Social Media Marketing Books List

Best Books on Social Media

Lee Odden Online Marketing, Social Media

Recently I had the task fo creating a resource for direct marketers on social media marketing and print books are something many people rely on as a portable source of information. The challenge with print sources on internet marketing related topics of course, is that they can become outdated more quickly than other topics.

As a result, I tried to focus on books that would retain thier usefulness to readers over time. The following list was researched from the stack of books on my desk, from the good Tweeple following @leeodden on Twitter and a few private recommendations. Fortunately, we’ve interviewed almost half of the authors on this list, so I’ve included those links as well. Enjoy!

Cluetrain Manifesto – Rick Levine, Chris Locke, Doc Searles, Dave Weinberger
New Rules of Marketing and PR – David Meerman Scott (video interview)
Do It Wrong Quickly – Mike Moran (Mike’s guest post)
Join the Conversation – Joseph Jaffe (interview)
Groundswell – Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff (interview with Charlene)
Personality Not Included – Rohit Bhargava (book review)
Tribes – Seth Godin
Here Comes Everybody – Clay Shirky
Age of Conversation – Gavin Heaton, Drew McLellan (100+ contributors)
Social Media Marketing An Hour A Day – Dave Evans
Secrets of Social Media Marketing – Paul Gillin
Naked Conversations – Shel Israel & Robert Scoble (Video interview with Robert)
Freakonomics – Stephen Dubner & Steven Levitt
Buzz Marketing – Mark Hughes
Radically Transparent – Andy Beal & Judy Strauss (interview with Andy)
Web 2.0: New Tools, New School - Gwen Solomon & Lynne Schrum
The Long Tail - Chris Anderson
The Wisdom of Crowds – James Surowieki
Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business – Larry Weber
Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking – Andy Sernovitz, Afterward by Guy Kawasaki (interview with Guy)
Social Media is a Cocktail Party: Why You Already Know the Rules of Social Media Marketing – Jim Tobin, Lisa Braziel (TopRank is quoted on back cover)
Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide: Business thinking and strategies behind successful Web 2.0 implementations – Amy Shuen
Now Is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs – Brian Solis, Geoff Livingston (video interview with Brian)

And a book that’s coming out in a few weeks that I’m looking forward to:

SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate (Voices That Matter) – Joel Postman

What are your book suggestions for learning more about Web 2.0 and social media topics for marketers?

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http://fasterfuture.blogspot.com David cushman

can I also recommend communities dominate brands, smart mobs, everything is miscellaneous and, my own book, the power of the network (on lulu.com)
http://jlcoassin.blogspot.com/ Julie-Laure Coassin

I would also recommend Communities dominate brands by Tomi T Ahonen and Alan Moore + The whuffie factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business by Tara Hunt. Thanks, Julie
http://www.andybeal.com Andy Beal

Wow! Heck of a list Lee!

Thanks for including Radically Transparent and thanks for lending your wisdom in the chapter on public relations!
http://www.providentpartners.net/blog Albert Maruggi

I’ll add two more. Tactical Transparency – Shel Holtz and John C Havens http://www.tacticaltransparency.com/

and Twitter Means Business – Julio Ojeda-Zapata http://twitin.biz/

Both are out within the last few weeks
http://www.jaffejuice.com Joseph Jaffe

It’s incredible what a wealth of information/knowledge is out there in the form of these books and more.

I wonder if this was the case 10+ years ago with the dot com bubble. I remember books like Customers.com, firebr@ands, blur…what else was there?
http://www.webinknow.com/ David Meerman Scott

Great list, Lee. I’m honored to be included.
http://www.flyteblog.com Rich Brooks

Lee,

Thanks for the list. The book that I’ve been saying is the best book for social media is…drum roll please…How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

The reason is that social media at it’s heart is just a new version of networking. It’s about providing value. Anyone who reads How to Win Friends will be light years ahead of their competitors in terms of using social media to build their personal brand.
http://www.toprankmarketing.com Lee Odden

Thank you for the recommendations David (Cushman), and congratulations on the book!

Hi Julie, I had not heard of “The whuffie factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business” before, thanks.
http://www.toprankmarketing.com Lee Odden

Hey Andy, thank you and Judy for such an authoritative book on Online Reputation Management – nothing else comes close.
http://www.toprankmarketing.com Lee Odden

Thank you for the suggestions Albert and also the links. That makes it even easier to check out the books.

