To grow your small business online it’s vital to take full advantage of social media. You can use the platforms to grow a following, sell products and speak to customers.

But with so many platforms to use, it’s a race for businesses to succeed on them. So how do you make yourself stand out? Plenty of books are available to offer advice, but we’ve picked the best to help you build a strategy for social media.

This guide discusses the five best social media for business books, which include:

  • One Million Followers
  • The End of Marketing
  • Content Mavericks
  • The Lead Machine
  • Likeable Social Media

Best social media for business books

One Million Followers

Brendan Kane

If you engage with your audiences regularly, you can grow a following of people who see your content as valued information or entertainment. Kane explores the secret to creating that relationship beyond marketing within this book.

One of the best social media for business books, the author is a digital strategist and ‘growth hacker‘. He’s built experience with work on social media campaigns for IKEA, MTV, Vice and Skechers.

In addition, Kane works with celebrities like Rihanna and Taylor Swift to help them reach their fans online.

One Million Followers focuses primarily on:

With this detailed guide on building your brand within thirty days, it offers practical strategic advice for growth. Its help is wide-reaching and could also work for other platforms. 
(Available on Amazon)

The End of Marketing

Carlos Gil

Social media platforms are so popular that influencers (who understand the content trends on platforms like TikTok) could have more impact on customers than businesses that spend millions on campaigns. 

Gil argues within this book that the reason people would rather engage with an influencer is, they’re human.

So to be a success on the platforms, you must humanise your brand as much as possible. It can become something people care about and empathise towards, like a person. 

It sounds like a monumental task, but Gil uses real-life examples to teach you how to do it. The book mentions celebrities like Kim Kardashian, DJ Khaled and Kanye West. 

These people turned their personalities into brands, so they’re great case studies for how to do the opposite for your business. Gil explains how brands like Airbnb, Zoom and Marriott manage to do just that.

(Available on Amazon)

Content Mavericks

Andrew and Pete

You might have heard that one of the key factors for a business’ impact on social media is content. But how do you create things people want on their feed

Andrew and Pete are the founders of growth agency Atomic and offer advice for small businesses through their YouTube channel.

Their best social media for business book is a seven-point plan to help you craft a content marketing strategy to grow your business organically. Organic growth means you can gain exposure on social media without paid advertising.

Its advice covers everything from blogs and podcasts to videos. You’ll learn how to become a ‘content maverick’ and improve your sales by turning your business’s social media into a hub to delight users.

(Available on Amazon)

The Lead Machine

Rick Brooks

You may have heard about a lead or sales funnel before. Still, many small business owners struggle to take advantage of what that means. 

Simply put, it’s the process of reaching potential customers in one stage, then marketing to them further to make a purchase more likely later.

That means that you generate and convert leads, which digital marketers will say all the time. But for your small business, you can use it efficiently too, and Brooks explains that in his book.

He details what he calls the ‘BARE essentials of digital marketing’:

  • Build
  • Attract
  • Retain
  • Evaluate

That simple process, along with practical advice, can turn you into a capable marketer and give your business the jump start it deserves. 

It simplifies what can be a heavy topic into something manageable and easy to adopt alongside the rest of your operation.

(Available on Amazon)

Likeable Social Media

Dave Kerpen

Facebook perfected the ‘like’ button, a staple of how users interact on social media. Engagement with your posts in any form is crucial, with the platforms’ algorithms more likely to show engaging posts to more people.

But it’s worth remembering the purpose of any engagement, and that’s to make users genuinely like your brand more. 

That relationship could lead you to earn a customer who buys your product over a competitor and continues to for years to come.

Kerpen understands the value of social media engagement and writes a manual on incorporating that into your customers’ experiences. 

That could mean that you encourage offline customers to interact with your online accounts, for example.

It even offers tips for responding to negative comments and feedback, as well as how to create short video stories. The book also explains the role that data plays in social media marketing and how to make it work for your business.

(Available on Amazon)

Turn the knowledge into ideas

Each of the best social media for business books offer a unique take on social media marketing. Still, you might find something else that works with your audiences.

The pace of change on social media is rapid, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. These books can help you build a strategy, but don’t be afraid to experiment and try something new

It might be that you have a completely original idea for content, and that may be just what you need to cause a stir. Use what you learn to build your own path for your business.

Manage your marketing spending with Countingup

When you try new things on social media, it’s important to remember to watch how much you spend and keep yourself to a budget

Countingup is a business account with built-in accounting software, and it can help your small business track its costs

Its expense categorisation feature can automatically sort them with HMRC approved labels, so you always know where your money goes.

Get started for free.

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