The Social Media MBA in Practice by Christer Holloman, reviewed
Christer Holloman, author of best-selling The Social Media MBA, has unveiled a follow up, showing a range of case studies from big name companies on how to handle social, from Allianz to Xerox.
The 25 case studies in the book explain the social strategies at ADP, Allianz, Barclaycard, Cisco, Confused.com, Dell, Electrolux, F5, Getty Images, Giffgaff, Go-Ahead Group, HCL, Hobart, Honda, Israel Foreign Office, LivingSocial, Macmillan, Nationwide, NHL Minnesota Wild, Nokia, Play.com, PwC, Rentokil, Sony Mobile and Xerox.
The aim of the book seems to be to show how social connects all departments, as Holloman splits the book into different sections, including sales, HR and product development, and shows the challenges faced by each company and how they handle them: for example, Dell likes to hold think tanks with key influencers, while Nationwide discusses how it had to think about why it was setting up its social account and what it wanted to achieve.
Due to the nature of the book, it is not one to sit down and read cover to cover, but rather one to leaf through, reading different case studies at different times. Those attempting to read the book in one sitting will find that it is fairly repetitive in its messages: engagement with customers is important and remember to listen to the customers. Using analytics to track this engagement is also a message which pops up repeatedly.
The dip-in aspect of the book can also be seen by the fact that every chapter finishes the exact same way: with a message telling readers to join the Social Media MBA Alumni on LinkedIn. This was fine in the intro, but given that it is at the end of every chapter, it gets fairly repetitive.
Some of the case studies were interesting - for example, the Giffgaff case study which told about how the company allows customers to answer questions that other customers have instead of managing it all themselves and the Confused.com study into how even a 'boring' product (the author's words) can go viral - but a lot were common knowledge.
The case studies were all carried out in different manners, meaning that no two chapters are identical in style, although they all start with key findings from each chapter. The Honda chapter, for example, begins with the key finding that "communications across a diverse 27-country region is a challenge."
For me, the best case studies are the ones that have a clear tips section from the interviewee, for example Nationwide's Paul Beadle gives his tips in the first case study, including getting everyone together in a room to see what each department thinks of plans, as well as the usual engagement is key points.
Overall, The Social Media MBA in Practice is probably ideal for those who are just taking their first steps into social, with the first three case studies looking at 'set up'.
Want a copy of the Social Media MBA in Practice? We have ten to give away for the first people to tweet @TheDrum with hashtag #iwantthatWileybook.
Wiley takes a look at some of the case studies covered in the book in its knowledge bank.