It’s that time of the week again where we share our thoughts on a book that B2B marketers can benefit from reading. Today, we’re heading over to New York City to take a look at Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen.

Kerpen is quite the character. He cut his teeth as a vending salesman at professional sports events, where he built up a reputation for both his personality and his unique sales strategies. After that, he appeared on a TV show called Paradise Hotel, and then he had a “sponsored wedding” at KeySpan Park following a Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball game. The woman he married is Carrie Kerpen, who’s also a thought-leader in her own right.

Dave and Carrie later teamed up to launch New York social media marketing agency Likeable Media, but it’s arguably his books which have the most to offer to B2B marketers. After all, a book is a lot cheaper than a retainer, and while it’s true that it’s been a while since it came out, it doesn’t feel dated at all.

Likeable Social Media

The main concept behind Likeable Social Media is that word of mouth is infinitely more powerful than any advertisement and that social networking sites and blogging have made word of mouth even easier for people to spread.

One of the big arguments that Kerpen deploys is that people do business with people they like on a personal level, and that by using social networks to tell their stories, brands in both B2B and B2C verticals can attract new clients while simultaneously developing their relationships with existing ones.

Kerpen’s book has been praised by everyone from Ford’s Scott Monty to fellow thought leader Seth Godin, the author of Permission Marketing (which we reviewed in a previous post). Sure, much of what Kerpen talks about comes down to common sense, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t sometimes need a refresher.

We’ll be honest – you can get by without this book, and if you do read it, it’s not going to magically change your business. But it will give you a dose of inspiration, and it’ll all be washed down with Kerpen’s approachable writing style, which makes you feel like you’re chatting with a friend by the side of a pool instead of being lectured at a conference. You can’t help but feel the desire to be more likeable – and now you just need to reflect that in your actions and outlook.

More on Dave Kerpen

If you find Dave’s approach to be…well, likeable, then be sure to check out some of his other releases. Both Likeable Business and The Art of People are well worth reading, but you can also just head over to the Likeable website and check out some of their blogs and resources. Either way, there’s plenty on offer to people who are willing to learn.