I think Julio’s book is excellent of course, he included my endorsement on the cover , but I avoided application specific books because who knows how long a service with no business model will last?

Speaking of tomes on Twitter, I would also recommend “Twitter and the Micro-Messaging Revolution” from O’Reilly.
http://www.toprankmarketing.com Lee Odden

That’s a good point Joseph and I agree, I don’t think there was anywhere near as much 10 years ago. Rich Brooks makes a good comment on that as far as longstanding books like those from Dale Carnegie that speak to the core of all that’s social.

Obviously the landscape has changed as well with the ease of publishing. In the past 5 years or so there’s been a huge surge in publications on digital marketing topics, yours included. I’d speculate the boom in blogging has something to do with that.
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sri vikas

why add freaknomics and why ignore – Anatomy of buzz .

and why no inclusion of “wikinomics” ?
http://www.va4growth.com/blog Marney Lewis

Holy Smokes!
that is quite the list of resources there and I really appreciate it This aricle was a joy to read, and i took alot of notes, Thanks so much!
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http://barryplaskow.com Barry Plaskow

Lee

This is quite a list. A little over whelming. How should a newcomer prioritize this information?

Thanks
http://www.AskTheMarketingMachine.com Jason Mangrum

This is an excellent list of Social Media Marketing books.
One could reach a college-level education (or better) with
just a handful of these in their arsenal.

Great article, too. I keep coming back to this blog b/c
the information keeps me fresh and at the top of my game.

Thanks again for another excellent post.

Be well,
Jason Mangrum, Founder
Abigail Beal

Wow! What a great list! Now I know what I want from Santa…..

I’d also recommend Red Hot Internet Publicity by Penny C. Sansevieri. This is the book you’ll want to have if you’ve just written a book and want to get it into the hands of eager readers. Learn to use virtual author tours, blogging and other online tools to publicize your book.
http://www.mikevanderheijden.com Mike van der Heijden

Hi,

What do you think about Seth Godin’s ‘Tribes’, I think that could be an addition to your list.
http://www.toprankmarketing.com Lee Odden

Hi Mike, Tribes is on the list between “Personality Not Included” and “Here Comes Everybody”.
http://www.toprankmarketing.com Lee Odden

Barry, prioritizing really depends on your goals and starting point. You can’t go wrong starting with Cluetrain and then Groundswell.
http://www.toprankmarketing.com Lee Odden

Hi Abigail, I think I’ve seen that Internet Publicity book before, am checking. Thanks for the suggestion.
http://www.hcourtyoung.com H. Court Young

I would add “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. While not specifically a marketing book, it gives a good overview of what is happening to the world that marketers need to be aware of.

H. Court Young
Promoting awareness through the written word
Carlos Abler

I don’t know if a lot of people know about this one because it is kind of new and does not overtly focus on marketing. But I am reading Designing For the Social Web by Joshua Porter right now, and find that there are a lot of great insights that would be beneficial to marketers.

http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Social-Voices-That-Matter/dp/0321534921
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http://www.comindwork.com Godzhesas

Thanks for a great list, it’ll keep me occupied for a while
http://www.mikemoran.com Mike Moran

Thanks so much for including my book, Lee. It’s a great honor to be on a list with these fantastic books.
http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com Lisa Braziel from Ignite

Hi Lee! Thanks for including our book in this list. Though I’ve read many of these, I see many that I’ll have to check out now.

Thanks for sharing.
http://www.smartens.eu/blog/ Stefan Martens

“One could reach a college-level education (or better)” – and if you read 10 poker books you’re automatically a poker pro?

Still a great list though!
http://sodexocareers.blogspot.com Kerry

I’m reading Secrets of Social Media Marketing right now – good book!
http://www.leopoldketel.com Jerry Ketel

I appreciate the compendium. But isn’t there one book that states it all? If I had to choose one book, which one should it be? Thanks.
http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com Jim Tobin at Ignite Social Media

Lee,

Thanks for including Social Media is a Cocktail Party.

My favorite on this list is Groundswell. I’ve read 5 or 6 of these, and Groundswell is really well done.

~Jim Tobin
http://twittermaven.com Warren Sukernek

Great list, I would add Crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe and Wikinomics by Don Tapscott.
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