YABR Yet Another Book Review

Time for YABR, Yet Another Book Review.

I was in the bookstore the other day, just browsing around, and I saw this on the shelf in the business section. Digital Marketing: Strategies for Online Success, by Godfrey Parkin.

Something about the small, paperback and decidedly “not slick” cover design drew me in. Plus, I checked the pub date—it was published in September 2009. That’s about as recent as one can get with a book on any facet of the internet.

The book is generally written for the reader looking to start or improve a B2C ecommerce web site with better digital marketing – web site, email, search, buzz/social marketing. But it’s just as useful for those doing business-to-business or even "just blogging."

The most important feature of the book is that the author stresses planning. You have to have a vision and a strategy to get there before you get started. Makes sense. How else are you going to integrate all your marketing messages towards any constructive outcome?

The book takes time to outline the planning steps that should precede any design and implementation. And it includes a great outline of a digital marketing plan.

But don’t worry; even with all this planning, the author is still on board with rapid prototyping, testing, refinement and even throwing away ideas and starting again. It’s just that all of that works better if your goals are set ahead of time. I agree. It’s far too easy to jump in to digital marketing and start executing. Unfortunately, it can be a catalyst for disaster!

As I mentioned up top, the book was written in 2009, so the examples are fairly up-to-date—at least for a few more months.

The book is brief enough, yet comprehensive enough to be a great guide and reference for the small marketing department—like a valuable consultant. I recommend Digital Marketing: Strategies for Online Success for your bookshelves.