“E-Marketing", That is, how to understand and tame mobile marketing (and more)

When I think of the book “E-Marketing”, edited by J. Royal and P. Hall, almost always instead of the subtitle “Contemporary trends. The “starter package”, in my mind is subtitled “The e-marketing bible”. The launch package, too, as much as possible.

The book by its very size already evokes biblical associations, because it is more than 400 pages of pure knowledge supported by the practice and experience of the authors.
First of all, this book is really up to date. Up-to-date and comprehensive, insofar as the topic of e-marketing can be exhausted. Certainly a very solid “starter package”. The book is divided into four parts, each of which consists of several(nast) chapters.

While the entire book was overseen by Krolewski and Hall, the individual chapters were written by a number of people from the interactive industry who interact with e-marketing on a daily basis, know the field and know how to build and develop it. The full list of authors and table of contents can be found at the bottom of the article.
In such an item about e-marketing, you could not miss the knowledge of m-marketing. Two chapters in particular focused on the mobile aspect of marketing. Both open the ch. II – “Components of success”.

The first of these is the text of Royal “Usability and User Experience“, the second – “Mobile marketing” is the work of M. Mikowska and A. Ogonowski and also A. Zarudzka, A. Kielich, P. Koźniewski, M. Nowak, R. Chains and P. Zielinski.
I approached the chapter “Usability and User Experience” with slight apprehensions, whether the ordinary reader will understand the aspects of more advanced issues. However, the specialized concepts are accompanied by accessible language that makes it so that even a layman should understand what all this UI/UX is about. Königsky writes about theory and methodology at the beginning, referring to social computing, so that in the right part of the chapter the attention is devoted to the interfaces themselves.

In the chapter you will mainly find Hints that will tell us what kind of interface is a good interface. I liked the included manifestos, which are followed by Android and iOS developers – in your head you can immediately make your own analysis, to what extent they realize their assumptions in reality. In addition, part of the chapter is also devoted to the use of all kinds of sensors in mobile applications.

I must admit that the existence of some of them I was not aware of, such as. magnetometer or pressure sensor. Further on we also find a section devoted to A compilation and comparison of native apps, hybrid apps and Mobile Web App. And here I have to “tack on”, because I really appreciate the whole book for the accessibility of the language and explaining everything from the ground up (which does not mean that we will get bored), but as for me hybrid applications have been treated a bit “neglected”. Royal writes that “hybrid applications are now one of the most popular forms of software for mobile devices.”. As an example of such an application, he cites the Re/MAX hybrid application, which is the first time I’ve heard of it and, in addition, is unlikely to be of much use to me in my daily life.

I miss a more “life-like” example. The mere description and comparison of hybrid and native apps did not fully illuminate this aspect for me, and in this regard I feel deficient, and since these are the most popular apps, I would like to have a good understanding of the solution. But coming back to the chapter itself, the last sections of the chapter contain tables to help decide which solution is best depending on UI/UX, monetization, distribution or price, i.e. how best to turn theory into practice.
The sixth chapter is devoted to mobile marketing in general mobile marketing. It was created by Mikowska and Ogonowski in collaboration with six other authors (this is the biggest “collaboration” compared to all the other chapters in the book), mentioned earlier. The names of the authors have already inspired confidence in me, because I know that this will not be idle theory, but something more. Mobile marketing was taken apart here and presented from scratch.

Through an introduction, saying what m-marketing is in general, through a description of current trends and conditions on the Polish mobile market to mobile campaigns and applications. The reader is not left alone with the information gained, because in the various subsections he will also find tips, pros and cons of specific solutions. App or mobile website? A site dedicated to mobile devices or RWD? Chapter six prompts information that can help answer these questions.

I also like the mini case study based on Obama’s and Romney’s election pages. In addition, I appreciate the emphasis on the importance of SMS marketing, undervalued and forgotten by some. Only after reading this subsection did I realize how effective this method is and how many times I set out to a particular store “because I got an SMS”… However, to make it not so colorful, I have a “but” to the subsection on augmented reality.

