It’s been awhile since my last 1-1-1 Express Book Review (see what it is in this post). Not that I stopped reading books all together, but something else always came in the way of writing these reviews.
Anyway, I’m back at it.
O’Reilly’s PR person sent me a pitch about the facebook marketing book by Dan and Alison Zarrella a couple of weeks ago. I got the book in the mail last week and took the time to read it from cover to cover, so I could review it for you guys.
So, here’s the 1-1-1 Express Review for the facebook marketing book by Dan and Alison Zarella
- 1 thing I liked
While there is no earth-shattering news in this book for those of you who have been managing Facebook pages for some time, it provides a great introduction to facebook marketing. I like the fact that it’s compact and thorough. It can be the perfect book for a new (or more senior) employee whose experience with facebook is limited to updating her/his own profile. The authors kept it to the point and shared some useful recipes (I don’t know if this is the format of the book, but I kept seeing it as a recipe book).
-
1 thing I didn’t like too much
With the pace at which facebook releases new features, that shouldn’t be a surprise that a printed book is at a disavantage when it comes to presenting a thorough guide of facebook marketing options. This book isn’t an exception to the rule. And, while it has been published just a couple of weeks ago, some parts of the book are already obsolete or incomplete. There’s no word about the new profile and the section about groups present the old way to set up a group – a way I haven’t been able to replicate (although I remember it from my early groups) as groups went under a big change last Fall. A discussion about Facebook Places and Deals is also missing in this book.
- 1 big take-away (or 2) from the book
This isn’t to say that I didn’t get something interesting from my reading (especially since this is a quick read that can be easily done in several takes). The most interesting insights I found in the book are in the chapter 9 titled “Cross-Promoting Content on Facebook.” Dan Zarrella – who calls himself a Social Media Scientist – has done some very interesting research on the dynamics involved when it comes to content sharing on facebook and included some of the findings in the book.
Here are a couple of take-aways:
- Facebook users aren’t big fans of controversial comparisons (as proved by the fact that an article including “vs.” in its title will be shared 45% less than average)
Other least shareable words include “apps”, “review”, “down” and “poll.”
Now, what about the words that were most often found in shared content? The top 5 are “facebook”, “why”, “most”, “world” and “how” (so, I guess that something like “why and how facebook can make you the most knowledgeable person” would perform pretty well in the sharing department.
So, think about these findings next time you post something on your facebook page -
Video content tends to be shared close to 30% more than other type of content on facebook (while according to Zarella’s research, videos will be shared 30% less on twitter)
Cross-posting your videos on facebook should definitely be a priority for you if you haven’t done it already.
- Facebook users aren’t big fans of controversial comparisons (as proved by the fact that an article including “vs.” in its title will be shared 45% less than average)