Zen of Social Media Marketing author, Shama Hyder Kabani, is a social media expert and president of web marketing firm The Marketing Zen Group, and she can teach recent grads the “zen” of social media marketing: how to access all the benefits of social media marketing without the stress!
Why Write This?
When the first edition of The Zen of Social Media Marketing came out in April 2010, I was truly humbled by the amazing response we received. Readers from every walk of life and every corner of the world sent me their stories, their challenges, and their questions. Two years later, I knew the vast world of social media had changed enough to require an updated guide. Although the principles of online marketing and social media remain unchanged, new platforms, opportunities, and tools have emerged that make marketing online more efficient and easier than ever.
Social media is now an integral part of everyday life. Yet many continue to struggle with it.
A while back, I realized the main reason people are struggling with social media marketing: they are going against the natural order of things! The traditional marketing rules cannot be applied to social media because social media is not a marketer’s platform. It belongs to consumers.
For the longest time, marketing consisted of putting out a message about a business or product that was controlled strictly by the business itself. Think about a square peg. The square peg represents the traditional marketing message. Now, imagine square holes. Each hole is a traditional marketing medium—print, radio, and television. The square peg fits the square hole perfectly.
However, here comes social media: multiple online mediums all controlled by the people participating within them—people who are busy having conversations, sharing resources, and forming their own communities. Social media is full of constant activity controlled by no one individual in particular. Unlike radio, television, and print, it isn’t passive—users don’t just receive content; they create it, too. Social media is a circular hole. Yet most marketers are still using a square peg. They are working against the grain. And they’re finding themselves thoroughly stumped and no better off than they were when they started on their journey.
I wanted something I could hand to these frustrated folks, something that could help social media make sense to them. I wanted something that would finally help marketers (and make no mistake—we are all marketers) understand how to utilize social media marketing concepts in a practical and efficient manner. I wanted to help them find the circular peg to fit the circular hole. I wanted to show them the Zen of social media marketing. Once you truly understand how social media functions, marketing using social media channels becomes effortless.
What Will You Learn?
- Where social media marketing fits in the bigger scheme of things
- How to make your website or blog the hub of your online marketing efforts
- How to use Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for online marketing in an ethical manner
- How to drive traffic to your sites
- How to use Google+—and Google’s other growing tools
- How to leverage social advertising—including group-buying websites
- How to build credibility and establish expertise
- How to generate leads
- How to build your own community of fans
- How to build your e-zine/newsletter list
- How to measure your social media marketing efforts
- How to pitch bloggers and engage in Digital PR
- How to find and create strategic joint venture relationships using social media
- How to leverage your past success to gain future customers and clients
- How to get speaking engagements
- What you must have before you start social media marketing
- The #1 reason people fail at social media marketing and how to avoid that mistake
About the Author
Shama formed The Marketing Zen Group in 2009. Since then, the company has grown, includes 25 employees and clients that range from publicly held, Fortune 1000 companies to privately held small businesses and non-profit organizations. The company serves clients worldwide, including companies in Europe, Asia and Central and South Americas. Since its start in 2009, the company has grown at an average of 400%
She holds a Masters degree in Organizational Communication from the University of Texas at Austin, and prides herself in being a constant learner. In 2009, Business Week honored Shama as one of the Top 25 under 25 entrepreneurs in North America. In 2010, Shama won the prestigious Technology Titan Emerging Company CEO award. In 2011, Entrepreneur Magazine featured her as one of four Super Sonic Youth, dubbing her a "Zen Master of Marketing."
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