Starting Jason McDonald's "Social Media Marketing Workbook"

After reading the first page of Chapter 1 of Jason McDonald's "Social Media Marketing Workbook" I was able to release a sigh of relief. McDonald quickly let his audience know that this book is going to be "part theory and part practice." This means it won't be super difficult or unbearably basic, which is exactly what I need. I love being challenged and academically stimulated, but sometimes the topic of social media is overwhelmingly large and complex for me. However, other times I feel like I have it pretty much figured out. I keep switching between the two and it is horribly confusing, but this book seems to be the perfect speed for where I am right now.

As for the content of the book, I really enjoyed what McDonald had to say. His analogy comparing social media to a party was genius. It makes perfect sense to think of running a social media account like running a party. The goal is to host a party so good people will want more. This is the same goal companies everywhere are trying to attain using social media. This made me think about how Denny's does a great job of this with their Tumblr page. You can check out some of the memes and funny posts they make by clicking this link (this serves as a warning for expletives other Tumblr bloggers use in some of the posts Denny's shares). Denny's is throwing a party which fits in perfectly with the rest of the Tumblr atmosphere by playing off of trending memes and now having a reputation for running a weirdly comedic Tumblr blog. Back on the subject of the book's content, the party analogy extended to compare invitations to promotions, entertainment to content and hosting to on-going management.

McDonald also pointed out you look to other social media accounts to see what you like and use it to inspire what you do with yours. Furthermore, McDonald told his readers making social media fun for everyone is hard work, just like putting on a "magical" party is very difficult. All the weird stuff Denny's is doing is based off what popular comedy blogs are doing on Tumblr. They followed McDonald's advice and put in hard work by identifying their audience (Tumblr users), inventoried other parties (Tumblr blogs) and continues to throw great parties (quality content).

McDonald wrote the kind of book I want to use to get better at social media. His use of quick humor mixed with his knowledge and care to make the subject not overwhelming is the perfect combination of teaching styles to make a topic like social media marketing manageable. McDonald simultaneously challenges me and makes me feel like accomplishing an understanding of this seemingly complex topic is doable, and for this reason I commend him. He is very straight to the point too, which aids me in figuring out what is important to know. Thank you, Mr. McDonald. Hopefully all of your chapters will be this helpful and enjoyable.