Social media marketing is not very new, yet there are still many amateur marketers who want to learn about it from the basics to the most advanced details. For those seeking comprehensive knowledge, books for startup founders and marketers remain an invaluable resource alongside online courses.
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While there are many great online courses to study social media marketing, there are still quite a few great books written on the topic. Hence, here are the twenty must-read social media marketing books to check out in 2024.
To give you an overview of what the article will be about, here’s a list of all the books mentioned:
- “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World” by Gary Vaynerchuk
- “Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media” by Brittany Hennessy
- “Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising” by Ryan Holiday
- “Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach” by Melissa Barker, Donald I. Barker, et al
- “Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content” by Ann Handley
- “The End of Marketing: Humanizing Your Brand in the Age of Social Media and AI” by Carlos Gil
- “Confident Digital Content: Master the Fundamentals of Online Video, Design, Writing and Social Media to Supercharge Your Career” by Adam Waters
- “Entrepreneur Voices on Growth Hacking” by The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, Inc.
- “Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization” by Olivier Blanchard
- “Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing” by Eric Butow, Jenn Herman, Stephanie Liu, et al
- “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
- “Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade” by Robert Cialdini
- “The Age of Influence: The Power of Influencers to Elevate Your Brand” by Neal Schaffer
- “10x Marketing Formula: Your Blueprint for Creating ‘Competition-Free Content’ That Stands Out and Gets Results” by Garrett Moon
- “The Art of Client Service: The Classic Guide, Updated for Today’s Marketers and Advertisers” by Robert Solomon
- “Become a Content Brand: Build a Team, Own Your Audience, & Create Video Your Customers Will Love” by Chris Carter
- “What Customers Crave: How to Create Relevant and Memorable Experiences at Every Touchpoint” by Nicholas J. Webb
- “Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change” by Matt Wallaert
- “They Ask, You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today’s Digital Consumer” by Marcus Sheridan
- “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” by Malcolm Gladwell
1. “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World” by Gary Vaynerchuk
“Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World” by Gary Vaynerchuk is by far one of the most famous books on social media marketing. Though it was released way back in 2013, this book is still relevant because focuses on high-quality content creation. Vaynerchuk emphasizes the importance of authentic interactions with the audience to improve the impact of a brand’s social messaging.
2. “Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media” by Brittany Hennessy
“Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media” by Brittany Hennessy is a social media marketing book primarily meant for Instagram influencers. Hennessy teaches how to build a loyal follower base on the platform and connect with the audience on a more personal level. The author also explains why an influencer may need to get an agent and how that agent can help.
3. “Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising” by Ryan Holiday
“Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising” by Ryan Holiday is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a book about growth hacking your way to the top.
Instead of using traditional marketing methods, including even the best email marketing tools companies want to get into the right mindset and find an approach that will help them kickstart their business in no time. This book provides you with practical strategies and useful concepts that form the foundation of growth hacking.
4. “Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach” by Melissa Barker, Donald I. Barker, et al
“Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach” by Melissa Barker, Donald I. Barker, et al is perhaps the best social media marketing book for beginners. If you don’t know much about the topic, then this is a great place to start.
The authors first discuss the origins of social media marketing, define relevant terms, and then explain the key concepts. You will also learn how to use social media marketing with other techniques to maximize results.
5. “Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content” by Ann Handley
“Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content” by Ann Handley is a book that primarily focuses on content creation. Handley explains how to write with purpose and create content that will not only deliver the message you want to convey but also help you achieve a variety of other important goals. The author focuses on storytelling as the tool that will help you connect with your clients and present your business in the best way through social media.
6. “The End of Marketing: Humanizing Your Brand in the Age of Social Media and AI” by Carlos Gil
“The End of Marketing: Humanizing Your Brand in the Age of Social Media and AI” by Carlos Gil is another book that focuses on how to send your message. However, instead of simply talking about content, Gil focuses on branding and messaging and how they can be used in social media marketing. You will find valuable tips on marketing on LinkedIn and Facebook, growth hacking, increasing engagement, and so on.
7. “Confident Digital Content: Master the Fundamentals of Online Video, Design, Writing and Social Media to Supercharge Your Career” by Adam Waters
“Confident Digital Content: Master the Fundamentals of Online Video, Design, Writing and Social Media to Supercharge Your Career” by Adam Waters is about the practical side of content creation. Waters goes deep into the skills you would need to create high-quality content.
If you still need help with your content creation, you can hire a professional writer from the writing services reviews site Best Writers Online to assist you with it. An experienced specialist in the field will be of great help to you.
8. “Entrepreneur Voices on Growth Hacking” by The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, Inc.
“Entrepreneur Voices on Growth Hacking” by The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, Inc. is a valuable book for anyone who wants to expand their knowledge on growth hacking. While you might know the essence of it, this book can help you better understand how the most famous brands utilized it to achieve success. Learn about how Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox, and others used growth hacking in their strategy and then apply their tips to your own case (e.g. valuation of a business, planning your marketing, increasing sales, etc.)
