The surge of interest in social media over the last two or three years has been accompanied by a surge in social media books seeking to demystify the topic – and I have had lots of requests for recommendations of the best books.
Everyone’s preferences for books to help improve marketing practice differs, but I think what most look for are practical guidance and tips; tools to apply to help analyse and improve performance and a framework to bring all the tactics together to help with planning and process. Examples of companies who have successfully applied the principles are also essential and learning from failures is good too, although those aren’t naturally publicised.
For social media, I think marketers also need guidance on how to use the specific types of social media presence and how they integrate with other digital media such as email marketing. A useful framework for types of social media presence are to review your options for these site types.
By Dave Chaffey, January 6 2010