The Endgame: 129 Resources, Tools & Trends for Social Media Marketing

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Resources

Social media has changed the way we communicate and it’s still only just growing. No matter what kind of professional you are in the field, if you don’t keep up with what’s going on, you’ll be left behind (and wonder why you’re not growing).

For that (and for us too) we’ve put together the ultimate list of resources, tools and trends you can use. The same will be updated from time to time.

So feel free to explore any of these tools to boost your marketing game.

Books

It’s almost a cliche at this point to state the importance of reading books.

Even though books aren’t the first thing that comes to our mind when we talk about social media, it’s a great way to learn just about anything in general. And, there are some great books on the subject!

This list covers some of the most essential books on social media marketing that you just can’t miss.

1. Likable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (And Other Social Networks) by Dave Kerpen

As the name suggests, being ‘likeable’ is what gets you ahead on social media and Dave Kerpen explains just how.

The book highlights the importance of engaging and how to create impactful and interactive content for your followers.

Read it for its real life examples and little nuggets of wisdom.

2. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk

You couldn’t have been on social media and not heard of Gary Vee. His bestseller focuses on the long term view of building and maintaining authentic and active customer relationships using a conversational and reactionary approach.

Read it for its concrete examples of good, great, and bad social marketing cases.

3. The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email, and More by Kipp Bodnar

Centered around B2B’s, the book pases actionable methods to increase lead generation and lead nurturing as well as the ROI of social media marketing strategies.

Read it for the ‘how-to’ breakdowns by the CMO of HubSpot.

4. The Tao of Twitter by Mark Schaefer

If you plan to only read one book out of this list I recommend The Tao of Twitter. Mark Schaefer talks about the core of all social media marketing and that is building personal relations.

At its heart it focuses on targeted connections, meaningful content, and authentic helpfulness.

Read it for its unique storytelling writing style.

5. The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising How to Access 1 Billion Potential Customers in 10 Minutes (Ultimate Series) by Perry Marshall

Written by real life experts, the book packs an intermediate guide to facebook marketing, perfect for anyone who’s starting on Facebook and extremely helpful if you’re advertising on Facebook and not seeing results.

Read it for in-depth chapters on how to craft the best ad copy and creatives, what funnels work for different types of business, and how to optimize and scale campaigns without seeing an increase in cost per action.

Blogs

As they say some of the best selling books that we know were once highly acclaimed blog posts.

Blogs are a great way to get your dose of information in a shorter, more structured form. They are fresh, actionable and a great source of information.

Listed are some great blogs on social media marketing that you can bookmark and keep coming back to.

6. Social Media Explorer

Ranked as one of the top 10 social media blogs consistently for two years, Social Media Explorer is an agency and a team of social media and marketing experts, with several of their contributors authoring popular books on the subject.

Check it out for its insightful and original content.

7. Scott Monty

Marketing guru, Scott Monty, expands your thinking by covering a wide range of subjects from history and literature to digital communication and social media marketing.

Using his background in classics, he drills down on the basics of human need as a driving factor in everyone’s lives, with his blogs dating back from 2006 to present.

Check it out for Monty’s ‘this week in digital’ posts to keep up with all social and digital marketing news.

8. Social Media Examiner

Social Media Examiner’s mission is to bring together the brightest minds and offer quality content for free and it does just that! With reports and blogs, the site covers everything social media and is a great place to find valuable and expert content.

Check it out for its daily ‘how-to’ articles.

9. HubSpot Marketing Blog

HubSpot is a great way to keep up with everything on Social Media! Trends, tools, ideas, news, the list goes on. With breaking news to actionable how-to-guides on every social network in existence.

Check it out for its amazing readability and simplification of information.

Podcasts

Podcasts are a great way of filling your time with valuable information during mundane tasks that don’t require you to use much brain power (like cleaning, commuting, working out, walking, doing laundry, or even a chill self-care day).

You’ll learn something new without even having to keep a separate time aside for it. Just pop anything on and listen.

Listed are some great podcasts you can check out!

10. Social Media Marketing Podcast

This podcast, by Michael Stelzner from Social Media Examiner, is a combination of marketing success stories and interviews of some of the leading experts in the field.

11. The Social Pros Podcast

If insight into live examples is something that gets you excited then this podcast is for you! The Social Pros covers real work by real companies.

12. The Social Toolkit

Every minute we see the advent and the rise of a new tool in the market. This podcast is a great way to keep up with them and other apps and softwares for social media marketing.

Courses

Courses are a great way to dive into a subject with a professional program. There are tons of courses one can take online for social media marketing.

13. Social Media Marketing Mastery| Learn Ads on 10+ Platforms by Udemy

This course teaches you everything about monetization on each social media platform. Optimizing each platform, running ads, and strategies. This course covers the A to Z of social media marketing.

14. Developing an End-to-End Instagram Marketing Strategy for Your Business – HubSpot

HubSpot Academy’s free course covers the essence of building an effective and organic Instagram marketing strategy.

16. Social Media Influencer Course – Captevrix

You’ve probably heard of influencer marketing — it’s particularly common in the context of social media. Take this course by Captevrix to learn how to work with an Influencer who resonates with your audience to promote your brand.

Ebooks

These ebooks will provide deeper information on specific networks and topics.

17. How to Use Instagram for Business

This step-by-step guide explains the reasons to create a business Instagram account and how to execute on Instagram to drive results.

18. A Visual Guide to Creating the Perfect LinkedIn Company Page

If you’re building a company page for the first time or trying to upgrade your page, this guide will show you exactly how to do everything from crafting an engaging company description to creating an eye-catching banner image.

19. How to Attract Customers with Facebook

This multi-page ebook will show you how to use Facebook to drive real business results for your organization.

20. How to Get More Twitter Followers

HubSpot partnered with the experts at Twitter to provide actionable tips for social media managers starting new accounts to build a following, and fast.

21. The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media

Here’s an amazing guide from Moz. The 12 chapters in this book are filled with valuable information that every marketer absolutely needs to know. Bookmark this guide, you’ll refer to it more than once.

22. How to Create High-Quality Videos for Social Media

Like images, videos drive a ton of engagement on social media. And although the idea of shooting a quality video for your social channels sounds daunting, it’s actually easier than you think. Grab the free guide above to learn how to quickly turn your office into a production studio.

23. How to Turn Social Media Conversations Into Leads

If you’re transitioning from “social media for fun” to “social media for business,” this is the place to start. This guide explains the basic strategy of social media marketing, and how to use it to achieve your goals.

You’ll get a strategy that: Builds your brand, Engages with social users, Creates great content, & Generates leads.

This ebook shows you the fundamentals, and helps you start using social media more strategically.

Tools

Lead Generation Tools

Buyer Persona Tools

Security Tools