9. “Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization” by Olivier Blanchard
“Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization” by Olivier Blanchard is a book that explains something many amateur marketers tend to overlook. To be able to achieve success with your social media marketing, you need to see that you are making progress, and to see that progress, you need to measure your efforts. That’s what Blanchard talks about here.
10. “Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing” by Eric Butow, Jenn Herman, Stephanie Liu, et al
“Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing” by Eric Butow, Jenn Herman, Stephanie Liu, et al is an anthology that focuses on the business side of social media marketing. A group of experts discusses the different aspects of social media and how it can be used to promote a specific brand or product through a variety of techniques. You will learn about industry insights and maybe even learn some things that you would have never heard of elsewhere.
11. “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
“Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath is a book that addresses one of the most important topics discussed by our society today – fake news. It’s very easy to let out an idea into the wild and see it spread like a virus.
On the other hand, some ideas just don’t seem to work. This book will help you better understand why this happens and how you can make your ideas “stick” and get delivered to the right audience.
12. “Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade” by Robert Cialdini
“Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade” by Robert Cialdini is another book that focuses on messaging and how to do it right. Cialdini believes that what’s most important is not the information itself that you want to convey but rather the moment when you address the message. You need to find exactly the right moment to communicate something you want to say, and if you manage to find that moment, you will succeed.
13. “The Age of Influence: The Power of Influencers to Elevate Your Brand” by Neal Schaffer
“The Age of Influence: The Power of Influencers to Elevate Your Brand” by Neal Schaffer will explain to you everything you need to know about social media influencers and how you can work with them to promote your business, using different types of marketing, for instance, influencer or referral marketing program. Influencer marketing has become incredibly popular with brands both big and small, but how you approach it matters a lot.
14. “10x Marketing Formula: Your Blueprint for Creating ‘Competition-Free Content’ That Stands Out and Gets Results” by Garrett Moon
“10x Marketing Formula: Your Blueprint for Creating ‘Competition-Free Content’ That Stands Out and Gets Results” by Garrett Moon is a book about content creation and a simple formula that will help you get the best results from your efforts. Moon explains that if you do content creation the right way, you will get results that will be ten times greater than your efforts.
Starting out with content marketing can be difficult, so it’s a good idea to hire experienced writers from the custom writing reviews site Writing Judge. With a team of professionals, it will be easier for you to kickstart your digital marketing campaigns.
15. “The Art of Client Service: The Classic Guide, Updated for Today’s Marketers and Advertisers” by Robert Solomon
“The Art of Client Service: The Classic Guide, Updated for Today’s Marketers and Advertisers” by Robert Solomon is an updated version of the famous book on how to interact with customers. Solomon discusses the 58 key concepts that make up the foundation of good customer service and explains how to apply these in all your activities. These concepts are important both for your marketing and for your customer service department because they both directly interact with your audience.
16. “Become a Content Brand: Build a Team, Own Your Audience, & Create Video Your Customers Will Love” by Chris Carter
“Become a Content Brand: Build a Team, Own Your Audience, & Create Video Your Customers Will Love” by Chris Carter narrows down content creation to video and focuses on that. Carter had grown an online community of filmmakers, video creators, editors, and marketers, and once he realized the power of the video format, he decided to dedicate a book to it. With his experience and expertise, the author shares his most important secrets, the strategies he regularly uses, and more.
17. “What Customers Crave: How to Create Relevant and Memorable Experiences at Every Touchpoint” by Nicholas J. Webb
“What Customers Crave: How to Create Relevant and Memorable Experiences at Every Touchpoint” by Nicholas J. Webb is a book that no marketer should overlook. There is a huge difference between what you think your customers want and what they actually want.
By understanding the latter, you will be able to craft a strategy that is powerful enough to persuade even the most reluctant clients. Webb explains how to create a product or service that will prioritize the customer above all else which will, in turn, lead to outstanding results.
18. “Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change” by Matt Wallaert
“Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change” by Matt Wallaert is a somewhat unconventional book. Wallaert argues that companies tend to spend too much money on marketing without seeing good results.
But instead of trying to find the right processes, businesses should focus on the outcomes. You need to analyze your audience and understand what it wants to do and why it wants to do this. Then, you can create an offer that your customers won’t be able to decline.
19. “They Ask, You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today’s Digital Consumer” by Marcus Sheridan
“They Ask, You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today’s Digital Consumer” by Marcus Sheridan offers a straightforward approach to digital marketing. Sheridan explains how the power of the Internet is in your hands and how allocating your budget and resources correctly will help you achieve maximum results with your marketing campaigns.
20. “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” by Malcolm Gladwell
“The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” by Malcolm Gladwell is a book that focuses on a concept in marketing called the tipping point. This is the moment when a product, brand, or idea reaches the trending zone. By understanding how to get to that point, you can market your business and your products or services in a new, more effective way through the power of word of mouth.
Final Thoughts on Social Media Marketing Books
All in all, social media marketing books are the perfect starting point for any marketer who wants to learn everything about marketing on social media platforms. Use this list to find the best book for your needs and start learning.