Joseph Jaffe was kind enough to send me a review copy of his latest book, Join the Conversation. It’s a really, really LONG book, weighing in at 300 pages. I managed to get through it in about two weeks of sporadic reading.
The Good
- The book has plenty of case studies and examples of conversational marketing. Everything from Fedex Furniture to Virtual Thirst.
- Jaffe writes in a similar style to Seth Godin – short sentences in second person voice, so it’s easy reading.
- Standalone text units mean you can pick up and put down the book easily.
The Bad
- If you like books to flow, this isn’t it. Each unit of text practically stands alone. If you’re accustomed to more of a story, this book is, as Mitch Joel put it, like a series of blog posts.
- There are almost too many case reviews and not enough actionable plans.
- Whoever did the font typesetting needs to be slapped around. There are WAY too many fonts, so many that it’s distracting.
Overall
It’s hard to actually review this book because it’s in sort of a grey zone for me. Is it a good introduction to conversational marketing? Not really, at least not for the beginner, because there are very few clear takeaways or plans to begin implementation. For the advanced new media marketer, the book doesn’t break a lot of new ground in ways you can disrupt the marketplace with marketing – it’s more of a series of case studies than it is a blueprint for your next marketing Death Star.
Join the Conversation is probably best suited as an idea book – the kind of book you pick up from time to time when you need to leaf through a few examples to generate ideas. Get inspiration from how people have done things or glean lessons from how NOT to do things based on missteps of the past.
Would I recommend it? If you’re at the journeyman stage of new media marketing, I think Join the Conversation is a worthy addition to your bookshelf. For those who haven’t played Sid Meier’s Pirates!, that’s the second of four stages:
- Apprentice (and not Donald Trump’s kind)
- Journeyman
- Adventurer
- Swashbuckler
Join the Conversation fits for those no longer new to new media marketing, but haven’t developed an arsenal of their own yet. It’s also probably too long for most executives to plow through, except maybe in audiobook format, but it’s still a good resource if you’re needing inspiration for your new media marketing campaign.
Join the Conversation is available for sale here on Amazon. (disclosure: 5% commission goes to my employer, the Student Loan Network)
Sounds like he left the door open for a “doer” to write the sequel(s).
Sounds like he left the door open for a “doer” to write the sequel(s).
Thank you for your thoughtful review, Chris. I am waiting for my copy to arrive and will keep your insight in mind.
I am curious now about these four stages from Pirates! I expect I am probably at the Adventurer stage, and wonder how I can get to Swashbuckler. LOL!
Cheers,
Connie
Thank you for your thoughtful review, Chris. I am waiting for my copy to arrive and will keep your insight in mind.
I am curious now about these four stages from Pirates! I expect I am probably at the Adventurer stage, and wonder how I can get to Swashbuckler. LOL!
Cheers,
Connie
Thanks CSPenn for your review…
Personally, I thought there were plenty of actionable, prescriptive next steps but that said, JTC is not a tactical how-to guide to your point.
PS I’ll pass on your critique to the folks over at Wiley 🙂
I think that’s exactly it, Joseph – if someone picks up JTC expecting Conversation Marketing for Dummies, they’re going to be bewildered.
I think that’s exactly it, Joseph – if someone picks up JTC expecting Conversation Marketing for Dummies, they’re going to be bewildered.
It’s funny Chris…my challenge is how to best address my primary/core audience – the senior marketer, without necessarily alienating the social media elite (i.e. “he didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know”)
fwiw, I’ve received some pretty positive feedback from the brand marketer community (traditional or otherwise)
The irony with “Conversation for Dummies” is that it is those who are avoiding conversation that are the true dummies 🙂
It’s funny Chris…my challenge is how to best address my primary/core audience – the senior marketer, without necessarily alienating the social media elite (i.e. “he didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know”)
fwiw, I’ve received some pretty positive feedback from the brand marketer community (traditional or otherwise)
The irony with “Conversation for Dummies” is that it is those who are avoiding conversation that are the true dummies 🙂
dude, i loved that game so much. how can i get a copy for Mac nowadays, do you think?
dude, i loved that game so much. how can i get a copy for Mac nowadays, do you think?
Julien – Pirates was re-released about three years ago – you should be able to buy it still!
Joseph – my guess is you’ll really receive a warm welcome when JTC hits as an audio book – it’s really ideal for that format as long as the publisher does a good job with chapters. I found that I couldn’t sit down and plow through large chunks of JTC at a time, but bite sized portions worked pretty well.
Julien – Pirates was re-released about three years ago – you should be able to buy it still!
Joseph – my guess is you’ll really receive a warm welcome when JTC hits as an audio book – it’s really ideal for that format as long as the publisher does a good job with chapters. I found that I couldn’t sit down and plow through large chunks of JTC at a time, but bite sized portions worked pretty well.
Thanks CSPenn for your review…
Personally, I thought there were plenty of actionable, prescriptive next steps but that said, JTC is not a tactical how-to guide to your point.
PS I’ll pass on your critique to the folks over at Wiley 🙂
Sounds like an interesting book, especially with the Pirate metaphor brought in. I guess I’m between Adventurer and Swashbuckler, but others might just call me an Apprentice.
Sounds like an interesting book, especially with the Pirate metaphor brought in. I guess I’m between Adventurer and Swashbuckler, but others might just call me an Apprentice.
I liked this book. I think it provides a good interaction of content and conversation for marketing on the internet.