5 Good Books and 5 Good Blogs to help with your marketing
The digital world hasn’t always been forgiving to the written world. eBook readers have been great additions to the digital repertoire but many tend to gravitate towards video, audio or short-form blogs, especially if you’re in the industry of tech, marketing and all things digital.
It’s almost pointless reading books on tech or social media trends because before you complete them, they seem to be outdated.
However, there are some pretty basic principles about how to communicate with people, about working effectively and about principles around influence. If you’re like Navada’s big cheeses, your degree may not read “Marketing” or “Communications” or any other such discipline. So while, we have a have knack for it, I’ve continued my education.
So, loving to share knowledge, we thought we’d share 5 top current reads (books, yes books) for marketing, communications and social media and we’re also sharing top 5 blogs that we love. The books are good for the foundations and the blogs fill in the trends around the edges.
5 Good Books
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
by Stephen Covey
This is something I make everyone in Navada read. It really is a good foundation to life, to business and yes, to communicating. Many self-help books have been written, however, this is timeless.
What’s it about: Stephen Covey’s definitive work on achieve effectiveness and success. It’s a book the grounds you in your work and personal life. Rather than quick fixes, it’s key to developing fundamental character that helps you achieve success. It’s one of my favorite non-fiction books and with good reason.
Why it’s good to read: This talks a lot about personality vs character. Personality is the cheap sale, character is about relationships. As we look to build our social identities and achieve value on social media, the underlying principle of developing character is well placed to allow us to build our digital relationships. It also is great for developing the habits of organizing and being a more effective communicator.
Permission Marketing
by Seth Godin
What’s it about: There are a few good Seth Godin books available, and although I’ve certainly not read them all, it was a toss up. All Good Marketings are Liars (Tell Stories) is great and good fun, however, I opted for permission marketing as there is another book that covers storytelling I want to share. Permission Marketing, which focuses on moving beyond “interruption marketing” to focus on building a long term relationship. The idea of relationship is a big part of the read and I think it’s a very important concept in the modern age of marketing.
Why it’s good to read: It’s very easy to get sucked in to quick wins and turning audiences and customers into data sets. Data is so important, but just like good content, it tells a story in order to speak to people. I’ve never enjoyed the cheap attention grabbing wins. It’s all very short-term and despite the fast pace fluid nature of social and digital media, we must always remember that they are tools to building a relationship, like any other. Imagine using interruption marketing on your spouse or partner, not going to end well. So I really think the values here are fundamental to ensuring there is value thinking in your approach to marketing.
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Other Die –
by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
What’s it about: Well, it’s about ideas that “Stick” — A direction of the elements of an idea and how they effect your audience. Each chapter lays out some really interesting insight into what messages and content sticks with your audience. There’s a really good mix of examples and theory that I think get you thinking a little more in depth about how you piece together a brand story and the messages to connect to your audiences.
Why it’s good to read: We’ve all had a great idea that we thought would set the world alight only to throw everything we can at it just to keep it a flicker. It may not have been a bad idea, but it wasn’t the right idea. This is a good book for creating ideas that are right for your audience. The ideas are about them, not you. Internet research is great, but either you’ve done it or you know someone who has — seen a great piece of content or campaign and tweaked it and tried to replicate it only to have it fall down. You have to understand why it worked, but also the context in which it worked. I think this book helps.
At Navada, we love storytelling and this is a great start to really mastering a brand story.
Start With Why
by Simon Sinek
What’s it about: This is more focused on organizational leadership and culture, however, it fits well within the discussion of influencing an audience. By asking WHY, you’re focused on the core issues that face a problem or organization. When that question is answered, people are inspired. Simon Sinek looks at how great leaders thought and acted differently to what our conventional wisdom is about leadership. Ultimately it challenges you to try and answer WHY.
Why it’s good to read: Why this book you may ask? Why is why. Probably not a straight forward fit with marketing fundamentals, but it’s philosophical underpinning has much merit in the marketing realm. I love this book for organizational culture, but it has a great place in creative teams. Despite it focusing on culture and organizational leadership, often in the world of marketing, social, media, communications — we don’t ask WHY enough. We’ve had clients say, we want to run a campaign that looks like this — I’ve often replied with why. Often the answers is what they’re doing it for, how they want to do it, but not always a WHY, that goes beyond the basics of we want more followers, or we need more visibility. By asking the question why not what, you’re able to really establish the core principles of a campaign and their objectives.
