Advertising 2.0

Internet advertising has three different forms.  The first is useless.  The second is spam, or spam flavored. The third is social networking.  Useless is as useless does.  Spam flavored is sometimes spam, sometimes just the way information products are advertised (jump higher, run faster, throw away your glasses, you name it, you've probably run across it).

But, social networking -- that sells products and services more effectively than any other method.  Tracey L. Tuten understands what social networking really is and how it works in the context of interactive media -- the web and the internet.

This is the first book on internet advertising that I could actually recommend

Most books on internet based advertising are either filled with fluff, or filled with harmful and expensive fluff. By fluff I mean that they introduce all the buzz words, take you into a harmless detour into Second Life (an internet site that has done a great job of drawing media attention) and fluff up all the pillows in your house.  By harmful and expensive fluff I mean those books that suggest expensive detours that will not create any positive results -- encouraging you to pour time and money into vacant rat holes. A good example is all of the expensive, artistic web sites with splash pages that only confused and diverted visitors back in the days before broad band internet (and that mostly annoy them now).

Now, think of Amazon.com.  Ever wondered why Amazon.com works?  What makes it a success?  Ever wondered how you could look at your business, your services and decide whether or not you could do something similar?  Advertising 2.0 will take you through all of the various social networking approaches and explain the language (so you will encounter the buzz words -- but only so that you understand the language).

Then, after laying the foundation, which is about as far as most books get, it will then explain how each part fits together, provide checklists of how to approach, validate and evaluate each approach, and provide you with the tools to measure and decide on whether or not an approach will work for you.

The book has excellent examples, some of which are also warnings -- e.g. Audi's five million dollar ARG ended up selling about a thousand units -- or had a price of five thousand dollars per unit sold of the Audi A3.  (As a disclaimer, I will note that I passed on the ARG and bought an A4 when my Volvo caught fire after being rear-ended).  Oh, what is an ARG and how is one initiated?  Read the book, the explanation is clear, concise and includes checklists for evaluating, planning and deciding on whether or not to execute one and how to execute one if you are so inclined.

Very well done.  Obviously recommended to anyone who is considering using the internet or the web to market or advertise effectively.  The first and only book of this type I can recommend.  Should be required reading in business school, just to introduce sanity, understanding and the proper metrics into thinking about the new media.

For an article by the author -- read "Shedding Light on Dark Marketing" by Dr. Tracy Tuten.

For more on social proof -- the core element of social marketing, start with the comments here:  [blog post] and then follow where they lead you.

For more on marketing, see Spin Selling, Marketing Without Advertising and Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing.