There is so many amazing marketing books out there, it’s difficult to keep up. Here is our recommended reading for marketers everywhere.
This is Marketing
The best marketing book I’ve ever read. Seth Godin’s gift is clarity. Much of the stuff in this book is dedicated to the very fundamentals of marketing, yet I challenge anyone to not gain a renewed focus by reading it.
The thing I gained the most from it was how truly defining your target market really is the starting point for so much, and that it takes bravery to say ‘this thing I’m building, it’s specifically for this small group of people’.
Shoe Dog: The story of Nike
The story of how Nike got started and was catapulted to success, leveraging a ridiculous amount of risk and money they didn’t have along the way.
I didn’t find the book overly profound, but just generally very interesting and captivating from a marketer’s point of view. Nike is a company that has impacted most of us throughout our lives, so it’s interesting to hear the backstory.
Small Giants
Recommended by Mark Littlewood of Business of Software. Small Giants is a classic which shifts the focus from being the biggest at stuff to being the best.
While some of the examples are a little outdated, this remains a great reminder that there are many ways to achieve greatness and fulfilment in life – not just by being the biggest.
Obviously Awesome
You know your product is awesome—but does anybody else? Forget everything you thought you knew about positioning. Successfully connecting your product with consumers isn’t a matter of following trends, comparing yourself to the competition or trying to attract the widest customer base.
So what is it? April Dunford, positioning guru and tech exec, will enlighten you.
When: The scientific secrets of perfect timing
We spend a lot of time questioning ‘what’ things. ‘What’ should I do to increase my traffic? ‘What’ is causing us to be really successful this year?
Yet rarely we consider ‘when’.
When can I work best? When is the best time to work on something creative? When is the best time to launch a new product? When should I exercise? This book will change how you structure your days and marketing for the better.
10 rules of writing
First… do not buy the kindle version of this book!
Very short, you’ll finish this in 15 minutes, but this book is a sound reminder of some basic and important writing principles from a master of their craft.
Get the hardcover, read it, leave it on your desk, and leaf through every time you’re struggling just a little with your writing.
Beloved Brands
Professionally, Graham has led some of the world’s most beloved brands at Johnson and Johnson, Coke, General Mills, and Pfizer, rising up to VP Marketing. He’s won numerous awards including Marketing Magazine’s “Marketer of the Year”, BusinessWeek’s best new product award and 4 Effie advertising awards. His book, Beloved Brands, is the playbook for how to build a brand that consumers will love. Might I say with it sat on my desk with tea stains very happily on it, that it’s one of the most practical marketing/business books I have ever read.
Watertight Marketing
Are you tired of wasting time and money on marketing that doesn’t deliver? Do you wish there was a proven, fool-proof process that can reliably powerup your profits?
Well there is, and this book holds the answer. Page by page you’ll unlock the Watertight Marketing method, a powerful toolkit that will equip you with the mindset, skills and processes you need to find customers you love, repeatedly increase sales results and positively transform profits.
To sell is human
Are you tired of wasting time and money on marketing that doesn’t deliver? Do you wish there was a proven, fool-proof process that can reliably powerup your profits?
Well there is, and this book holds the answer. Page by page you’ll unlock the Watertight Marketing method, a powerful toolkit that will equip you with the mindset, skills and processes you need to find customers you love, repeatedly increase sales results and positively transform profits.
Influence
In this highly acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Dr. Robert B. Cialdini—the seminal expert in the field of influence and persuasion—explains the psychology of why people say yes and how to apply these principles ethically in business and everyday situations.
Alchemy: The surprising power of ideas that don’t make sense
We think we are rational creatures. Economics and business rely on the assumption that we make logical decisions based on evidence.
But we aren’t, and we don’t.
In many crucial areas of our lives, reason plays a vanishingly small part. Instead we are driven by unconscious desires, which is why placebos are so powerful. We are drawn to the beautiful, the extravagant and the absurd – from lavish wedding invitations to tiny bottles of the latest fragrance. So if you want to influence people’s choices you have to bypass reason. The best ideas don’t make rational sense: they make you feel more than they make you think.
Lost and Founder: A painfully honest field guide to the startup world
Everyone knows how a startup story is supposed to go: a young, brilliant entrepreneur has an cool idea, drops out of college, defies the doubters, overcomes all odds, makes billions and becomes the envy of the technology world.
This is not that story.
Content DNA: Using consistency and congruence to be the same shape everywhere
How can we compete in today’s fast-moving market? There are more platforms, more users and more content than ever before. How do we stand out? What can we do to make ourselves noticed, remembered and preferred? Content DNA provides the answers. By focusing on two key elements – consistency and congruence – you’ll learn how to define a recognisable “shape” for your business.You’ll discover the building blocks of your brand and get clarity on expressing your value through a short, memorable tagline. Finally, you’ll understand how to create content that builds authority and establishes trust.
Also on the list, but are yet to be read are…
- The Art of War, Sun Tzu
- Debt, David Graeber
- Just kids, Patti Smith
- Blink, Malcolm Gladwell
- The War of Art, Steven Pressfield
- The Art of Possibility, Rosamund Zander, Ben Zander
- Leap first, Seth Godin
- Secrets of closing the sale, Zig Ziglar
- Creativity Inc, Ed Catmull
- The Lean Startup, Eric Ries
- Lost and Founder, Rand Fishkin
- Hacking Marketing, Scott Brinker
- Death of a salesman, Arthur Miller
- Unshakeable, Tony Robbins
- Get social, Michelle Carvill (Hat tip: Pippa Artus)
- How to win friends and influence people, Dale Carnegie (HT: Nicky Sheppard)
- Getting things done, David Allen (HT: Richard Tubb)
- Crossing the chasm, Geoffrey Moore (HT: Berenice Mann)
- Lean in, Sheryl Sandberg (HT: Berenice Mann)
- All marketers are liers, Seth Godin (HT: Dave Sheppard)