Social media marketing is the ‘way of the future’ and no proper marketing strategy is complete without including social media plans. With that said, it can be difficult to know what works and what doesn’t on these platforms. But thanks to social media marketing books, we don’t have to play the guessing game.

We’ve compiled here a list of all the best-selling and most insightful social media marketing books. With their help (and the guidance of our social media marketing blog), you can build a brilliant marketing strategy.

Some of the books are broad and share tips and tricks related to social media marketing in general. Others are more focused on specific topics. All of them will teach you new skills and help you widen your horizons in the marketing world.

So, without further ado…

What Are The Best Social Media Marketing Books?

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook

The first book on our list, ‘Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook’ is written by Gary Vaynerchuk, a best-selling author of American-Belarusian descent. He is also a well-known internet personality, speaker and businessman.

In the book, he addresses the ‘secrets’ of how to get your unique message out there in a very busy and noisy digital world. He reveals how you can beat your competition and connect with your target audience.

The book’s name refers to slowly winning over your audience and potential customers before hooking them. Social media marketing takes time and dedication, as the name suggests.

Gary shares his wealth of knowledge and knows what he’s talking about. He managed to take his family wine enterprise and turn it into a roughly $60 million giant. On top of that, Gary has invested in digital companies and his investments paid off.

This social media marketing book is a must-have for any social media marketer.

The Lead Machine: The Small Business Guide

Any business owner or entrepreneur will find that this book is a useful addition to their arsenal of marketing knowledge. Written by Rich Brooks, an admired speaker on entrepreneurship, social media and digital marketing.

He is also the founder and president of Flyte New Media, a successful digital agency based in Maine.

The Lead Machine will teach readers how to turn their online followers into real and loyal customers. It also imparts knowledge on the skills necessary to lure people to your social media pages and increase your ranking on search engines.

But that’s not all that you can expect to learn from this book. Once you’ve finished reading it, you will know how to create awesome websites, stay in contact with your customers and improve your conversion rates.

Brooks shares a lot of valuable information that you should definitely make use of when creating your digital marketing strategies.

YouTube Growth Hacking

If you’re focused on content marketing on YouTube, you’ll have to add this to your collection of social media marketing books. It was written by Jeff Abston, and he knows a thing or two about being successful on YouTube.

Since video content continues to remain the most popular format, it comes as no surprise that YouTube is a goldmine for traffic.

In ‘YouTube Growth Hacking’ Jeff shares his expertise on how to market on the platform and optimise any existing channels they have.

You will learn how to grow your channel, use SEO to boost your reach and create a growth model that is easy to sustain. He also teaches about influencer marketing, gaining subscribers and monetising your channel.

If you need to learn more about how to create viral videos for YouTube and other platforms, check out our article on how to create video marketing content.

Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction

Another must-have for any collection of social media marketing books is Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction. This one was written by senior magazine editor and journalist, Derek Thompson.

In his book, Derek shares with the world his secrets to success on social media as well as theories on how content goes viral.

The book also discusses the psychology behind what people like and what they share on social media. Insight into the marketing world is also to be found in the book. Derek also shares how marketers can use viral content to their benefit.

If you’re looking for a book that will enrich your knowledge on viral content and pop culture, this is ideal for you.

 One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days

The author of ‘One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days, Brendan Kane, is a strategist and growth hacker with many loyal followers on social media. He is also a consultant for Fortune 500 companies, so he has a lot of experience to share.

In this specific social media marketing book, you will be treated to insight on how to make a real impact in the digital world.

If you want to stand out, you’ll learn how with Brendan’s hard-earned advice. He shares his knowledge on how to get a dedicated, diverse and authentic online following. Also, you get to read about in-depth interviews with social media influencers and marketers.

Brendan also gives his readers tips on how they can create valuable and unique content. He also gives answers to questions about engagement and growing a digital audience.

Epic Content Marketing

When it comes to social media marketing, it is important that your strategy doesn’t feel like the ‘old ways’. Old marketing strategies don’t work anymore – yours should be unique, interesting and fresh. 

That is why you need to read social media marketing books such as Joe Pulizzi’s ‘Epic Content Marketing’.

In the book, Joe – who is a best-selling author of many other related books – teaches how you should write your content.

