Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (And Other Social Networks)

"Likeable Social Media" is a book which was written by Dave Keppen. Social media is widely known and used nowadays. As the development of social media, many media content and forms can be used at online social media. The increasing number of personal users on online social media websites cause many companies start to using these devices to sell their products. However, the ways of using social media for marketing purpose is different than the personal purpose; many companies failed or cannot achieve their goals when they first touch social media marketing. Therefore, "Likeable Social Media" is a very useful book for all marketers and companies who like to use social media to extend their business.Although many marketers believes that social media networks can bring and absorb al lot of customers for them, they still have to do some works for themselves. In the first chapter that I think is the most important point, the author introduces the benefits of listen. Marketers need to listen what their customers say before they selling products to them. After listen, marketers also need to think and act as the way as their customers. They need to follow how their customers think about one particular product first; and then, they need to react and communicate with their customers. Even people are not selling or doing business, they have to listen other people's opinions first just to be respectful.Using social media fro business does not mean one can successful in this high products flow rate society. There must have some negative or unsatisfied comments on some brands or products. At this point, the author points out that marketers must respond quickly to those negative comments. The reason is that if companies do not respond, they will have high risks of losing customers. The reason is that bad things always spread faster than good ones. To be professional, companies also need to respond to customers who give positive comments about their products. In this way, they can build a long-term customer relationship in order to have loyal customers in the future.Doing business is not just about sales and communication, it also about companies' quality. The quality in here is not about products, it is about how clear and transparent companies can be in front of their customers. The author suggests that marketers should be authentic and honest to their customers and the market. Just like interacting with friends and families should be honest, companies also need to be honest to their customers. There are a lot of explanations and examples about why companies need this attitude, and it will bring a lot of benefits to companies.Last but not the least, companies should combine their products, retail store, and online social media into one powerful connected sale line. Social network can be part of brands' selling channel. The author suggests using social media and networks consistently and honestly. In order to attract customers, the author also recommends that providing some interesting, and discount events online.Social media is a relatively new medium for business world, many companies like to try running their business on it. However, there are also a few problems and matters that marketers should pay attention to. "Likeable Social Media" is a valuable book that provides a lot of great tips and recommendations for companies. There is no doubt that social media will be the most famous business device in the future.

David Kerpen has focused on the what is arguably facebook's most powerful function with regards to communication and marketing--likeability--extensions of which are appearing now on other platforms as well as on over two millions websites and counting. 'Likeability' functionally transforms the entire Internet into a social space, where individuals assert preference and where that preference is a means by which others learn about interests, communities, products, and brands. Naturally, it is worthwhile for organizations and marketers to harness this functionality as a means of tracking consumer preference, to appeal to a connected and (social)media-savvy marketplace, and most importantly to powerfully promote products across social networks augmented and amplified by word of mouth marketing, and by relying on the ways which "liking" something builds trust among peers.Kerpen has written an excellent guide that seeks to answer the question "But how do I become likeable?" The book is a guide in the true sense of the word, but it is also a workbook with recommended activities and guiding questions that individuals or teams can use to make the book actionable.He strongly underscores the importance of listening in the world of social media. This includes identifying target markets and the spaces where they interact with one another to discuss preferences, and taking time to listen in to conversations before jumping in. Customers will know that an organization is listening effectively when that organization is able to respond to comments, both positive and negative (and he offers excellent guidance when it comes to responding to comments), and to offer appropriate, meaningful, interesting, and valuable content over social networks. Kerpen also reminds organizations that they must think like their consumers in order to generate the right kind of content to be likeable. In a useful example, he shows how businesses like The Pampered Chef create online spaces that seemingly have little to do with the products they sell, but are able to create communities that seek out their products or services. It's a great reminder that community-building is an essential aspect of social media communications and marketing, one which I personally feel is ignored in most discussions of social media.One of the most interesting suggestions Kerpen makes is with regards to identifying micro audiences. He creatively uses targeted facebook ads to reach specific audiences by narrowing the criteria so sharply that the result may be only a handful of people, or even one person. He also provides useful examples for connecting with target audiences over LinkedIn and Twitter.Overall, I highly recommend the book for the way it presents clear, interesting examples of what works and what doesn't work that easily relate to my own projects. I appreciate the thoughtful questions and activities suggested at the end of each chapter, and find that they make his lessons immediately actionable. Likeable social media feels to me like the only book I need on my social media shelf--likeable indeed!