostwriters beware, a post that helps companies think through the process of launching a blog; and
- 19 point checklist for social media because Even the best trained, most experienced professionals make mistakes or forget things.
My expectation is that every social media author provide an decent blog. Shiffman’s blog exceeds my expectation. I’ve added ageofengage.com to Social Meteor’s blogroll and my daily RSS feed reader for good reason.
The Tweets
Shiffman (@denisess) is a diligent Twitterer. She shares relevant or entertaining insights, observations and recommendations. In doing so, she lives what The Age of Engage preaches and provides value by recommending other social media resources to consider. You’ll also get an occasional random insight that provides her posts with personal context. Expect to receive 3-6 Tweets a day if you sign up. Here are a few examples:
- If you care about how you write follow @grammargirl. Sign up for her email tips, they’re the best.
- Lovin’ @NetApp‘s CEO David Hitz’s blog. He’s funny, personal and a great writer at that (or is PR editing…) Either way it’s a grt read.
- What we can expect from airlines this year http://adjix.com/5gw5
I’ve added Shiffman’s blog to my mobile stream powered in part by my unlimited texting plan.
The Skinny
Social Meteor hasn’t created a rating scale for book/blog reviews, so I can only say that I liked The Age of Engage. It’s excellent. I’ll recommend it to peers.
I’ll provide a copy to everyone on my digital marketing team. Of the 15-20 or so books I’ve read in the last 12 months, The Age of Engage is among the best, providing insightful and actionable information. Shiffman’s blog and Twittering are nice enhancements.
A hardcopy of the book retails for $24.95 and can be had on Amazon for $16.47. A Kindle version of the book is available for Kindle for $9.99. I purchased both. You can learn more about my Kindle on iPhone experience in an upcoming post.
Age of Engage Marketing
I’m not sure if Shiffman would agree with my visualization, but her book brought to mind the HP laptop commercials that showed technology (a person’s laptop in this case) as the touchpoint for their life. These commercials can still be found on You Tube. As can some entertaining parodies like the one below. Enjoy!
About Troy Janisch
Pingback: Kindle for iPhone: Too little. Too late. | Social Meteor: Break Through & Make an Impact with Social Media