Book Review - Shoot The HiPPO – How to be a Killer Digital Marketing Manager Tom Bowden and Tom Jepson
READ: 2 mins
REVIEWER: Robert Craven
It is refreshing to find a book that aspires to “become part of your day-to-day life, your ‘living book’ with page corners folded, notes scribbled throughout, and full of makeshift bookmarks.”
So did they achieve it?
This looks and feels like a proper published book and not another self-published piece. It is well written and free of the usual typos that rushed books deliver. It is substantial and has chosen to cover most bases properly rather than in absolute detail or at a lighter level. As a result, each chapter is rich with plenty of takeaways.
In case you don’t know, the HiPPO they talk about is the highest paid person‘s opinion – the one who no-one really crosses or challenges. The one we allow to run around and cause chaos. You need to use data to shoot the HiPPO.
Each chapter finishes with a series of great questions to reflect on. And each chapter could be expanded into a book in its own right. But they have rightly chosen not to do that.
What they have done is take each of the pieces of the jigsaw called running an agency and had a good look at each of the pieces. Thankfully, it does not feel like some ghastly big sales pitch about how great they are. The voice is more like a teacher or a trainer showing you how the pieces work and interact.
The chapter headings tell you the journey they will take you on and the islands you will visit:
Shoot the HiPPO
The Head Chef Syndrome
Go with the flow
Craft a winning culture
Define business goals
Audit and prioritise
How the web works
Establish your brand’s identity
Write your story
Develop a strategy
Create compelling reports
Communication for Digital
Project management for Digital
Turn visitors into customers through CRO
Turn visitors into customers through SEO
Drive more traffic, sales, and enquiries using PPC
Social media
Email marketing
What can you do about climate change?
This is a bit like a first album….ten years of work have been squeezed into 350-odd pages. It is rich and needs to be read carefully. The authors quote and cite good sources and they construct and support their arguments well. Nothing is taken for granted.
Be under no illusions, this is not a light comic book, silver bullet, ten steps to unbelievable wealth in ten days type rubbish. It is proper. It is grown-up. It has been thought through. Some may not have the patience to read the book properly, but they will miss out.
As the cover says, the book sets out to “settle the noise around digital so you can focus on the things that are really important. It will give you the clarity you need to do the best work of your career and make your business more money online. It helps you understand your organisation's environment and influence its culture and processes. It gives you the insights and confidence to achieve buy-in from your whole organisation, and to shoot the HiPPO.”
“As well as teaching the technical skills required for success like SEO, PPC, CRO, Google Analytics, Email Marketing, Social Media and Project Management, this book helps you positively influence your organisation’s culture to achieve buy-in and, crucially, shoot the HiPPO.
“Described by Professor Paurav Shukla as ‘an enormous gift of generosity to Digital Marketing Managers’ and Professor Maged Ali as ‘the perfect bridge from academia to the real world’, it will empower everyone from students entering the marketing world to current professionals wanting to improve their knowledge.”
“…This insightful, approachable, helpful and human book reveals all of the secrets of a successful digital marketing agency.”
If you want quick fixes and hacks for short-term profit then you are in the wrong place!
If you like books and you like reading, and you want to understand the way a digital agency can work, this is the book for you.