5 Books on Corporate Social Media

There’s one month left of Summer, and whether you spend these dwindling days basking on the beach or languishing at the office, sometimes you just need to unplug for a few hours. So if you want to spend your spare time boning up on the blogosphere, you’re in luck. There are a bunch of books that can help improve your thinking about the value of social media to the enterprise. With that in mind, here’s a short list of some of that excellent social media related reading:

The Groundswell

Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff and his former colleague, Charlene Li, have assembled an excellent primer on social media and the enterprise. It’s all here, from how to create a strategy to how to find your community with a host of case studies sprinkled throughout for good measure. They’ve even got a blog to keep the conversation going long after you’ve finished the tome.

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

NYU prof Clay Shirky takes a macro view at how changes in society, business and technology are shaping the way we gather online and communicate. What sets this book apart are the concrete examples illustrating this change and the implications for both organizations and individuals. For a taste of what to expect, check out his presentation from this year’s Web 2.0 Expo.

Web Analytics: An Hour a Day

We’ve written about how to measure social media ROI for business before,  but analytics expert Avinash Kaushik takes it to the next level in this book that, while over a year old, still addresses a myriad of measurement issues facing corporate communicators. In plain English, Kaushik deconstructs web analytics and presents actionable tactics to help formulate a measurement plan for your company.

The New Influencers: A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media

Blogger and media consultant Paul Gillin has been writing about social media and the enterprise for quite some time, In this book, he’s shares how organizations can speak directly to customers by leveraging a host of social media tools and tactics. Like many of the authors on this list, Gillin packs a plethora of real world corporate case studies in between the pages to help hammer home his point.

The Art of Strategic Listening

Every good list has to have a dark horse, and that’s where this book from New School professor and information specialist Robert Berkman comes in. The first step for companies that want to participate in social media conversations is to understand where those conversations are happening, who’s leading them and what topics are being discussed. This book provides the blueprint for finding your community.