You’ll probably agree with us when we say:
There are too many social media books to choose from!
A quick scroll through Amazon gives you hundreds of options, all of which promise to transform your business and marketing by the end of them.
Through all of the slickly written book descriptions and cool branding, it’s hard to know which books are really worth your time, isn’t it?
Well, allow us to cut through the noise and help you choose your next read.
In this article, we’ve outlined the ten best social media books every marketer should read. So, whether you’re a fresh-faced beginner or a grizzled expert, you’ll find somewhere in this list a book to help you:
- Improve your strategy
- Grow your followers
- Understand your customers
- Create better updates
Sound like you’re in the right place?
Let’s dig into the reading list then!
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#01: Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuk is a social media giant. He puts out more great content in a day than many people do in a month, and he’s got a dedicated army of followers to show for it.
Whether you like his full-on personality or not, it’s hard to argue with how prolific he is. And, this book is an insider’s look at the ideas and principles which make him so effective.
It follows on from his first book, Crush It!, and gives an updated walkthrough for each of the major social media platforms.
Every chapter covers:
- Gary’s thoughts on the platform
- How the platform is evolving
- A case study of a business or influencer who “made it” there
- How to think about (and create) content there
- Top tips and tricks for getting the most out of your updates
This book is mostly an education in the foundations of social media use and drives home the need for consistency and testing. Ideal for a marketer at the start of their career, or someone who feels overwhelmed and needs to get back to basics.
You can pick up a copy here.
#02: The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder
Shama Hyder’s book is a much more relaxed approach to social media than Gary Vee’s hustle-and-grind strategy.
The Zen of Social Media aims to deliver an insight into the basics of social media marketing and builds your confidence as you progress through your journey.
In the book you’ll learn:
- How to understand the identity of your ideal follower
- How to get ahead on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
- How to create a social media policy for your business
We’d recommend this book to any brand new social media marketer who is trying to learn the theory behind why we do what we do.
You can pick up a copy here.
#03: A World Gone Social by Ted Coiné and Mark Babbitt
The usual social media conversation focuses on one topic — growth.
We are obsessed with how many followers, likes, reactions and shares we’ve got. But, how often do we really think about the people behind the metrics?
That’s what A World Gone Social discusses. It’s a practical way to look at your followers as humans with real thoughts, emotions, and desires. Basically, putting the “social” back into social media.
Ted Coine and Mark Babbitt discuss customer experience and show you:
- How to survive in the social age
- How to recognize and rectify social media faux pas
- How to focus your strategy on engagement
- How to maximize customer experience and build community
This book is a worthwhile read for anyone in social media marketing (or just marketing in general), in order to bring balance to your growth strategy.
You can pick up a copy here.
#04: Freakishly Effective Social Media for Network Marketing by Ray and Jessica Hidgon
When we first came across this book, we were a little dubious.
The words “network marketing” always conjure up images of people selling Herbalife and slimy Facebook messages promising a “great new opportunity!”. But, we were pleasantly surprised by it. Why?
Because it’s a good education in how to establish real relationships with your customers (both existing and potential) on social media.
In the book Ray and Jessica talk about:
- How to effectively outreach to people
- What should (and shouldn’t) go into your updates
- How to create live videos people want to watch
- How to “recover” your strategy if you’ve been doing it wrong so far
This book is ideal if you’re trying to build a community on social media. If you want to go beyond driving traffic back to your website and develop a dedicated following of people.
You can pick up a copy here.
#05: Social Media Marketing Workbook by Jason McDonald
Jason McDonald wrote this book to inspire social media marketers into action. Which is why it’s a workbook and not a book on concepts, theories, and ideas.
As you progress through you’ll be challenged to find which strategies work for you. This is accompanied by a practical teaching of the principles for each of today’s most essential social media platforms.
This book is best used in conjunction with a more theory-based book from this list. That way you can take what you’ve learned, and see Jason’s practical way to implement it into your strategy over the coming weeks and months.
You’ll learn, apply and understand:
- Methods for success on each major platform
- How to tailor a strategy to your business
- Correct foundations for social media marketing
- How social media used in the world of business (and not just for cat videos)
We’d recommend you pick up this book if you’ve been feeling overwhelmed with theory and want a solid, step-by-step structure to help you apply what you’ve learned. Being able to see entire processes unfold before you can be a great way to get momentum and smash plateaus.
You can pick up a copy here.