The Content Code: Six essential strategies to ignite your content, your marketing, and your business
by Mark Schaefer
What’s it about: It’s about cutting through the clutter and is a good 21st century marketing book. It’s a mix between real world practicality and the science of things. It’s a winner for brands but also generally on content marketing.
Why it’s good to read: Because the digital marketing world is full of clutter and sometimes we get lost in it all. Social and digital media is a smorgasbord of content and personal stories that collide with brand marketing. Sometimes laying out some basic principles helps simplify. It really is a good read for marketers.
Bonus read:
Right, I know I said 5 but here’s a bonus. The current millennial generation would likely never have heard of P T Barnum. I’d know the reference to him growing up care of the Barnum and Bailey Circus, however, I got a little more interested in him watching the West Wing when one of the characters remarked on the incredible sales skills of Barnum.
So I looked him up at the time and read up on him (Thankfully Wikipedia is in full swing). In researching this blog, his name came up again. There are plenty of books about Barnum, but you might as well get it form the horses mouth. It’s worth checking out.
So check out: The Life of P.T. Barnum written by Himself
5 Blogs/Websites worth checking out
While the long form written word is great for establishing principles and foundations — we live in an instant information society. I myself absorb hours of content a day whether by video, audio or reading. In this industry, trying to write a book on trends would be like trying to catch a lizard with a boxing gloves on (try it and you’ll see what I mean).
So after you’ve topped up your heavy reading, we’re giving you a few blogs that we check in with regularly to update us on trends, tips and just some generally useful stuff. Now this is 5 we like, however, there are a lot and a lot of useful ones too. Don’t limit yourself, know where your gaps in knowledge are and go forth and discover.
If you’re not keeping up, then you’re falling behind.
Social Media Examiner: It seems like an obvious one and there is a good reason for that. From humble beginnings, this site has developed into a standard for social media practitioners. While some of it can seem basic, it often has some valuable nuggets of information. They are particularly good for keeping up with changes on social media. If I’m honest, many people who “Do” social media miss out on some basics, so it’s worth a read for novice and expert alike.
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com
Content Marketing Institute: Yes, content is a monarch (I couldn’t bring myself to use the phrase even thought it’s true). Most all marketing really could be considered “Content Marketing”, but it’s not a strength for everyone in the discipline. A great feature of the CMI is that there is a good mix between the creative and technical aspects of content. Content Marketing Guru Joe Paluzzi is one of the co-founders of the CMI. If you’re short on time reading, I also recommend the Podcast.
http://contentmarketinginstitute.com
The Drum: A media powerhouse of a publication, one of the reasons, why we love this is that it gives practical examples and case studies. Obviously imitation is flattery (not always for those being imitated), but often the best way to learn is by example. They also are very current with changes to social platforms and there really is an amazing catalogue of information. A mix between creative and campaign, this really is something every marketer should have on it’s RSS feed (I know that’s old school) or their Facebook reed rather.
Neil Patel: I’ve seen him around via the CMI and a few other places, but have only recently started reading his blog directly. What I have found was incredibly useful. Very few blogs are as comprehensive, filled with step by step practicality making this fantastic for many marketers. If you’re going to delve into his blogs, set aside some time. They’re worth the investment, but they’re not short usually short reads, so brew a coffee or tea and ready yourself. However, you will be glad you did.
MarketingProfs: This really is the go to for marketers and that’s justified. It’s repertoire is vast covering most any marketing, creative and social topic you can conceive. For those who want more than “just a blog”, they are very multi-format. I first came across MarketingProfs as an app way back when such apps were cool. To really step up your professional development they also offer a pro version which will keep you at the cutting edge or at the very least make you look good in front of your colleagues.
There’s plenty more, both in books and via blogs. However, what we would recommend is that you don’t limit yourself to just “marketing” books, blogs, vlogs and more. Ultimately, marketing is about telling a story and you can’t just limit yourself to a “field” of discipline if you want to grow. Marketing, communications, advertising, social media is about the world around you.
Read the news, watch sports, read blogs that cover a multitude of subjects. Understanding the world around you will ultimately help you become a better communicator. This list is to perfect your craft, the world will help you perfect your story.
Originally published at www.navadagroup.com.
