80 Social Media Marketing Resources

This list of social media marketing resources is to help expand your knowledge of the landscape. They’re useful for newbies as well as experienced social media mavens looking to hone their skills.

In addition to more broadly social media focused information, there are recommendations for more targeted offerings such as Facebook and Twitter.

In the spirit of helping the social media marketing community, please feel free to share the link to this page as well as to link to it. Additionally, your comments and suggestions for other references are welcome in the comments section of this page.  Just scroll to the bottom of this very long page.

In the Social Media Corner. These Social Media-focused online resources provide regular content.

  1. Mashable. This is the go to resource for all things social media.
  2. Smart Brief for Social Media. Is a tailored daily newsletter round up the top social media stories of the day. Its editorial team boasts Andy Sernovitz, former CEO of WOMMA.
  3. Who’s Blogging What. Collects the best from the blogsphere. It’s often the source of good social media nuggets.
  4. Hubspot. Home of Mike Volpe and Dan Zarella. Hubspot has a good blog, frequent distribution of social media data and webinars. Be warned that they’re an Internet marketing company and have an agenda.
  5. WOMMA. Stands for Word of Mouth Marketing Association. Started by Pete Blackshaw, it’s the organization for all things buzz related. It has a useful daily newsletter.

Social Media Bookshelf. For those who still believe in dead tree reading, here’s a short list of some of the gems currently available. Please note that this list continues to expand every day.

  1. Anderson, Chris The Long Tail and Free. As a lower cost alternative, you can read the original articles on Wired’s site.
  2. Brogan, Chris and Julien Smith Trust Agents.
  3. Gladwell, Malcolm The Tipping Point and Blink
  4. Godin, Seth Tribes and Linchpin.
  5. Keller, Ed and Jon Berry The Influentials. This book provides explanation for underpinnings of word of mouth marketing and the role of influence.
  6. Li, Charlene and Josh Bernoff, Groundswell. Good read about how social media marketing works by two Forrester Researchers. Some may find it more historical now.
  7. Locke, Christopher, Rick Levine, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger, Cluetrain Manifesto. Written in 1998, this book is amazing in its foresight. It’s a classic treatise that provides the theory behind social media.
  8. McConnell, Ben and Jackie Huba, Citizen Marketing: When People are the Message.
  9. Scobles, Robert and Shel Israel – Naked Conversations. An early book on blogging by former Microsoft Evangelist, Robert Scobles. It was one of the first books written in using a blog format.
  10. Scott, David Meerman The New Rules of Marketing and PR One of the early books on social media. My NYU graduate students either find this book too elementary or they love it. Check out David Meerman Scott’s blog and e-books.
  11. Sernovitz, Andy Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking. Easy-to-read book by the former CEO of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.
  12. Shirky, Clay Here Comes Everyone Very readable book by NYU professor Clay Shirky that approaches social media from a sociological perspective.
  13. Solis, Brian Engage. Brian Solis’ blog is a must read for marketers.
  14. Sterne, Jim Social Media Metrics Jim Sterne has been at the center of digital marketing metrics for years. He runs the eMetrics conferences.
  15. Verdino, Greg microMarketing
  16. Tapscott, Don and Anthony D. Williams Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
  17. Vaynerchuk, Gary Crush it! Bestseller by social media guru who used social media marketing to grow his family’s wine business through the use of videos.

 

 

Other social media sources. Here are a set of articles that help structure your social media marketing.

  1. 360i’s Social Media Handbook. Great free guide for marketers. Download it and see for yourself.
  2. Exact Target’s Social Media and Email Research. Widely referenced research that’s worth your time. Its charts will help you make the social media and email case to your boss!
  3. What’s Your Social Media Rationale. Do you need to make the case to use or expand your use of social media marketing? If so, this column will help you.
  4. How Social Media Has Changed Marketing’s 4Ps. Outlines how social media has influenced the traditional 4Ps of marketing.
  5. How Social Media Compares to Third Party and Owned Media. Has a great chart that layout major media factors and compares them. Useful for future presentations!
  6. Social Media Isn’t Free. Set of metrics to help better understand the full cost of social media marketing.
  7. Do you need a social media manager? With the expanded use of social media marketing, many companies are starting to created dedicated positions. This column helps you decide what you need.

