The Social Book: Social Media Management and Marketing – Book Recommendation

The Social Book (2nd edition) was published last week in bookstores. Stephan M. Czaja writes for the second time about Social Media Management and Marketing. Our book recommendation this week for self-employed, start-ups and those who want to become social media managers through studies or vocational training. The job is becoming more and more important and more popular. Working with Instagram, Youtube and Influencers – dream job. We met with the author of The Social Book for a small talk on social media marketing, his new book and learnings for the next generation of social media managers.

The Social Book – Book recommendation

Social Media: Hype or forever?

FIV: Social Media – What do you say: Hype or forever?

The power of social media is certainly not hype. Bill Gates, developer of the largest operating software for computers, Microsoft, said at the beginning of the Internet that this would only be a short-term trend. Was it a short-term trend? The world is changing and we all have to change with it.

Bloggers and influencers are the new superstars. Just as musicians, whose careers are pursued at an early age, actors but also athletes, are part of people’s lives from an early age. So people will always be interested in her. If you look at history, they’ll continue to be superstars in the future. What’s the matter with you? Social media is only a digital representation of our social needs. Just as real, social life can no longer be imagined without, digital, social life can no longer be imagined without.

In short, no hype, social media networks have come to stay.

Profile picture or Ads and Community Management?

FIV: What is your new book about, the second edition of The Social Book?

More and more people want to study social media, do vocational training or further education to become a social media manager. Regardless of whether you are an independent person, employee or company, it is extremely important for many to know the basics and, of course, the possibilities that arise, for example, from group marketing or social advertising. Many existing books in the trade were not written by agency managers, but by authors. As a result, some books lack the depth that is needed in real, practical everyday business. Of course it is nice to talk about Facebook channel pictures or profile pictures, but in the end it depends on completely different success factors. Community management plays an important role here. The active act and the active act on reactions.

That’s exactly why my new book is in its second edition. We don’t discuss the boring details, but the things that are important. Not related to a social network, but scattered. Social media management and social media marketing from practice, with insights and tips.

FIV: Do you have a Best Practice example from your agency for us?

What I personally particularly enjoy is working with influencers. In general I like to work with people, earlier as a bartender, then with my advertising agency. Today I especially like to connect my model agency with the social media world. One of my highlights was therefore my first big influencer event, in Munich for a big insurance company. Together with top people, among them Pamela Reif, we dedicated a day to sport.

For the customer, we reached 7.2 million contacts in 48 hours. All this with a very positive theme, exercise, nutrition and sport. This was of course the highlight for the customer. My personal highlight was the following story. Our guests are not only great influencers like Pamela Reif, but also tennis world champion Angelique Kerber. My brilliant idea, if we already have a tennis world champion, then we should also have a tennis court. Our location was at the Munich Olympic Stadium, on the 35th floor, the Rooftop.

My big task was to install a tennis court on the Rooftop. Not just a tennis court, a stable tennis court that can also be played by a world champion. In the morning I stood with three of my employees in the Bauhaus, because no company wanted to take over such a risky project. We had promised a tennis court, said, done. So we stood in the hardware store and bought everything possible to install a tennis court. Grünewald nets, wooden posts for stabilization and of course paint for markings. Turf could not be missing either. As digital the world of social media marketing and influencer marketing is, that was one of the moments that I believe will always be remembered. We are building a tennis court at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, on the 35th floor. And it worked! 20 Influencers visited our small place and of course Angelique Kerber. No ball, no gust of wind has brought down our tennis court! Very good for us and of course also for the insurance.

At the end of the day, everything worked out well and we provided our customers with millions of contacts.

Social Media Basics

FIV: What are social networks and what makes them different?

Now we come to the theory! What constitutes social networks is the coupling to the real world. Group dynamics take place in the digital world as well as in the offline world. People chat, exchange information, blaspheme, rejoice, mourn together, real life happens here, only digitally. But the great attraction of social networks is that you don’t have to meet in a fixed place. Information can be constantly exchanged with the whole world, just as information from the whole world can be received at any time. This has changed the world extremely and it has made itself faster.