You’ll learn how to choose the right content, develop your mission plan and curate content. If you are unsure of how to create the kind of content your brand needs, this book is a must-read.

Joe has founded three companies so he knows a thing or two about successful digital marketing. He was also awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Content Council.

Content Mavericks: How to Grow Your Business

While not much is really known about the authors of ‘Content Mavericks: How to Grow Your Business’, they managed to write a book that is looked up to. Andrew Pickering and Peter Gartland dive into the world of SEO, paid ads and social media content with this book. As a result, we have a great book filled with knowledge.

You don’t get any gimmicks with this book. It’s all about creating strategies that will really work. You get actionable and practical advice that you can use to enhance your own plans and ideas.

The book gives readers an impressive and effective seven-step plan on creating social media content. The content will drive sales and clicks as well as entertain your audience. There are many books on social media marketing, but not many of them are so easy to understand and put to use.

Every marketer knows that a good social media marketing strategy needs to be planned thoroughly, so this book really is very useful.

Social Media Marketing Workbook: How to Use Social Media for Business

One of the best books for social media marketing is ‘Social Media Marketing Workbook: How to Use Social Media for Business’. The title explains just what makes it such a great book – you will learn how to use social media to promote your brand.

The author, Jason McDonald, is a teacher and trainer in the social media marketing world with a passion for figuring things out and teaching others.

Jason has experience with Google AdWords, Pay Per Click Advertising and SEO and his advice is well-researched. In his book, he teaches marketers how to promote their brand and just what social media marketing is all about.

As far as social media marketing books go, this one is perfect for beginners and more experienced marketers alike.

You’ll get tips on creating content marketing strategies, a discussion of the best social media sites and how to market your business. You will regret not adding this one to your bookshelf.

The Power of Visual Storytelling

The best social media marketing strategies are the ones that remember the importance of visuals. We live in a busy age and visuals are what keep people’s attention. 

By teaching marketers and brands about this in ‘The Power of Visual Storytelling’, authors Ekaterina Walter and Jessica Gioglio are giving us gold.

Both writers are accredited and admired in the social media marketing industry and bring a lot of valuable knowledge to the table.

Books about social media need to address the right strategies when it comes to visuals and this one does so magnificently. You get great examples and visuals that will show you the right way.

Getting your message across in the social media world is vital if you want your audience to react. That is why this book is yet another must-have. You need as much knowledge as you can get.

On that note, you should take a look at our article on colour psychology marketing to learn more about the importance of colour when creating content.

Everybody Writes 

The woman behind ‘Everybody Writes’, Ann Handley, is one of the best social media marketing experts today. She is a renowned professional and best-selling author. Coming up with a rocking media strategy is what she knows best and her book shares all the important facts.

She gives insight into digital marketing and her marketing tips are very useful even if you’re new to the industry.

While having the right visuals is vital, you need great writing to back it up and that is why creating great content is necessary. This is discussed in Ann’s book in easy-to-understand language.

She also goes into the importance of grammar and how to get it right as well as how to add emotion to your written content.

On top of that, Ann also gives her readers a list of content creation tools that they can use to enhance their strategies.

Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers

All brands have to face critics – better known as haters in the social media world – at one point or another. Dealing with them the right way can make or break your brand reputation and affect your business.

Jay Baer wrote ‘Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers’ to help marketers handle haters the best possible way and avoid disaster. As the president of a global consulting firm and a New York Times best-seller, Jay has lots of inside info to share.

It has become much easier to share negative opinions and reviews and brands need to react to them in a swift and professional manner.

In this book, you learn that there are different kinds of complainers and that they have their own motivation. You also learn how to handle them.

He shares well-researched case studies to show you how other businesses have effectively dealt with haters.

Readers also get a cool fold-out poster that gives summaries of the best strategies for many possible situations. There is a lot of humour but always with knowledge behind it.

These are our choices in social media books that give you great guidance and fantastic advice. You can read all of them or only those that stand out as the most relevant to your brand. 

Either way, you will be able to create a media strategy for your digital marketing plans that will be much more informed and effective.

Many marketers have questions when it comes to social media, books and marketing. We have answers for two of the questions that pop up most frequently.

We won’t be going into detail, but if you had these questions in your mind, they’ll be answered satisfactorily.

How Do You Market a Book on Social Media?

