THE CEO'S DIGITAL MARKETING PLAYBOOK

A comprehensive guide to the intricacies of online marketing.

In his nonfiction debut, consultant Donohoe lays out a “battle plan” for businesses to take advantage of digital and direct marketing. Although this plan gets rather complex as it goes on, its goal is simple and straightforward: “Marketing is about turning people into customers—new customers or, even better, repeat ones,” the author says. His “playbook” revolves around a quartet of basic approaches (“The Core Four”) that businesses can employ immediately—beginning with “Tradename search engine advertising on Google and Bing”—and eight more techniques (“The Advanced Eight”) that may be used once one’s initial digital-marketing strategy has put the company on firmer ground, including “Advanced display advertising using a DSP: Demographic and Psychographic ‘up-funnel’ Programmatic.” Donohoe’s tone is one of controlled outrage when he talks about how few companies feel confident in their digital-marketing schemes; many CEOs, he maintains, are stuck in marketing’s past (“the internet is real,” he sardonically points out at one point). In fast-paced, insightful chapters, he takes readers on a thorough tour of standard digital sites and tools that businesses may use for marketing purposes, including search engines Google, Bing, and Yahoo!, social media sites, and music-streaming services. At all times, his manner is that of a no-nonsense insider. For example, he’s brutally honest in his opinions of Pinterest, Twitter, Pandora, and Spotify, asserting that they appeal mainly to “brand advertisers who care more about retweets and shares than they do about profitable customer generation.” As the strategies get more complicated, Donohoe skillfully clarifies his terms so that even beginners will be able to read along.

An in-depth and winningly frank marketing manual.