Engagement Marketing: How Small Business Wins in a Socially Connected World

by Gail F. Goodman

A definitive guide to growing your small business through "Engagement Marketing" As a small business owner, you've always relied on word-of-mouth referrals to grow your business. Thanks to social media―and its nimble partner, mobile technology―it's now easier than ever to turn customers and clients into engaged fans who spread the word about your business across a variety of online platforms. And that's what Engagement Marketing is all about. Written for anyone who owns or manages a small business or non-profit, this book is filled with practical, hands-on advice based on the author's experience of working with thousands of small businesses for over a decade. You'll learn how to attract new prospects―as well as how to increase repeat sales―using your existing customers and social networks. Engagement Marketing will help you make a bigger name for your company, build your network, and reach your goals.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 2012

Reviews

[Carolyn Appleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Good or bad, people will talk about you."

Yes, indeed. Thanks to colleague Julie Larkin Niehoff of Constant Contact, I received a copy of this helpful "how to" guide for small businesses and nonprofits in 2012. "Social visibility is a win-win - for you, your customers and clients, and your prospects."

Gail Goodman outlines the persuasive reasons why one should embrace "engagement marketing," or "providing a great experience and encouraging your customers to tell your story." The book encourages businesses to provide exceptional service and customer experiences (a great place to start), and shows how to use social media to attract new customers. Readers will profit from Gail's advice about turning negative commentary into positive; employing specific social media venues; focusing on quality rather than quantity (and how not to become overwhelmed); and intertwining various types of social media postings for greater effect.

This book is equally helpful for nonprofits as for-profits. If you are struggling with social media, you will want to keep it on hand for ongoing referral!

[Mike Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read this book, I was a small business owner that focused on marketing for other small businesses. This book as a great intro to the world of engaging customers as people and not bombarding them with advertisements. This book showed the reader how to engage with customers, specifically using email and social media. While I understand it was written by the CEO of Constant Contact and can be considered its own advertisement for the company, I think it is a great marketing book to gather new ideas from.

[Anita Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the honor to read this book in advance and write the foreword for it. For small business owners and up-and-coming marketing staff, it has information at just the right level, and I highly recommend it. It is a great book for the business owner who knows some marketing, but doesn't have the time or inclination to become a professional marketer.

This is not a book for the advanced marketer and should not be interpreted in that light. Instead, think of it as a guide to put small business marketing efforts in context -- especially email marketing, word of mouth marketing, and social media marketing. Instead of marketing at people, engagement marketing is all about engaging people, getting them talking about your company, and keeping them interested in your company.

The author, Gail Goodman, is quite a force in the world of email marketing. She is the CEO of Constant Contact. More importantly, she's been guiding that company from its days as a small startup when email marketing was a new and rather exotic technique. Today we see email marketing everywhere, but once that wasn't the case. Gail Goodman is a true pioneer, who has grown her company and took it public on the NASDAQ. She's been developing products and educational programs to help small businesses with their marketing for well over a decade, and knows what she is talking about.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

There wasn't anything earth-shatteringly new in this book, but it did provide solid advice on developing a marketing plan that engages audiences AND integrates on/offline strategies. I'd recommend it to my clients or people who don't have much experience in marketing, social media and building engagement with online audiences. The more seasoned marketing pros can skim it and keep it for reference.

[Kara Poe Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book effectively describes the concept of Engagement Marketing and how small businesses can market themselves and increase their customer base. It might be written on a basic level (as some other reviews noted), but I think this is because the audience is people looking to enhance their online presence but who do not know where to begin or how to do it. I thus found the book useful, practical, and relevant. Small business owners and non-profit organizations will find it applicable.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marketing professionals will find this book worth skimming (good for about three bathroom trips) for the nugget or two contained here. But it's written at a level that is so basic that practitioners will likely find its primary use as a missionary tool for upper executives who still decry social media as expensive, unprofitable, and wasteful... as they spend another $10 million on ad buys.

[RoseMary Achey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This books said the same thing over and over. The material could have been presented in far fewer pages and been equally effective. The author is the CEO of Constant Contact, the firm that provides email newsletter products to small businesses and not for profits.

[Jennifer Guzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Nothing I didn't already know. There were a few nuggets and that makes a biz book worth the read. Someone totally new to using social media for biz should get a lot of good advice and ideas from this book.