Due to the ever-expanding breadth of social media options, here are some more targeted marketing resources organized by social media format.

Facebook. The current 900 pound guerilla of websites whose traffic now exceeds Google.

  1. Facebook. Here’s the corporate spin. Worth tracking.
  2. InsideFacebook. Here’s the unofficial guide to Facebook for marketers and programmers. This should be in your RSS reader.
  3. AllFacebook. To help you keep up with the information.
  4. Facebook Marketing for Dummies. Written by Paul Dunay who blogs at Buzz Marketing for Technology.
  5. Chris Treadway and Mari Smith, Facebook Marketing She’s one of the Facebook experts. You can also follow her on Twitter.

Twitter. Provides the ability to communicate (i.e. microblog) in 140 character bites. It’s particularly useful for marketing purposes. There are a plethora of products created to support Twitter, often bearing cute names that start with “tw”.

  1. Twitter Blog. This is Twitter’s official blog.
  2. TweetDeck or Hootsuite. Applications to help manage Tweet stream, mentions and schedule future tweets.
  3. 99 Twitter Tools and Applications. Here’s an article from Smashing Magazine to get you started on Twitter tools. There has been a proliferation of Twitter tools and applications. It’s important to bear in mind that many people access Twitter from mobile devices such as smart phones and iPads.
  4. Thomases, Hollis Twitter Marketing Fellow ClickZ columnist Hollis’ book covers the subject in depth. At least follow her on Twitter!
  5. How to Get Your Twitter Mojo. Article to jump start on Twitter with 8 tips to be a sparkling conversationalist.
  6. How to be a Twitter Ninja. Article with 10 steps to master Twitter.
  7. Twitter Chat Schedule. For those who want to participate in chats.
  8. TweetGrid. Useful tool for participating in a Twitter chat.

LinkedIn. Professionally focused social media platform.

  1. LinkedIn Blog. This is the official blog of LinkedIn.
  2. Lewis Howes Blog. A former college football player, Lewis is one of the experts on LinkedIn.
  3. Jan Vermeiren How to REALLY use LinkedIn
  4. Neal Schaffer –Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn (Book)

Blogging sources are an important component of any integrated social media marketing plan. They can also act as a CMS (Content Management System) and help search optimization.

 

  1. Copyblogger.Considered the bible of blogging, especially for business goals. Get this RSS feed so that you’re on top of the latest trends. Try the 31-day Blogging Challenge either as a paid download e-book or in its original blog post format, which takes searching to find.
  2. Problogger.Another must read for bloggers.
  3. Men With Pens. Blog focused on the art of writing from the perspective of copywriters.
  4. Blogs of Fortune 500. Good for checking how the big boys are blogging.
  5. 7 Points to Create Your Blog Voice. How do you create your blog’s personality and brand? This article has 5 exercises to help you.
  6. 12 Suggestions to Overcome Blank Blog Post Syndrome. Need help getting started writing. This article is the place.
  7. 12 Tactics to Grow Your Blog Audience (Flog Your Blog – Part 1). Tips for new and experienced  bloggers expand their reach.
  8. 15 More Ways to Expand Your Blog Reach (Flog Your Blog – Part 2). These 15 blog audience growing suggestions are broken into six categories to help your marketing.
  9. Why Isn’t Anyone Coming to My Blog? Here’s an 8 point checklist to see where your blog may be missing the mark.

 

 

Online photos. Don’t overlook the power of online photographs in your marketing mix since most people can snap a shot with a non-smart phone. Further photographs enhance most other forms of content.