#06: The Art of Social Media by Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick
Guy Kawasaki was one of the founding fathers of business blogging and social media use. And, for this book, he’s teamed up with Peg Fitzpatrick to teach what they feel is fundamental social media use.
Now the “Power Tip for Power Users” is a little misleading. It’s really a book for beginners looking to go from casual and occasional users to fully fledged marketers.
Guy and Peg cover:
- The different elements of social media profiles
- How to create the perfect social media post
- How to grow your follower base
- How to create (or feature heavily) in a Twitter chat
- How to integrate social media with blogging
There are tidbits of information more ardent social media users could benefit from. But this is more along the lines of “social media for dummies” than a guide to help you eek more out of an existing strategy.
This book is best bought in the eBook version so you can interact with the links and resources included. Many people who bought the paperback version complained about the formatting!
You can pick up a copy here.
#07: Facebook Advertising 2018 by Sage T
Social media gurus tend to make Facebook advertising sound stupidly simple.
They say, “Invest $20, choose your target audience, and watch the traffic roll in!”. But, it rarely ever works that smoothly. Instead, you spend hours trying to fine-tune your advert, only to find it doesn’t really achieve, well… anything.
It’s this problem Sage T has expertly tried to solve here. Instead of giving you a rushed overview of each section, you go to depth on each step of the process. Meaning you feel you actually understand what you’re doing and where your ads are going.
Over 13 chapters you’ll learn:
- How to create a well-targeted advert
- How to create crisp clean copy which gets clicks
- How to choose a high ROI Facebook audience
- How to run A/B tests for better results
Advertising is becoming paramount to success on Facebook, and this guide can help anyone who runs adverts to ensure their hard-earned dollars are well spent on the right people.
You can pick up a copy here.
#08: 500 Social Media Marketing Tips by Andrew Macarthy
Andrew Macarthy has curated the largest list of social media tips on the internet right now.
Each platform contains a database of actionable tips which work well on their own, or in conjunction with other tips from the book. We find it’s a great resource to skim through when you’re looking for inspiration, or an insightful source when you want to try out a new platform.
Although it says “strategy” on the cover it’s not really a strategy, rather a collection of insights about each platform. Through which you’ll learn:
- How to create engaging posts on each platform
- How to isolate a platform’s key benefit
- How to understand the psychology of a platform’s users
We wouldn’t recommend reading this book all in one go. Instead, keep it as a reference for when you encounter problems or need a creative spark to help innovate a new strategy.
You can pick up a copy here.
#09: The Social Media Side Door by Ian Greenleigh
Social media has provided us with a tool few of us ever had before, access.
Getting in front of the right people has never been easier, but the competition has never been higher. So, how do you get your content in front of the right people and ensure they remember you?
Those are the questions Ian Greenleigh has tried to answer in his book. He’s created a practical and accessible manual to help you stand out in an increasingly noisy social media world.
In this book Ian shows you:
- How to understand gatekeepers (and the role they play)
- How to use techniques like Newsjacking to get notices
- How to use ego to your advantage
- How to create memorable social media messages
It’s worth noting this book was released in 2013 so some of the commentaries are a little dated. However, the principles are rooted in how humans operate and will withstand any social media evolution we’ll see.
Perfect if you’re trying to get noticed by influencers, or have your brand put in front of the people who can really make a difference to the future of your company.
You can pick up a copy here.
#10: Social Media ROI by Olivier Blanchard
One of the hardest questions to answer is, “What is the return on investment of social media?”
You and us know the benefits of using social to connect and engage with customers in the place which matters. But being able to prove your ROI on paper is an entirely different battle.
Olivier Blanchard has written this book to finally help you track, measure and prove the ROI on your campaigns. He puts forward arguments and strategies to help you learn:
- How to create realistic benchmarks for your campaigns
- How to run different kinds of tests to help you measure ROI
- How to implement social media into a corporate environment
- How to create a social media program for your business
This book is a worthwhile read for social media marketers and online entrepreneurs alike. If you need to prove ROI and want to a streamlined way of testing what you do, this book is for you.
You can pick up a copy here.
Wrapping This Up…
We hope you’ve found this list helpful and you’ve been able to find the book you were looking for.
In addition to this article, we are working on a complementary list of books useful for social media professionals while not focusing on social media.
If there are topics you would like to see covered in this next piece, or if you would like to suggest some books fitting this description, feel free to reach out to us at contact@loomly.com.
Sincerely,
The Loomly Team.
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