''Engage!: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web'' is a book by digital analyst Brian Solis. In ''Engage!'', Solis provides an in-depth analysis of

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

as a tool used in businesses. He focuses on how to leverage it to be successful in the world of business. In other words, Solis brings forth the tips that people can use to best market their products or services.

Actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer and entrepreneur. His accolades include a People's Choice Award and fifteen Teen Choice Awards, in addition to a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. K ...

wrote the

foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between th ...

Synopsis

The first half of ''Engage!'' introduces social media entities such as

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, and

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, with chapters labeled "The New Media University: Social Media" 101, 201, 202, etc., all the way until "MBA Program—Second Year." Solis uses this university metaphor to help anyone at any place in their career start where they need to and go back and study the basics as necessary. The second half of ''Engage!'' explores how to start social media programs, how to sell the program once started, and how to measure

return on investment Return on investment (ROI) or return on costs (ROC) is the ratio between net income (over a period) and investment (costs resulting from an investment of some resources at a point in time). A high ROI means the investment's gains compare favorab ...

(ROI). Solis also explores the murky separation of personal and professional interactions in social media. He argues that social media channels are being used to broadcast in a one-to-many format not unlike traditional format before it. He believes that the formula for social media is instead one-to-one-to many, which will yield many to many. Worksheets to assist planning and

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

management are included. In all, ''Engage!'' is separated into six parts: * Part I: The New Reality of Marketing and Customer Service * Part II: Forever Students of New Media * Part III: Brand Representative Versus The Brand of You * Part IV: We Are the Champions * Part V: The Social Architect: Developing a Blueprint for New Marketing * Part VI: A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action: Rising Above the Noise

Reception

''Reference & Research Book News'' said the book has "a clear and persuasive style" in educating the reader on how to leverage social media for business and marketing purposes. In a positive review, P.G. Kishel of ''

Choice A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate Motivation, motivators and Choice modelling, models. Freedom of choice is generally cherished, whereas a severely limited or arti ...

'' wrote, "The book is well organized and does a good job of describing who the players are in the new media universe." '' Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy'' reviewer Bessie King found the book to be "an elaborate and rich text that will build your character when taking the plunge to implement or defend a social media campaign". ''

Journal of Advertising Research A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

''s Lynne D. Johnson thought the book had "clear, concise language" and liked the numerous "marketing secrets" the book shares, concluding, "If I were teaching social media to a group of MBA students, ''Engage!'' would definitely be my text of choice." In a mixed review, Stephanie O'Donohoe of the '' International Journal of Advertising'' liked Solis's "rich and detailed handbook". She criticized the book having areas that would "jar" readers such as "several uninformative section and chapter headings, a few indigestible chunks of management-speak, and some exhortations that may alienate rather than inspire". ''Engage!'' was a Top 10 Business Bestseller at ''

Business Standard ''Business Standard'' is an Indian English-language daily edition newspaper published by Business Standard Private Limited, also available in Hindi. Founded in 1975, the newspaper covers the Indian economy, infrastructure, international busi ...

'' and an 800CEORead Business Book Bestseller at '' Inc.''

References

2010 non-fiction books American non-fiction books Wiley (publisher) books {{business-book-stub