Earlier this year Michael Tasner released the second edition of his work on digital marketing, “Marketing In The Moment”.
I haven’t finished reading the new edition completely yet. But I can say this about the content I’ve read thus far: It’s great. It’s valuable for anyone who is approaching marketing a business online. It will be very useful for anyone who is new to online marketing and who wants to take control of their own web marketing. You are likely to be in this situation if you don’t have the budget for dedicated staff or an outside agency.
But I’d suggest that this book is worthwhile even for those people doing online marketing already who need to refamiliarize themselves with the current territory and the best tactical approaches. I’ve certainly seen a lot online marketing work being produced by company’s specialising in online marketing, but whose tactics are outdated. Such is the state of the industry.
There’s is too much to comment on even in the content in the book that I’ve already read. But a couple of things stood out as immediately useful and valuable.
Native Content And Honouring The Medium
“Honouring the medium” is my own phrase. Tasner doesn’t use it. But the concept is closely tied to Native Content, an industry term that Tasner uses. Basically the idea is that every articfact of social media marketing must be in accordance with the channel being used. There is a way of producing content for facebook that is uniquly “facebooky”. The same applies to pinterest, linkedIn and all other channels. Speaking the wrong language on any given platform can make your brand look silly.
I probably would have liked it if Michael had put a little more emphasis on authentic conversation. He does mention authenticity but I think a little more focus on why it is needed might be more useful for those people completely new to online marketing.
WordPress
Michael states:
The only platform that I have recommended over the last few years for designing a web site is WordPress
… to which I agree. Of course he is speaking broadly, and one’s platform of choice should be chosen after considering all the requirements and constraints of a business. But part of the reason why WordPress is so popular is that is so useful for online marketing. The WordPress platform can be used for anything from simple sites to complex commerce sites and even to meet complicated content management requirements. It is versatile.
The ironic thing is that Michaels own site is currently down presently, so I can’t link to it. And his own blog hasn’t been updated since 2013, despite his own advice to blog regularly. But there are probably good reasons for that.
In conclusion: I recommend the book for anyone doing online marketing.