One of the reasons I love being a digital marketer so much is that I get to meet some exceptional social media influencers and talk shop. I recently had the opportunity to get in touch with some truly amazing authors when writing the Top 25 Social Media Marketing Books to Read in 2015.
Gini Dietrich, the author of Spin Sucks (listed as a Top 10 Social Media blog from Social Media Examiner) and founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, a Chicago-based integrated marketing communication platform obviously made the cut. We talked about why spin sucks and how companies need to avoid spin in the wake of social media.
Is there a link between Spin Sucks the book and Spin Sucks the blog, aside from the obvious genre and title?
The blog is daily tips, how-tos, and interesting case studies for the PR industry. The book has similar content, but is much more in-depth and is meant both to help communications professionals deepen their knowledge of how to use the web to shift their campaigns and teach executives what they should expect from their PR teams.
In another interview, you stated that your goal for the Spin Sucks blog was “world domination”. Do you have the same goal for the book?
Ha! I really want “global domination” because it has the same initials as my name. And I want it generally, which the books and the blog and the podcast and the events and the speaking and the client work all drive toward.
What can new and long-term readers of the blog expect to learn from the book?
I tried really hard to put different content in the book than what’s on the blog. It follows my recommendation to create a story…so you can expect to be entertained as if you’re reading fiction. It also provides much more detail into how to do things that will help you drive real business results.
Have you put all your marketing advice into the book or do you still have a few marketing secrets left hidden?
I was just thinking I need to do a second edition because there are many secrets I didn’t put in the book. It was written more than two years ago so a lot has been added since then!
With most PR books telling readers how to ‘spin’ their message, did you decide to take the opposite approach for honourable reasons or because thanks to real-time social media, companies simply cannot get away with as much spin now?
Yes and yes. The blog launched in 2006 and, at the time, there wasn’t any social media. Twitter was still a year away. Facebook, too. One of the biggest pet peeves I have about the PR industry is the idea that we’re all liars or spin doctors. So it started out to fight that perception and today it’s evolved into teaching organizations how to communicate ethically because you simply cannot get away with spin anymore.
What is your favourite social media channel for marketing your brand and why? And alternatively, what is your favourite social media channel on a more personal level?
For the brand, it’s historically been Twitter, but we’re seeing a move toward LinkedIn and are spending more time there now. Just this week, in fact, I started a new test on our company page to see what transpires. On a personal level, I cannot quit Facebook. Even when I get mad at people for the inappropriate things they post, I keep going back for more.
