Social Media Marketing GPS began as an experiment to learn if marketers would be receptive to, and find value in, a new book genre built on a succession of tweet interviews about one business topic: social media marketing. The goal was to create a comprehensive body of knowledge that could serve as a roadmap (GPS) for developing a strategic social media plan. My thoughts were if this could be accomplished in a series of 140 character tweets it might help ease the apprehension for people new to social media, while at the same time, providing a review and offering some interesting ideas for those more experienced.
Forty prominent marketers from Canada, England, India and the United States were interviewed on Twitter. The focus was on how to leverage social media, not in terms of the technology, but as a vehicle to build and nurture stronger business relationships. Each tweet included the hash tag #smgps.
What developed was the first business book of interviews written on Twitter by the people who were working in the space. Twitter became both a content platform and a distribution channel.