Should you buy this book? Probably the PDF version.
Should you borrow this book? Of course.
“Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks)” by Dave Kerpen is a book about social media, but more importantly, how to execute your social media strategy and how to build a foundation from which you can take action and derive all your other actions on social media. If your marketing efforts are geared towards online platforms, this is an especially useful book when you need some direction for your strategy (but not if you are first starting out and have no idea what to do).
This book was published about 4 years ago, and honestly I wasn’t entirely confident about spending time reading it – wouldn’t most of the strategies be outdated by now? And the cover wasn’t exactly the most modern and eye catching of book covers. But on the off chance it held something worthwhile, I gave the first two chapters a shot. I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, the technical parts about Facebook no longer hold today, but his reasoning and fundamentals were clearly explained, and that is most valuable part of the book – the guiding principles.
Highlights
Principles show logic and reasoning behind it
Unlike some other books (or even textbooks) which go “press A and B results will occur in Z percentage,” and then go on and on with examples to show why this is a proven method, Dave Kerpen takes the time and page count to explain why he recommends a certain method. And he doesn’t always say it’s a surefire strategy – he’ll tell you that it worked in a so-and-so context, and this is why it worked, and then ask you to apply it to your own companies. By showing you his thought processes, it allows you to custom fit that technique to your own campaigns, rather than forcing a square peg into a round hole.
Doesn’t follow the standard advice
Honestly, this book wouldn’t be worth much if it parrots everything that everyone already says and shares 50 times a day. As mentioned, he takes the time to unpack the principles behind it, and in so doing it shows you the flaws of common advice, and instead applies a bit more common sense when it comes to dealing with online comments, for example. It’s still up to you which direction you want to go in, but at least here you have the evidence and reasoning to follow one or the other, or forge your own direction.
Easy to read
This is important. His tone is conversational, not dry and academic. Of course this speaks to his marketing background – wouldn’t be much of a successful one if you couldn’t sell your idea to others (in this case us, the readers), would it? It’s also broken into bite sized chapters that don’t build on one another, so you can cherry pick and take the chapters that best apply to you, if you’re in a rush.
Letdowns
Outdated technical advice
This is really more a function of time, and also reading a 2011 book in 2015. But suffice to say, the halcyon days of easy Likes and Shares are gone, and many of the functions mentioned in the book are no longer applicable. Also, it’s also very Facebook-focused, so your mileage may vary depending on your industry. The basic reasoning still applies to all media platforms though, social or otherwise. And if you’re looking, nothing on Instagram.
Requires intermediate understanding of social media – not for beginners
Because of the age of the book and the work required to translate that direction into actionable steps, you’ll need at least intermediate experience with social media platforms. You might also need to Google some of the technicalities, since they no longer apply today or may have morphed into another name or product.
“Likeable Social Meda” is a useful book and helps you to reframe, refocus, and rethink what exactly you’re doing online. If you’ve not had a chance to review your strategies or your baseline assumptions, then this helps to stimulate that process. Ultimately, you’ll come off with better principles to better execute your marketing plans.
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