By Paul Gillin
(Reviewed by Kevin Knebl)

Social media are taking the world by storm. Paul Gillin is an expert in this rapidly growing field. Many self-proclaimed “social media experts” are out there. Paul actually has the credentials. The New Influencers is intended to help marketers understand the new patterns of influence that are emerging in social media and to begin to engage with the influencers.

Gillin says that the first decade of the Internet was “read only,” but a few years ago, we entered the “read/write” age. Conventional marketing wisdom has long held that a dissatisfied customer, a pundit, or someone with a message to get out tells ten people. In the new age of social media, he or she has the tools to tell 10 million.

Paul covers blogs, podcasting, public relations, viral marketing, social networks, and the complex interdependency that is forming between mainstream and social media. He also goes in depth to describe how small and large businesses are using social media to communicate with customers and the media and how they are attempting to become influencers themselves.
 
Rather than focusing on just a few aspects of how influence is changing in the digital world, the book is a comprehensive discussion. It covers a wide spectrum of social media, including podcasting, vlogging, and viral video. Books this broad are usually targeted at those just getting into the space, and are a bit of a yawn for others. But—surprise!—Gillin is engaging, particularly in his profiles of some of these new influencers.