10 Marketing Books You Shouldn’t Miss
Books have been a main source of information for a long time and although we can’t exactly say that today, they’re still very important. Lots of people still read books to educate themselves. Even though the internet is now overshining our good old books, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t great works of literature anymore. If you keep on walking around the marketing section in your favorite bookstore and you just can’t decide which one you should read, here’s your new TO READ list.
Maybe one of them is exactly what you’re searching for.
BREAKTHROUGH ADVERTISING BY EUGENE M. SCHWARTZ
Published in 1966
“The greatest mistake marketers make is trying to create demand.”
Breakthrough Advertising is an absolute classic and a must for copywriters, marketing experts and anyone who wants to run a successful business. One of the main messages is that you should always target people who are already interested in your product and not waste your time on convincing someone who does not want it at all. You are going to learn about the very basics of advertising, from discovering the drive behind mass desire to focusing on the customer, to learning multiple techniques that will help you understand the importance of doing it right.
This key quote says it all: “Let’s get to the heart of the matter. The power, the force, the overwhelming urge to own that makes advertising work, comes from the market itself, and not from the copy. Copy cannot create desire for a product. It can only take the hopes, dreams, fears and desires that already exists in the hearts of millions of people, and focus those already existing desires onto a particular product. This is the copy writer’s task: not to create this mass desire — but to channel and direct it. Actually, it would be impossible for any one advertiser to spend enough money to actually create this mass desire. He can only exploit it. And he dies when he tried to run against it.”
CONTAGIOUS: WHY THINGS CATCH ON BY JONAH BERGER
Published in 2013
We’re all exposed to advertising daily. And when I say daily, I mean ALL THE TIME. If we wanted, we could find ads everywhere for everything on the internet. Not just the ones that pop up in search results, or those video ads that haunt you whenever you try to play a YouTube video. Even an Instagram user posting a picture with his “favorite Nike t-shirt” or a friend of yours telling you about the body lotion from a certain brand…all of them are ads.
Jonah Berger explains what’s behind the curtains of successful advertising, so that you can understand the tricks brands play on you by using ads. Why is it that some ideas just catch on and spread like an infection? This entertaining easy-read book can help you get to the core of advertising, become immune to it and especially, learn how to utilize advertising for your own purposes.
EVERYBODY WRITES
Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley
Published in 2014
It’s true. Almost Everybody writes today. Whether it’s a book, a blog post, an Instagram caption, an e-mail to actual or potential customers or any kind of website post, most of us simply have to write. And it’s important to know that our words aren’t meaningless and they actually matter a lot. What we write tells people online who we are and it should carry the story we aim to tell.
In marketing, content is necessary. That’s why Ann Handley delivers this content marketing guide full of tips, tools and inspiration. It could educate anyone who’s new to the whole idea of internet storytelling. It might not be useful for experienced writers, but if you want the basics with clear, brief explanations, this book could be the one.
SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS FOR EVERY BRAND
Social Media Success for Every Brand: The Five StoryBrand Pillars That Turn Posts Into Profits by Claire Díaz Ortiz
Published in 2019
This piece by Claire Díaz Ortiz is a social media success 101. Getting into social media and especially doing social media right can be pretty overwhelming. What should you do to make it work for your purposes without letting it consume too much of your time and energy? Claire, who’s a former Twitter employee, will tell you all about it.
If you’re just at the beginning, struggling with developing a solid strategy or having trouble organizing your posts, or even if you do know social media, but you lost your inspiration and need new ideas and some good advice, Claire can help.
INSTABRAIN
InstaBrain: The New Rules for Marketing to Generation Z by Sarah Weise
Published in 2019
How do you sell to the generation of consumers? This book is about the generation that was nursed on the internet and social media. Is there something that most of those, considered to be Generation Z, have in common? What resonates with them? Why does Generation Z answer so well to influencers? Why shouldn’t you overlook the massive potential of Gen Z? Sarah Weise answers all these questions and many more.
In order to catch the attention of this generation, it’s necessary to develop a whole new marketing strategy. InstaBrain will walk you through the things that bond all these people, where they search for content, why they choose to follow or unfollow, and what pushes them to make the move and buy.
#GETSOCIALSMAR
#GetSocialSmart: How to Hone Your Social Media Strategy by Katie Lance
Published in 2017
Using social media for business purposes has been a must for quite some time now. But doing it wrong can be a real time consumer. To avoid the mistakes that many beginners do (simply because no-one told them), Katie provides us with this social media guide that has already taught many curious readers how to use social media from scratch.
In #GetSocialSmart, you’ll receive tips for your own smart social media strategy through all of the biggest social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest or Snapchat. Besides the platform’s functional basics, the pros and cons of each site, #GetSocialSmart contains tips for different types of content. Get inspired with the tips from a Pro.
BLUE OCEAN SHIFT BY W. CHAN KIM AND RENEE MAUBORGN
Published in 2017
Blue Ocean Shift is the second book in the “Blue Ocean journey”. It is an expansion and update to the ideas mentioned in the previous book. “The Blue Ocean Shift is a roadmap to move you, your team, and your organization to new heights of confidence, market creation and growth.”
Why “Blue Ocean”? In the Blue Ocean strategy, there are red oceans and blue oceans. The Red Ocean represents a zone of fierce competition and no differentiation of value. On the other hand, the Blue Ocean means extra demand. This can be achieved via the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low-cost. Moving from red oceans of bloody competition to blue oceans of uncontested market space is as easy as following a five-step Blue Ocean shift process.
ORIGINALS
Published in 2016
Would you like to know how to go against the flow, bring original ideas to life and master new values? It might be quite risky to get into the uncharted waters, but there is a way to achieve all of this without losing everything.
Originals will help you tell the difference between a good idea and a bad idea, learn how to navigate a period of uncertainty, make new allies, understand when it is the right time to act, and last but not least, fight your fears and doubts. You will discover the story of a woman at Apple who challenged Steve Jobs from three levels below and other brave people who rejected conformity and put their opinions and ideas out there.
WHAT CUSTOMERS CRAVE
What Customers Crave: How to Create Relevant and Memorable Experiences at Every Touchpoint by Nicholas J. Webb
Published in 2016
What do customers crave in today’s hyper-connected and competitive business world? It’s true that lots of the old ways of providing customer service, even the ones that used to be the most effective, are failing. The two main questions of this book are: What do your customers love? What do they hate?
It doesn’t matter who your customers are. All that matters is what they want, expect and the fact you can or cannot provide it for them. What Customers Crave is about truly understanding your customer types and helping you create great experiences for all of them across all digital and non-digital channels.
CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING
Conversational Marketing: How to Grow Leads, Shorten Sales Cycles, and Improve Your Customers’ Experience with Real-Time Conversations
Published in 2019
“How the World’s Fastest Growing Companies Use Chatbots to Generate Leads 24/7/365 (and How You Can Too)”
Are you wondering why lead forms are not as effective as before? Maybe conversational marketing is the answer. People are getting used to it as technology advances. Almost everything a modern user does on the internet nowadays, is real-time. All our actions are instant and we can always see instant feedback. Traditional marketing methods should improve along with technology.
Dave Gerhardt and David Cancel, CEO and founder of Drift, a company which creates messaging software for businesses, talk about how to merge inbound and outbound tactics into a more productive dialog with customers and how to integrate conversational marketing techniques into your existing sales and marketing workflow.
These are 10 of our top suggestions. Of course, there are hundreds upon hundreds of other great books out there, but maybe our list will help you choose your next favorite. Let us know which books have helped you!
