Are you looking for a few good books to improve your marketing?

Wondering what books your peers are raving about?

Look no further.

We asked our authors to share the social media marketing books they’ve recently enjoyed reading–ones with useful relevant takeaways.

In this article, you’ll discover 17 books to help you improve your social media marketing recommended by social media pros.

#1: Your Customer Creation Equation

Andy Crestodina

I love Brian Massey’s Your Customer Creation Equation. It’s a concise, clear-sighted overview of visitors and actions. It explains the how and why of conversions and measurement. And it’s all done in simple terms with relevant examples.

Brian also covers social media, but in the context of conversion. He reminds us that conversion does not necessarily lead to action. So he encourages us to take a practical approach to social media by focusing either on conversation or content, depending on our business. Smart!

There are different types of websites with different types of visitors. Each type has its own “formula.” You need to first understand what type of site you have before you start work in the “laboratory.”

The key to optimizing your conversion rate is experimentation. Noticing a theme? Brian even calls himself a “Conversion Scientist.” He’s clearly a strong advocate of testing.

Andy Crestodina, principal, strategic director at Orbit Media.

#2: Epic Content Marketing

Ian Cleary

We talk a lot about producing content, but are we producing the right type of content, targeted at the right audience, delivered in the right format that accomplishes our business goals?

Joe Pulizzi’s book, Epic Content Marketing, is essential reading if you’re a content marketer. It takes you through all of the necessary phases of producing a content marketing strategy. Without a clear content marketing strategy, you’ll end up producing content for the sake of content and it won’t achieve your business goals.

“Content marketing is the marketing and business process for creating and distributing content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience with the objective of driving profitable customer action.” – Joe Pulizzi

One of my key takeaways from this book is the importance of a content segmentation grid. This is a combination of the stages of your sales process and the content required at each stage.

As Joe says, it’s not a case of just producing content as a ‘spray and pray’ approach similar to advertising. You need to produce content that is relevant for each stage of the buying cycle.

Ian Cleary, founder of RazorSocial.

John Lee Dumas

Epic Content Marketing by Joe Pulizzi does an incredible job of helping entrepreneurs define their content niche.

I believe not having a defined content niche is what derails most entrepreneurial efforts. With this book, I was able to define EntrepreneurOnFire’s niche in a powerful way.

John Lee Dumas, founder and host of EntrepreneurOnFire.

#3: Spreadable Media

Lisa Peyton

Spreadable Media, by Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford and Joshua Green, is a must-read for any marketer who has been tasked with creating ‘viral’ content. Henry Jenkins, known as the father of Transmedia Storytelling, and the other authors do an amazing job of breaking down the fallacies surrounding the concept of ‘virality,’ and instead offer up the concept of ‘spreadability.’

The book is a refreshing bird’s-eye view of how to make content that connects with your audience. Instead of viewing audience members as passive consumers of content, Spreadable Media suggests that the audience plays an active role in the distribution and meaning of your content.

This might make some marketing managers uncomfortable, but the authors lay out strong evidence that passive consumers are a thing of the past. The companies that connect with the audience and empower them to improve and reuse content are the companies that are cutting through the noise.

They also delve into tactics, including information and how new technology can contribute to ‘spreadability.’ They outline several factors including content availability, portability, reusability and relevance that help create the foundation for spreadable content.

Lisa Peyton, leader in the field of digital marketing and editor at ThoroughlyModernMarketing.com.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/17-social-media-marketing-books/