What is the best Facebook marketing book?

One of the most important things is whether the book still works with the latest Facebook changes. I can tell you, of the two books I've been involved in, both still apply, but there is a big difference... 1. Facebook Marketing (3rd edition) is more of an overview of all the features, but is up-to-date as of late 2011. It has a chapter on check-in deals, which are gone now, but the rest still applies. [http://www.amazon.com/Facebook-Marketing-Leveraging-Facebooks-Campaigns/dp/078974113X%5D 2. The Like Economy is more focused on the tactics and strategies that get you results, lots of practical tips and examples. All of these tactics are still valid after the Sept 2011 and March 2012 Facebook changes (ticker, timeline, premimum ads). In fact, the page interaction tips are even more important now if you choose to go the fan page marketing route (which is not the only way- this book includes outlines of several profitable strategies). [http://www.amazon.com/Like-Economy-Businesses-Money-Facebook/dp/0789749068/%5D

I concur with both Abbas Alidina and Ivan Sydorenko that it's more important to have an understanding of marketing strategy in general (and I guess social media strategy in particular) than to read about Facebook specifically. Having said that, I picked up a book called 'The Facebook Era' by Clara Shih a few months ago, which I've found to be pretty useful. Here's a link to it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001XT60WO?ie=UTF8&tag=suitasociamar-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B001XT60WO

I agree with Ivan that there are some great books that will help you at a broader level to develop a social business strategy (such as "Groundswell" or "Engage" by Brian Solis). However, if you're ready to get more tactical with Facebook, I would read: Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day by Mari Smith and Chris Treadaway. Facebook Marketing for Dummies by Paul Dunay and Richard Krueger. They are going to release the 2nd Edition soon.

As co-author of Facebook Marketing for Dummies and Facebook Advertising for Dummies, I'm a little partial.  But, there are many good books on the topic.  Aside from the above mentioned, Facebook Marketing for an Hour a Day is a great way to maximize your time spent on Facebook.  I also like Facebook Marketing Bible from InsideFacebook's Justin Smith.  Very thorough.

If you want to use FB advertising in your campaigns, I recommend Marty Weintraub's  "Killer Facebook Ads"  http://www.amazon.com/Killer-Facebook-Ads-Cutting-Edge-Advertising/dp/1118022513/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331670082&sr=8-1

Facebook is just another tool... I'd suggest you to focus on more general read that would help you to get an in-depth understanding of trends and mechanisms behind them. As the result, you will be able to use many other available tools to build a better comminication strategy. Charlene Lee's "Groundswell" and Clay Shirky's "Here Comes Everybody" is a good start.

Books on this subject have improved significantly over the last 3 years -- when the first marketing books were more feature walkthroughs. There are really a few classes: - High level idea books like The Facebook Era, Engage!, Trust Agents, etc. - How to books like ours (Facebook Marketing An Hour a Day - 2nd edition due April/May), Facebook Marketing for Dummies, and Marty Weintraub's Facebook ads book Killer Facebook Ads - Hybrid books - a little of both like Dave Kerpen's Likeable Media book which is my favorite in that class. Really, you should buy the book that fits your skill level, your strengths/weaknesses, and what you're trying to achieve.  I would contend that no single book can solve everyone's problems -- and all of us who write books are to some extent trying to make sure most readers get some ideas and next steps out of reading our books.

The reason why I always think that facebook marketing is waste of time and money. I admin for sevaral pages and every time I run a campaign, Results are always pathetic no matter what is the copy and target I chose. Reason I think is facebook doesn't allow ads to target based on user activities on facebook, As here are the biggest problem with all my campaigns - Most of the attraction I get is from Nowise users who either just joined facebook or have very few friends. There are also lots of fake profiles which broadcast porn content .. They also keep liking anything which comes on the way and those likes are completely useless. Sometimes I feel that facebook automatically creates fake profiles of his own and then charge businesses for automated likes.

I agree that what matters is understanding the nature of 'social media'. We are in the midst of a massive shift to a 'many-to-many' communication paradigm and unprecedented consumer empowerment. What's important is using these tools to build authentic relationships and communities. The particular strategy will vary depending on your business. The technologies are constantly changing. I enjoyed Gary Vaynerchuk's new book 'The Thank You Economy'. 'Groundswell' is a great resource and 'The Tao of Twitter' is a nice primer. Personally, I find Facebook restrictive and unintuitive. It feels like it is becoming big and clunky in a MySpace kind of way. I would love to get recommendations on resources that will help me open it up.