  1. 250+ Free Stock Photograph Sites. If you want more options than Flickr, look no more.
  2. A Complete Guide to Finding And Using Flickr Images. A must read to use other people’s photos correctly and quickly.
  3. Online Consulting Tips to Optimize Your Photos. Who doesn’t need help with their search optimization?
  4. Is a Photo Worth a 1,000 Words? Here are five tips to expand your photographs’ reach online.

YouTube. Largest online video platform. Its also the second biggest search engine so that you can’t overlook this 900 pound gorilla in your marketing plans, especially since it helps search optimization.

  1. Greg Jarboe and Suzie Reider YouTube and Video Marketing Great how-to book to get you started.
  2. How People Watch TV Online And Off. A TechCrunch article on how video is consumed. Great for data.
  3. Context is King. TechCrunch article complete with charts to show how videos are found.
  4. 31 Online Video Branding Questions. Useful checklist to help evaluate the strength of your video campaign.

 

 

PR is useful for disseminating marketing messages cost-effectively to a wide variety of traditional and online media entities. With social media press releases, you can include additional media in a range of formats.

 

  1. Social Media Press Release. Developed by Tom Defren’s PR firm, Shift Communications, here’s the original social media press release prototype.
  2. 5 Ways to Maximize the Impact of Your Press Release. Need some ideas for a press release that aren’t plain vanilla corporate announcements? This article will jumpstart your thinking.
  3. HARO aka Help a Reporter Out. This free PR service distributes created by social media expert Peter Shankman emails three times a day with a listing of requests across a broad array of categories from journalists looking for input and experts. Use it to get your story in the media. If you’d like to know how to use HARO for your business, read this story.
  4. 5 Ways HARO Can Help Build Your Brand. Provides 5 suggestions for using HARO effectively
  5. How to Prevent a Social Media Disaster. Something that every marketer needs to know, even if you’re not doing any social media marketing!
  6. Best practices for Crisis Communications for Social Media. Another addtional to your marketing tool box, even if you’re not active in social media.
  7. How to Save Your Brand in the Face of Crisis. Information from MIT’s Sloan School of Business.

 

 

Mobile. With the growing number of smartphones, every marketer needs to include mobile in their integrated marketing mix. At a minimum, you need to have a mobile website and show up on mobile search, especially if you have a physical location, so that prospective customers can find you when they’re on the go.

  1. 360i’s Mobile Marketing Handbook. Like their social media e-book, this is worth a read, especially if you’re new to the space.
  2. Why Mobile Social Media Matters. Great visuals from 360i’s Senior Director of Emerging Markets David Berkowitz.
  3. Morgan Stanley’s Mobile Internet Report. Research from Morgan Stanley’s institutional service.
  4. Location Based Innovation. Powerpoint presentation by Dr. Phil Hendrix.
  5. iPhone Apps’ Benchmarks for Success. Good blog post on iPhone apps. Contains good visuals.
  6. 7 Mobile Marketing Tactics. Here’s a primer to guide your mobile marketing thinking.

Social Media Guidelines. Regardless of whether you’re active on social media platforms or not, every business needs to outline guidelines for how its employees should represent the company, how employees need to represent themselves, how customers should be treated, and what’s acceptable behavior on company websites and social media entities.

  1. Dave Fleet’s Policies. Insights and resources from PR executive Dave Fleet.
  2. Ford Company’s Social Media Policies. Great concise version of one company’s guidelines that incorporate great visuals with the help of Scott Monty.
  3. Cisco’s Social Media Playbook. Another company’s more in-depth approach to social media guidelines.
  4. Social Media’s Social Responsibility. 10 points to consider in order to make your social media marketing efforts more accountable.

 

Given the speed of change in the social media ecosystem, it’s a sure bet that new and more current resources will continue to be created. To this end, please help contribute to our collective knowledge by adding your suggestions in the comments section below.

Happy Marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Heidi CohenHeidi Cohen is the President of Riverside Marketing Strategies.
You can find Heidi on FacebookTwitter and LinkedIn.

 

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