The 43 Best Books and Twitter Accounts to Inspire Your Social Media Sharing

May 1, 2015 4 min readBufferchat
Photo of Nicole Miller
Nicole Miller

Director of People @ Buffer

Marketer, speaker and author, Bryan Kramer, dropped by #bufferchat to talk about the art (and impact) of sharing.

Catch the full recap here.

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How can social sharing impact your business and personal life?

From Bryan:

  • There are 4 types of sharing. 1) H2M, M2M, H2M2H, and
  • 1) H2M = Human to Machine (we do this all the time with ATM’s)
  • H2M2H = Human to Machine to Human. We are doing this now by using tools to communicate to each other.
  • M2M – Machine to Machine – Watson Analytics is a good example of this.
  • And finally, – personal one to one communications!
  • The key thing to remember is that Human to Human communication and sharing IS YOUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

More great advice:

  • “I’ve also made freinds, colleges and business partners on Social media and have learned so much, had access to soo much info” @cathywebsavvypr
  • “Social sharing gives your brand colour, voice and personality to a much wider audience than before” @edgoodman
  • “Relationships are built when you share yourself, not just content. Headlines just share info. ” @martinlieberman

What does “human-to-human” sharing mean?

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From Bryan:

  • Human to Human is bringing back the 1) Simplicity 2) Empathy 3) Imperfection in all we do in business and humans
  • It used to be that marketing was segmented into two categories; business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C).
  • What it really did was create an unnatural language – with words like “synergy” and “speeds and feeds”
  • It’s become like one massive game of telephone, where by the time a message gets to the person
  • Marketing increasingly strives to become one-to-one
  • The dichotomy between marketing and social has actually flipped… and it’s out of balance
  • Social and marketing need to work together to personalize individual conversations, deliver shared global experiences
  • Our challenge as humans is to find, understand and explain the complex in its most simplistic form.
  • This means you, marketers.
  • Find the commonality in our humanity, and speak the language we’ve all been waiting for.
  • There is no B2B or B2C, it’s Human to Human,

More great advice:

  • “Speaking as an individual at a brand, not just as a brand. Taking the time to know who your listener is beyond a number.” @katiemcculey
  • “To me, sharing involves listening more than speaking (doesn’t everything) – that’s what makes it most human – being open.” @kymberlaine
  • “Human to human sharing means what it always has. The internet has just changed the way it’s done.” @lisamasiello

How can social sharing shape your content marketing strategy?

From Bryan:

  • The best thing we can do is “share with intent”
  • Let’s face it. With all of the social media chatter, it’s hard to find a way to break through the noise
  • Nearly 2.5 million pieces of content is shared and posted on Facebook Over 220,000 new photo, Nearly 300,000 tweets
  • With that amount of data being shared be minute, there’s little wonder that many brands are struggling
  • But in a world of viral cat videos and reposts, how do you find and share engaging content that reaches your main audience?
  • One key is to curate the RIGHT content
  • The key to understanding curating content is to know your readers. Understanding what they are passionate about
  • This means that you have to spend time to listen to your customers in order to fully assess their needs and wants.
  • Although this idea may seem basic, it really should be an essential part of any marketing strategy.
  • The goal should be not to simply aggregate information but to create a dialogue that will lead to building a relationship.
  • Curating different types of materials makes it more interesting for readers to share.
  • Remember the ultimate goal is to engage and share with consumers in order to sell both yourself and your brand.
  • make sure that you distribute information from a variety of sources on multiple platforms.
  • You should encourage your readers to interact with each other.
  • Finally, use the right tools
  • Companies such as @Bufferapp offer excellent assistance to deliver your brand’s message

More great advice:

  • “Social sharing helps you figure out what content is valuable to your audience so you can cater future content towards them.” @Jaymietarshis
  • “Social sharing is personal. It reflects who we are & that motivates us to create Fridge-Worthy content to share everyday” @ErinEHayes
  • “Posting, writing, curating content people love can only benefit your content marketing strategy and grow your community” @poppypiper

What social media tools do you utilize to manage your digital world?

From Bryan:

  • I do use @bufferapp and others to help start the conversation. I find the best H2H conversations using the native apps

Other tools mentioned:

What companies or individuals inspire you and exemplify the power of sharing?

From Bryan:

  1. @IBMSocialBiz
  2. @VirginAmerica
  3. @purematter
  4. @buffer
  5. @NicksCoffeeCo is a small family owned coffee shop. They answered my tweet and sent me coffee from Ireland.

More great recommendations:

  1. @ModCloth
  2. @lyft
  3. @darlingmag
  4. @ashleybeaudin
  5. co-author @AnnHawkins (Book: New Business, Next Steps)
  6. @mashable
  7. @HubSpot
  8. @Uberflip
  9. @TeriMKojetin
  10. @LorrieGuerrieri
  11. @nlbctim
  12. @ideakid88
  13. @tigga7d6
  14. @marketinghits
  15. @CarolynPortanov
  16. @JonMorrow
  17. @iSocialFanz
  18. @TedRubin
  19. @CarlosGil83
  20. @WholeFoods

What books do you recommend to inspire genuine sharing?

More great recommendations:

  1. Delivering Happiness – Tony Hsieh
  2. New Business, Next Steps – Ed Goodman
  3. Start with Why – Simon Sinek
  4. Up Your Game – David Bradford
  5. Thinking Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman
  6. Getting Things Done David Allen
  7. Purple Cow – Seth Godin
  8. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook – Gary Vaynerchuck
  9. Mastermind Dinners – Jayson Gaignard
  10. How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
  11. The War Of Art – Steven Pressfield
  12. Return on Relationship – Ted Rubin
  13. The Social Animal – David Brooks
  14. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
  15. Succeed and Grow Rich Through Persuasion – Napolean Hill
  16. Rework – Jason Fried
  17. The Giving Tree – Shel Silverstein
  18. Daring Greatly – Brene Brown

Thank you so much for everyone who joined in on this great chat!

Catch #bufferchat each Wednesday at 9 am Pacific/noon Eastern and join our Google+ community for the latest news.

Do you have any comments or answers to these questions? Leave your thoughts in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!

Image sources: UnSplash

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