If you run a business and want to take your social-media efforts to the next level while running some amazing social campaigns, here are six white-papers/PDF reports you'll want to take a look at.

The first reports are aimed at beginners, with the next ones gradually increasing in complexity and depth, so that people at all levels of social media fluency should be able to learn something, and benefit from the information in these documents.

An Introduction (Social Media for Business - Primer)

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As a very basic introduction, 'Social Media for Business- Primer' is a decent place to start. Digital Marketing Consultant, Becky Livingston (Penheel Marketing), takes you through the basics of topics such as competitive research, social media profile development, marketing plans, management tips, and posting checklists. If you're a newcomer to the social space, this'll give you plenty of useful information to get you up to speed.

A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide (Guide to Social Media Marketing)

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If you're a beginner looking for a more detailed introduction to social media, and ways to incorporate this into your business's overall marketing plan, this MakeUseOf Guide to Social Media Marketing looks at everything from 5-step strategies and social media success to measuring returns, and delves deeper into each of the major social platforms so you know exactly what you're dealing with

Improving Your Current Social Media (The Marketer's Guide to Social Media 2014)

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If you're after a little more than just the basics, Vocus have put together this 6 page overview (The Marketer's Guide to Social Media 2014), taking you on a succinct journey over growing trends (including imagery and the continued growth of hashtags and video), predictions for the coming year, and how you should be using this information to your advantage. What's great about this whitepaper is that it gives specific examples of companies who're using certain strategies, so you can head over to their profiles and take a look at exactly what they're up to.

Knowing What's Happening in Social Media (Adobe Social Intelligence Report)

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Although Adobe put this information (email opt-in required) together in Q4 of 2013, the information is incredibly insightful, with each primary point being developed into an opportunity that you can take advantage of. For example, Adobe found that cost per click (CPC), cost per thousand impressions (CPM), and click through rate (CTR) are all on the increase on Facebook, with advice to keep a close eye on the social numbers of each of these for your own campaigns to ensure you achieve maximum return on investment.

Developing A Clear Strategy (Social Media Tactical Plan)

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This is a great guide from Marketo, which takes you through how to cost-effectively increase the number of inbound leads you're receiving through social, engage with influencers, better understand your buyers, and much more. After using this as a blueprint for creating your own tactical plan, you'll have a clear road to follow to get you to where you want to be going, socially speaking.

 Measuring Your Results (ROI of Social Media [Broken URL Removed])

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Measuring the ROI (return on investment) of social media is notoriously difficult, with goals ranging from increasing sales and improving brand recognition, to upping engagement and driving traffic. Radian6 have done a great job putting together this 16-page PDF, looking at 'ROI of Social Media: Myths, Truths and How to Measure' [Broken URL Removed].  If you're looking at direct instructions on how to actually measure ROI, and the formulas you should be using, skip the end of the report, but do so at the risk of missing out on plenty of high-value information.

What other reports, whitepapers and blueprints have you found that have helped with the social media for your business?

Image Credits: Business man Reading Book Via Shutterstock