If you would suggest this book to a layman, I am afraid that he will not fully understand what AR is. I miss a bit broader, maybe more “vascular” explanation, maybe some visualizations, pictures? AR in USA is still developing, and it seems to me that this phenomenon should be better highlighted.

Maybe the case studies? The big absentee of chapter six, in my opinion, is the subsection on NFC technology – it is mentioned in the first subsection as a modern mobile marketing tool, but while augmented reality or QR-codes has been devoted to entire subsections, o NFC forgotten. The entire chapter closes with a table of “examples worth following”. The idea is great, in one table we find examples of good applications in each category, so that we can “learn from the best”.

It would be even better if each application was accompanied by at least a mini-commentary on why it is worth imitating, but I understand that the authors were probably limited by the purely technical aspects of the publication. One thing is certain – after reading this chapter, every entrepreneur should understand the, Why m-marketing is important and try to get a good image of your company on mobile devices as soon as possible. What’s even better, he won’t be completely at the mercy of the company he approaches with his need for mobile solutions, because he gets the necessary information at his fingertips and won’t feel like a child in the fog in a discussion with a programmer.
The target group of “E-marketing” readers, contrary to appearances, is very wide. Nowadays almost all of us are Internet users. If, on top of that, you have your own “business” – whatever it is, an IT company, a small store or even a blog – or you work in any interactive, marketing, PR company – this book is addressed to you. Whether you’re a small business owner, an advanced programmer, or simply concerned with marketing in any way for professional or hobbyist reasons, reach for this book. Nowadays, marketing without the prefix “e” basically does not exist.

Marketing has been and will be, but its “being” strongly depends on “being online”.
My female attention has also not escaped the edition itself. Hardcover, good quality paper, well-chosen sans-serif font, aesthetically pleasing tables and charts, unified color scheme, if photos appeared, there was no question of “pixelosis”. I appreciate such attention to aesthetics and details, not only does it make the reception more pleasant, but at least I feel like I know what I’m paying for in the bookstore.
Briefly summarizing my long argument – “I recommend “E-marketing” to anyone who in ANY way has to do with marketing. I guarantee that he or she will get something out of this book that he or she did not know or pay attention to until now.

Table of Contents:

Part I: The basics – a solid background

1. Marketing 3.0
2. Internet market in USA and around the world
3. The impact of the Internet on the economy
4. Social media – the social dimension of the Internet

Part II: Components of success

1. Usability and User Experience
2. Mobile marketing
3. E-mail marketing
4. Marketing automation
5. Games on the Internet
6. Video and audio on the web
7. E-commerce
8. Who is a good copywriter?
9. Content marketing
10. Social campaigns on the Internet
11. Online media research
12. Social media monitoring

Part III: The essentials of a modern marketer

1. With technology at ease
2. How to work with your IT team
3. Project management (hipsters build a dugout)
4. Online customer service
5. Selected legal aspects of marketing on the web
6. Marketing in start-ups

Among the authors were: Jarosław Królewski, Paweł Sala, Dominik Kaznowski, Monika Mikowska, Michał Dziekoński, Maciej Wiktorowski, Barbara Stawarz, Miłosz Baluś, Teresa Wierzbowska, Krzysztof Bełech, Grzegorz Błażewicz, Tomasz Surmacz, Leszek Łuczyn, Przemysław Tarczyński, Andrzej Ogonowski, Michał Kasperczyk, Łukasz Gładki, Wojciech Piwowarczyk, Magdalena Drabik, Jacek Jankowski, Jarosław Roszkowski, Andrzej Garapich, Anna Orzech, Joanna Świercz, Justyna Dziegieć, Bartłomiej Piechota, Anna Zarudzka, Adrian Kielich, Piotr Koźniewski, Marcin Nowak, Radosław Cięciwa, Paweł Zieliński, Marek Przystaś.