Book Review: The Facebook Era

Whenever I see a book about using social media for business, I get excited. No less so when I saw Clara Shih’s The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff. What a good book for the Marketing Eggspert to review, eh?

The book starts out pretty technical, but don’t get turned off by that if it’s not your language. The second and third parts are where it gets good. Shih walks you through how to use Facebook to grow your business, including step by step instructions on how to create profiles and pages (and why one would be better than another).

She also talks about why social networks are important, and how they’re growing exponentially and can’t be ignored. She gives great case studies of brands who are successfully using Facebook, including Victoria’s Secret, as well as a New Orleans school that uses Facebook to update students, parents, and alumni.

And if you haven’t tried Facebook ads, her book has a coupon for a free $25 credit to try it out. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize you had to be a first-time ad user to redeem the coupon, which I am not.

Not to toot my own horn, but it’s rare that I find a book on marketing or social media that actually teaches me. Shih succeeded in teaching me some new things, and got me curious about others. I made a list of things I want to learn more about, including using apps as an advertising mechanism.

So buy the book and become a fan of the book on Facebook.