James Metcalfe
The world of marketing is a tough nut to crack at times and its importance in the workplace really cannot be overemphasised. With so much pressure being laid at the foot of its door, a new player in the world of marketing might be eager to dive into some reading material in the hopes of picking up some stellar pointers…
We spoke to several leading individuals in this field for their inputs on what the absolute go-to books are for those hoping to get to grips better with the world of marketing.
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#1 The Content Code – Mark W. Schaefer
Mark W. Schaefer has mentioned six factors in his book which can help to cross any hurdles of information density and win marketing skills beyond content, beyond social media, beyond web traffic and SEO. The books the unveiled the code for next level success and showed the true value of social media marketing for companies to achieve measurable results.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the link below:
Contributor: Nooria Khan from gigworker.com
#2 Grassroots Marketing – Shel Horowitz
My 5th book Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World, about which one reviewer said: "I think highly of this book as a single-source, as a basic manual, in which Horowitz provides an abundance of practical and cost-effective marketing ideas, carefully explained and generously illustrated". Midwest Book Review called it: "A great book for small business owners who want to improve their company's marketing and do so inexpensively."
The book surveys nearly every marketing method known to man.
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Contributor: Shel Horowitz from goingbeyondsustainability.com
#3 Fire Your Publicist – Ed Zitron
Ed has shared the trade secrets of the public relations world in this book. He describes the best techniques to how to pitch to any type of audience, whether they are bloggers or board room audience. He has laid down the perfect methods of using social media and get noticed in media industry. The main idea of this books is how to navigate through tough situations and not to waste money, energy or use wrong tool or methodology.
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Contributor: Nooria Khan from gigworker.com
#4 Good To Great – Jim Collins
Good to Great is about how to build a business that lasts. In his book, Collins studies the characteristics of a great company. The book looks at elite companies and analyzes them from a broad scope, and comes out with a standard order of operations to create a company that is synonymous with quality.
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Contributor: Nate Masterson from mapleholistics.com
#5 The 80/20 Principle – Richard Koch
When we first rebranded as Prep Expert after Shark Tank, we were presented with a myriad of options of how to market ourselves with this new identity. After doing a lot of testing, we eventually drilled down into focusing on content marketing and boosting organic search. I applied the strategies from The 80/20 Principle by first finding what worked best for us, and then drilling down into those marketing channels.
For every marketer that's looking for a way to focus their time and energy, especially when there's so many options to work with when promoting a client, The 80/20 Principle will always help you narrow your focus successfully.
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Contributor: Shaan Patel from prepexpert.com
#6 To Sell Is Human – Daniel Pink
To Sell is Human by Dan Pink has always stuck with me over the years working in marketing. Two points that stick out were his discussions about perspective and the blemishing effect in marketing.
To truly be a good marketer you must remove yourself from the equation and put yourself in the shoes' of your buyers. What motivates them? Better is their opinion, not your's.
Another point he talked about was the blemishing effect. This involves mentioning a drawback or negative using to a product or service in your sales or marketing efforts. Believe it or not, mentioning something negative actually increases the appeal of the product because the buyer views the marketing as more authentic and trustworthy.
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Contributor: George Kuhn from driveresearch.com
#7 Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook – Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuck's Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook is the perfect book to kick off your social media knowledge with. It's a short and easy read and has great examples of the good, bad, and ugly of the social media marketing world. Alongside Gary Vee's to-the-point, hustle-till-you're-dead attitude are annotated screenshots of some introductory and intermediate do's and don'ts on various social platforms. An informative and motivational intro to social media.
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Contributor: Andrew Maffettone from sellerschoice.digital
#8 Ogilvy On Advertising – David Ogilvy
Ogilvy on Advertising is classic advertising and marketing book written by David Ogilvy, also known as the King of Madison Avenue. His perspective on leveraging research to determine how and why consumers interact with and use advertising was cutting edge and is still highly relevant today.
