3. Brand Storytelling: Put Customers at the Heart of Your Brand Story – by Miri Rodriguez 

Storytelling provides a magical narrative that lets you communicate and connect on a personal level with your audience. Every post you make is an opportunity to tell a micro-story.

Miri Rodriguez has compiled case study after case study from big names like Expedia, Google, and McDonald’s to spark your brand’s own magical narrative.

This book covers:

• • How to harness storytelling to evoke emotion
• • Assessing, dismantling, and rebuilding your brand story
• • Why AI and machine-learning can’t do it all

4. Get Sh*t Done: The Ultimate Guide to Productivity, Procrastination, and Profitability – by Jeffrey Gitomer

As a social media manager, you’re planning and executing campaigns. You’re engaging with fans. You’re convincing your salespeople that, no, you can’t just get a celebrity to endorse your new line of vitamins.

If you need motivation to effectively and efficiently complete your massive to-do list, consider diving into this book to revitalize your workday.

This book covers:

• • Optimizing your work habits
• • Building a comprehensive plan for maximizing productivity
• • How to eliminate distraction and prevent procrastination

5. Social Media Marketing Workbook: How to Use Social Media for Business – by Jason McDonald

Jason McDonald puts out a fresh version of this social media workbook annually. His metaphor remains the same, year after year: if social media is a party, as a social media marketer, you’re the party host.

Here, you’ll find a step-by-step guide to creating the entertainment that will keep the party bumping.

This book covers:

• • Conceptualizing the content you need
• • Creating a customized social media marketing plan
• • Developing in-depth knowledge of each unique social platform

6. Faster, Smarter, Louder: Master Attention in a Noisy Digital Market – by Aaron Agius and Gián Clancey

Brands that specialize in quiet genius are likely to be stuck hanging by the proverbial chip bowl at the party going unnoticed.

Get loud with the help of this strategy guide that teaches brands how to build visibility and demand. Faster, Smarter, Louder teaches you how to be the life of the party on social media.

This book covers:

• • Finding industry-proven strategy with plenty of research to back it up
• • Going beyond SEO and ad words to provide authentic value
• • Getting the attention your brand deserves

7. Run with Foxes: Make Better Marketing Decisions – by Paul Dervan

Social media marketing is more of an art rather than a science.

For all the strategizing, planning, and data mining we do, there’s really no one fool-proof method for engagement.

Paul Dervan, previously the Global Brand Director at Indeed, is upfront about the uncertainty of it all. “This is not a book of answers,” he says right off the bat.

What he does promise is a book full of lessons that he and several dozen other marketers — sly foxes that they are — have learned over their careers.

This book covers:

• • The secrets to making better decisions
• • Lessons from failures big and small
• • First-hand advice from some of the world’s biggest marketers

8. Fanocracy: Turning Fans Into Customers and Customers into Fans – by David Meerman Scott and Reiko Scott

The Wall Street Journal best-seller from a father-daughter team focuses on building engagement, loyalty, and even a love connection with your audience or customers.

This book covers:

• • How to harness the power of fandom through social psychology
• • Building personal relationships with your followers
• • The impact of a meaningful corporate culture

9. Digital Trust: Social Media Strategies to Increase Trust and Engage Customers – by Barry Connelly

What do successful relationships and buying something off Instagram have in common? It’s all about trust.

If your audience doesn’t trust your brand, you’re never going to be able to build engagement. You may not be able to go to therapy with your customers, but you can build a social strategy around a strong, dedicated brand identity.

This book covers:

• • How to reinforce customer trust through social
• • Enabling transparency and consumer empowerment
• • Practical tools for building and leveraging trust

10. Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content – by Ann Handley

In our content-driven world, communication skills are essential in any outward-facing role. “Our online words are currency,” Handley points out. “They tell our customers who we are.”

Spanning time and space, great communication is a classic skill that will forever be valuable.

This book covers:

• • Why writing matters more now, not less
• • Easy grammar rules and writing tips
• • The fundamentals of great marketing content