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Best Books on Social Media

Lee Odden
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 The challenge with print sources on internet marketing related topics of course, is that they can become outdated more quickly than other topics.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?

About Lee Odden

@LeeOdden is the CEO of TopRank Marketing and editor of TopRank's B2B Marketing Blog. Cited for his expertise by The Economist, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal, he's the author of the book Optimize and presents internationally on B2B marketing topics including content, search, social media and influencer marketing. When not at conferences, consulting, or working with his talented team, he's likely running, traveling or cooking up something new.

Comments

  1. David cushman says

    November 26, 2008 at 2:39 pm

    can I also recommend communities dominate brands, smart mobs, everything is miscellaneous and, my own book, the power of the network (on lulu.com)

  2. Julie-Laure Coassin says

    November 26, 2008 at 4:43 pm

    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

  3. Andy Beal says

    November 26, 2008 at 5:48 pm

    Wow! Heck of a list Lee!

    Thanks for including Radically Transparent and thanks for lending your wisdom in the chapter on public relations!

  4. Albert Maruggi says

    November 26, 2008 at 11:50 pm

    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

  5. Joseph Jaffe says

    November 27, 2008 at 6:29 am

    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, [email protected], blur…what else was there?

  6. David Meerman Scott says

    November 27, 2008 at 8:08 am

    Great list, Lee. I’m honored to be included.

  7. Rich Brooks says

    November 27, 2008 at 8:15 am

    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.

  8. Lee Odden says

    November 27, 2008 at 8:32 am

    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.

  9. Lee Odden says

    November 27, 2008 at 8:33 am

    Hey Andy, thank you and Judy for such an authoritative book on Online Reputation Management – nothing else comes close.

  10. Lee Odden says

    November 27, 2008 at 8:41 am

    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.

  11. Lee Odden says

    November 27, 2008 at 8:46 am

    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.

  12. sri vikas says

    November 27, 2008 at 11:37 am

    why add freaknomics and why ignore – Anatomy of buzz .

    and why no inclusion of “wikinomics” ?

  13. Marney Lewis says

    November 27, 2008 at 3:32 pm

    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!

  14. Barry Plaskow says

    November 28, 2008 at 5:37 am

    Lee

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

    Thanks

  15. Jason Mangrum says

    November 28, 2008 at 11:00 am

    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

  16. Abigail Beal says

    November 29, 2008 at 12:35 pm

    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.

  17. Mike van der Heijden says

    November 29, 2008 at 6:49 pm

    Hi,

    What do you think about Seth Godin’s ‘Tribes’, I think that could be an addition to your list.

  18. Lee Odden says

    November 29, 2008 at 8:46 pm

    Hi Mike, Tribes is on the list between “Personality Not Included” and “Here Comes Everybody”.

  19. Lee Odden says

    November 29, 2008 at 8:47 pm

    Barry, prioritizing really depends on your goals and starting point. You can’t go wrong starting with Cluetrain and then Groundswell.

  20. Lee Odden says

    November 29, 2008 at 8:48 pm

    Hi Abigail, I think I’ve seen that Internet Publicity book before, am checking. Thanks for the suggestion.

  21. H. Court Young says

    November 30, 2008 at 6:05 pm

    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

  22. Carlos Abler says

    November 30, 2008 at 6:47 pm

    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

  23. Godzhesas says

    December 1, 2008 at 4:36 am

    Thanks for a great list, it’ll keep me occupied for a while

  24. Mike Moran says

    December 1, 2008 at 5:24 am

    Thanks so much for including my book, Lee. It’s a great honor to be on a list with these fantastic books.

  25. Lisa Braziel from Ignite says

    December 1, 2008 at 7:22 am

    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.

  26. Stefan Martens says

    December 2, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    “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! 😉

  27. Kerry says

    December 2, 2008 at 6:59 pm

    I’m reading Secrets of Social Media Marketing right now – good book!

  28. Jerry Ketel says

    December 3, 2008 at 2:53 pm

    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.

  29. Jim Tobin at Ignite Social Media says

    December 3, 2008 at 4:14 pm

    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

  30. Warren Sukernek says

    December 4, 2008 at 10:31 pm

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

Trackbacks

  1. links for 2008-11-27 « Shashi Bellamkonda - Social Media Swami says:
    November 27, 2008 at 11:28 am

    […] Social Media Marketing Books List | Online Marketing Blog I have read all 3 and recommend them too (tags: books about social media book list new) […]

  2. Social Media Marketing Books List | Online Marketing Blog | organicsocialmedia says:
    November 27, 2008 at 11:43 pm

    […] Read more here:

  3. Five in the Morning 120108 « StickyFigure says:
    December 1, 2008 at 3:58 am

    […] have collected links to 25 top (free) downloads for Social Media eBooks. BONUS: Lee Odden’s list of top (”real”) books on social media […]

  4. Best Podcasts on Social Media | Online Marketing Blog says:
    December 21, 2008 at 10:38 pm

    […] are many ways to acquire information on the topic of social media ranging from blogs to books to Twitter. As part of our efforts to aggregate useful resources for Online Marketing Blog readers […]

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