As an example, he cites that the majority of people don't get past the image of an advertisement to even read the title of the ad (any marketing piece should be viewed as an ad), and only 10% of people read the body of an advertisement. So the image and title must be on point. He makes innumerable points like this throughout the book covering print, TV, radio and direct marketing.
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Contributor: Erik J. Olson from thisisarray.com
#9 Purple Cow – Seth Godin
This book will set you on the right tracks at the beginning when it's the most important aspect of how well you'll be able to operate in the world of marketing. The thing is, nowadays everyone tries to copy each other to get the same or similar results. Godin's book explains what it means to be remarkable and how to achieve the status of being extraordinary.
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Contributor: Jakub Kliszczak from www.crazycall.com
#10 Positioning – Al Ries and Jack Trout
Positioning is all about content marketing, and the importance of placing yourself between your competitors and the customer. The authors argue that positioning yourself as an industry leader a must for content marketing. The book describes various techniques on how to gain a foothold in the market by exploiting your competitor's weaknesses.
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Contributor: Nate Masterson from mapleholistics.com
#11 Start With Why – Simon Sinek
In this book, the author talks about understanding the basic concept of your product/service which is why. He quoted: "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it." Simon Sinek has also included some classic marketing examples and breaks down their why.
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Contributor: Aqib Sharif from shoutifyme.com
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Loved this. Highly Recommended
#12 Marketing High Technology – William H. Davidow
Marketing High Technology by Bill Davidow is for me still the best marketing book ever written. So many technologist and innovators have great ideas but don’t understand the complexities of marketing. Bill says that marketing’s function is to “create complete products and drive them to commanding positions in defensible market segments” which encapsulates the marketing concept perfectly. He demonstrates this idea from his days as the VP of Marketing at Intel and gives lots of very useful advice.
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Contributor: Sarah Boisvert from fablabhub.org
#13 Guerilla Marketing – Jay Conrad Levinson
In my 5 years of being a top marketer in New Jersey, I’ve found that Guerilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson to be a top resource.
With somewhat loose training tips in a bootcamp-style guide, Jay gets to the heart of one’s creativity, in my opinion.
Guerrilla marketing isn’t for the faint of heart, nor is it for those who only have corporate training. It takes, like most things, hard work, determination, and a ton of creativity to think outside the box.
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Contributor: Joseph A. Federico from josephafederico.com
#14 Get To Aha! – Andy Cunningham
Andy has fascinating, successful theories, stories, approaches to developing her concepts and how she did it step-by-step. Her approach is much like a sleuth examining a company and determining the DNA and then a marketing campaign that will appeal to a target audience. Her descriptions are detailed and understandable.
There are stories about how she goes about this process with companies that are most helpful. She tells this all in a voice that is relaxed and approachable.
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Contributor: Frances Metzman from francesmetzman.com
#15 Contagious – Johan Berger
While this book isn’t designed to be a crash course in marketing, it does provide essential marketing fundamentals. Written by Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger, Contagious explains why certain products and ideas become popular by exploring what makes things popular. Contagious also explores what makes content go viral.
Berger discusses the secret science behind word-of-mouth marketing, giving actionable techniques for crafting marketing messages, ad content, and more.
The book highlights research, case studies, and real-world examples to illustrate concepts and insights. Whether you’re new to marketing or a seasoned professional, this New York Times bestseller will show you how to make your product or business idea catch on.
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Contributor: Alex Membrillo from cardinaldigitalmarketing.com
#16 All Marketers Are Liars – Seth Godin
One of my favorite books is All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin. It talks about bringing authenticity to your marketing. Now, this is nothing new, but more important than ever now on the Internet. Buyers want a story behind what they purchase. This book helps you learn how to do it with any type of item or service you are trying to see. From 2009, but still very, very valuable today.
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Contributor: Jeff Moriarty from mothersfamilyrings.com
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