When I was young, my summer holiday usually kicked off with a visit to the local library to sign up for the summer reading program. Kids around the city would eagerly devour book after book, in the hopes of the ultimate prize—a new book of their choice. As an adult, the fact that I can go and just get a book whenever I please ranks right up there with the disbelief that I can also get candy whenever I want.
I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I only read marketing books. I’m not a dirty liar. But there are a select few resources that every social media manager needs to read.
While I could provide a list of the top 10 marketing books as recommended by Amazon, there is much more that goes into being a successful social media manager than simply “social media managing.” Don’t get me wrong, these books are there for a reason (and you’ll find some of them below), but a great social media manager needs a wide variety of skills.

Content Strategy for the Web

By Kristina Halvorson
This book has been making its way around the Hootsuite offices, becoming more disheveled with each handoff. Many colleagues have been tooting the horn of author Kristina Halvorson’s approach to content strategy.
Social media is a crucial part of content marketing, so mastering the art of content strategy is something you need to know how to do. Halvorson teaches you exactly how to do this, sharing her expertise and instructions on everything from completing a content audit to leading a project. If others in your company don’t think that content strategy is important, fear not—Halvorson shares persuasion tactics for this situation.

Purple Cow

By Seth Godin
Described as “the godfather of marketing books” by another Hootsuite employee, Purple Cow has more than just an intriguing title. Author Seth Godin aims to change the way people think about marketing.
It can be difficult for social media managers to come up with original content day in and day out, so sometimes you just need a purple cow. As Godin explains, “Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable. Every day, consumers come face to face with a lot of boring stuff—a lot of brown cows—but you can bet they won’t forget a Purple Cow.”
Delight your audience and customers after you get inspired to create your own “purple cows” with your social media content.

Contagious: Why Things Catch On

By Jonah Berger
A New York Times bestseller and named the Best Marketing Book of 2014 by the American Marketing Association, many members of the Hootsuite marketing department recommend this book. While ‘going viral’ might not be the best goal for a social media manager, getting your brand noticed on social is definitely a key objective.
Berger dives into six “contagious” qualities that impact everything from consumer products to media content. Learn how you can use these qualities to create your own shareable content.

Thinking, Fast and Slow

By Daniel Kahneman
Why do we do what we do? What drives the choices that we make? These are important things for any social media manager to think about when crafting content, and Daniel Kahneman’s work explores these ideas in-depth. A Nobel Prize winner for his work on decision-making, Kahneman is an expert in human behavior—something that any social media manager needs to understand.

Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives — How Your Friends’ Friends’ Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think, and Do

By Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler
Authors and scientists Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler explore the social networks and connections human beings have, and how these connections influence our decisions.
As a social media manager, you know that your online networks have huge power, so learning how these connections work, and how to grow them, will help inform your social strategy.