Whether you’re an expert in the field or a novice looking to get your feet wet, there’s always something to be learned from the right book. Many have been keeping busy and, yes, profitable during the pandemic and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to do so too. Marketing isn’t something you can just wake up and do because you have tried and failed at everything else—it takes practice. It’s important to understand the psychology of why people buy, why they’re loyal to certain brands and how you can make an impact in an already saturated industry. Luckily for you, the fortunate reader, we have seven books that help any marketing professional hone their skills.
Made to Stick
Written by Chip and Dan Heath, this book illustrates how to make ideas stick and explain how that can work for the reader. Teachers, politicians, entrepreneurs, and journalists are just some of the types of professionals that have to make an idea stick inside the heads of their audiences, but they can often come across obstacles. The book is a how-to guide to storytelling, which is a key component to marketing.
Contagious: Why Things Catch On
This book is a must-read by Jonah Berger because it answers the important questions that marketing professionals want answered. Going viral and making a product successful are cornerstones to a thriving business and marketing what makes your product or service important is always the core of your job. The book demonstrates this with different examples of how other companies have managed to hook consumers into their products.
The Most Powerful Woman in the Room Is You: Command Your Audience and Sell Your Way to Success
This book’s title might seem like it’s just for women but men can learn from it too. Written by Lydia Fenet, a seasoned auctioneer, this book explains how to command a room and channel your power anywhere. Fenet’s experience as an auctioneer for Christie’s Auction House has given her valuable experience on how to raise a large amount of money in a short period of time—and who doesn’t want to relate to that idea? The book also talks about her personal obstacles, including how she was previously being paid a fraction of her worth and when Christie’s first rejected her for an internship.
Ca$hvertising: How to Use More than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make Big Money Selling Anything to Anyone
If this choice, written by Drew Eric Whitman, doesn’t sound like a book every marketing professional should read then I’m not sure what is. This book is necessary to exploring the psychology of why ads work on consumers and applies those lessons to nearly all forms of marketing and advertising. It’s an important resource for any business owner or marketer.
SEO 2017: Learn Search Engine Optimization with Smart Internet Marketing Strategies
The author, Adam Clarke, is a Google-certified professional and his book is a vital read for any business that wants to be easily found online by prospective customers. Transparency is always going to be important to the survival of a business and marketers help by telling the right story to the right listeners. Organic search results are trusted more than paid results and with Google’s search algorithm forever changing, every business needs to know how to stay on the first page.
Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing
Jamie Holmes writes about the advantage of the ambiguity and toughness that is marketing and how you can use it. He illustrates his point through anecdotes and entertaining real-life stories that will help any marketer deal with what they don’t understand about the field.
This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See
The author, Seth Godin, has inspired and taught millions of entrepreneurs, leaders, marketers and fans from all backgrounds via lectures, his blog and more. His audiobook offers insight into how and why we buy things, giving readers a glimpse into his way of thinking. Anyone in the industry will say that marketing isn’t easy and there’s always some wisdom to be gained at any level.
Evan Chambers | Contributing Writer