FIV: What is the purpose of social media in everyday life?

Social media facilitates many processes in everyday life. From the simple appointment with the girlfriend, to the exchange of teaching materials with students but also work colleagues who coordinate appointments from here. Social networks have therefore become important not only for private individuals, but of course also for companies. Social media thus fulfils the purpose of constant and almost time-independent communication. A means of communication that has never before been available to humans in this form. This is exactly the recipe for the success of Web 2.0. For the first time, users are not only beginners, they can send information themselves. So-called User Generated Content.

FIV: What is User Generated Content?

Very briefly explained, in the past there was a transmitter receiver model that provided few transmitters, e.g. radios or TV stations, magazine, today this transmitter receiver model has changed. Platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and older platforms, which nobody knows any more, such as MySpace, can make anyone a sender of information. Because the majority of people on social networks also publish content, regularly or irregularly, new content is constantly being produced. This User Generated Content brings social networks to life. At the same time, companies can extract information from user-generated content in ways never before possible. Who has what interests? Who has what hobby? Who is in which life situation?

Social Media Marketing

FIV: Why do companies use social media marketing?

Today, users reveal their private lives. Perfect for social media marketing and social media advertising. Such private information has never been obtained before. Who is actually interested in financing or a credit card? On the other hand, who is interested in investments? Social media marketing thus allows companies to act much more privately. On the one hand through the private information that can be used, for example, in social advertising, and on the other you offer the possibility of direct communication in social networks. This improves collaboration with customers and makes the brand more attractive to consumers.

In addition, social media offers the unbeatable advantage of relatively low costs compared to traditional, overbooked media channels. Who wants to make e.g. in the radio advertisement, that lies fast with 10.000 €. For 10.000 € a good social media agency can easily reach 200.000 people. However, not about a little language that goes down between other advertising blocks, but with targeted addressing.

FIV: How does social media marketing actually work?

The be-all and end-all is regular content and community management. Regular content ensures that the algorithm of social networks own the channel’s upward stages. However, this does not only mean regular publications, but also constant interaction with your own community. When I talk to you for advice, I often say take the first 1,000 fans seriously! Many hope for the big breakthrough and directly 100.000 fans, but that only works if you take the first people seriously and face them accordingly. With every new comment, with every new one I like, my own social media posting continues to progress. The more frequently a posting is published, the more frequently the community interacts with the posting, the more lasting the effect will be. So social media is not just publishing content that has already been published on other channels. Social media is an independent world, which should also be perceived by companies accordingly.

Social Media Manager

FIV: What skills and knowledge does a Social Media Marketing Manager need?

The Social Media Manager wants to be, he must master creativity above all. You constantly have to publish new content, think about campaigns and have ideas. That’s why I think creativity is the most important thing for a social media manager. Then comes organisational talent, a feeling for social media, tendencies and trends, but also the classic, commercial, belongs to it e.g. when you compile lists with results in monitoring. Becoming a social media manager is relatively easy in administration, in conception, a lot of talent is added. Therefore, it is also difficult to answer the question, training or study, what would you recommend? It is important for young social media managers to gain practical experience in agencies. After all, this is not only about posting, but also about community management, customer care and the monitoring I just mentioned.

FIV: What are the central topics that young social media managers learn in your book?

For me it’s all about the basic understanding of social media, because ultimately the world in social networks changes so fast that you can’t put up valid theories for which postings definitely work. If something is to function definitively, it needs consideration, planning and expertise. For this, young people who want to enter the world of work need above all an understanding of how social networks have changed over the short years.

In addition, there is a large portion of community management, with which ultimately it is all about group dynamics and group activity.

The third big point in the book is advertising. Social Advertising is about bringing contributions to the top through paid reach. The more often the right people see the content of our social media channel, the more likely it is that you will use our product on the supermarket shelf or in the online shop.

In contrast to classical advertising, however, there is direct feedback from users. Through comments, ratings and discussions. Those who can prove their competence in this area can quickly get it to the top in the company.

FIV: Many thanks for the interview! The book is now available free of charge at Amazon: Buy The Social Book.

The Social Book – Book recommendation