Even the best books need to be marketed in some form or another. Social media has become a great place to promote goods and books are no exception.

If you do things right, you will have high levels of engagement which will convert into brand recognition and brand awareness. You may not think that is important for an author and his or her book, but it really is.

If more people know about you and your book (your brand), more will want to read what you’ve poured your soul into.

You should have social media accounts on the platforms that you think will help you reach your audience. There, you should be sharing content related to your book and your industry. 

It will also help to follow other authors and book lovers that are interested in the genre you write. Have social media accounts that are active and engaged. Then use them to promote your book.

You can use any of the following ideas to market your book (or your best friend’s book) on the social media platform(s) of your choice.

Brand Your Images

This may sound like a simple thing, but having your brand on the images you use is important. Whether you’re a small business with a book linked to it or a new fiction author, you need to have branded images.

You can easily do this on Canva, a photo-editing site. Your images should represent you and they should be of high quality. When you share them on social media, your audience should immediately associate them to you.

Involve Your Fans

If you’ve been sharing interesting content and getting people excited about your book, you should have a few fans.

When you market on social media, you are able to involve others in fun ways, such as unique hashtags and user-generated content.

You can have competitions and giveaways that are centred around your book. Sit down and think of all the ways you’d love to be involved in the marketing process of your favourite author’s new book. Use that!

Encourage Participation

This ties in with the previous point. Get your fans, family and friends to engage with your social media platforms. You can ask them to like and share your content as well as comment on them. If your content is interesting enough, you won’t even have to ask.

Remember that while marketing your book on social media, you should be spending most of your time promoting engagement and creating connections.

Don’t force your book down people’s throats because that will not work. It will only drive people away.

Share interesting content, blogs written by you, entertaining images etc.

Use Social Media Ads

Create a few ads that you can promote your book with that can be run on the best social media platforms where your audience is active.

Targeting them will become easier as the understanding of social media marketing grows so you’ll only get better results with this.

Pin Important Updates

You need to keep your audience updated on what’s going on in the life of your book and your writing. Pinning all the important updates at the top of your feeds is a simple and effective way to do that.

Twitter and Facebook are great for this kind of approach.

What Do You Do as a Social Media Marketer?

If you’re curious about a career as a social media marketer, you may have wondered what exactly this profession entails.

There is a lot more to being a social media marketer than many people expect, but we’ll only look at the main points here to give you an idea.

Here is a rundown of the tasks you will likely be busy with while working as a social media marketer:

Identify The Target Market

One of your first tasks will be to determine who your client’s audience is. These are the people who will hopefully support your client’s business. Are they young and spending hours on Twitter or TikTok? Or are they slightly older, more professional and active on LinkedIn and YouTube?

When you know your audience, you’ll be able to create a social media marketing strategy that will cater to them and get the right people interested.

Determine Relevant Social Networks

It will be up to you to find out which social media networks are best suited to the needs of your clients. Not all networks are good for all kinds of brands. For example, Pinterest is awesome for visual content and Facebook is great for community building.

You need to know the differences and compare that to what your clients hope to achieve. The target audience is important too – where does the audience spend their time while online?

Gain Followers

Now comes the task that will take a while to complete – getting followers on these social media platforms.

To do that, you need to show people that the brand identifies with them. Show them that you care about them, their opinions and their problems.

Talking to industry leaders, influencers and the audience itself is a great way to raise brand awareness.

Engage with the followers and create real, sincere connections with them. Responding to questions, reacting to complaints and talking directly to them goes a long way.

Track Your Results

During your campaign, you need to keep a close eye on how your work and effort is performing. You cannot leave this for last because you need to spot what isn’t working and change it immediately.

Use analytics to follow results and learn as much as possible from the data you get.

Keep Improving

No matter how well you think you’re doing, don’t ever be reluctant to improve and change. Use the strategies that work and dump the ones that don’t. You can’t always get the results you want with all your ideas, and that’s okay. Just keep improving.

Conclusion

Social media marketing books are a great resource. They can nudge you in the right direction on your journey to being the best social media marketer you can be.

Of course, an artist is only as good as his or her tools, so you will need the right tools for the jobs. SocialPlanner is one of those tools that will make your life easier and your strategy better chance at being effective.

Don’t waste any time – read this article on why you need a social media calendar and scheduling tool and why SocialPlanner will work for you.