Marketing evolves every day. And that’s what I love about it. When I first learn about marketing, I learn it through trials and failures. But over time, I know I need to understand not only the fundamental and structured way of doing marketing but the principle of it.
And throughout these times, these are the few books that I always go back to. Either to read it again or as references to why I made certain decisions. I know there’s a lot of marketing books out there.
So if you’re getting started or want to improve your marketing skills, here’s are some of the books that I personally have read & highly recommended.
1. Marketing Made Simple
“Marketing does not have to be complicated.“
Donald Miller, J.J. Peterson
This book is like your marketing guide 101 especially when you just started your business or you work in start-up company. This book is suitable for any entereprenuers who wants to grow their business. It will teach you how to create and implement a sales funnel that will increase traffic and drive sales.
In this book, you will learn:
- The three stages of customer relationships
- How to create and implement the one marketing plan you will never regret
- How to develop a sales funnel that attracts the right customers to your business
- The power of email and how to create campaigns that result in customer traffic and a growth in brand awareness
- The keys to wireframing a website that commands attention and generates conversions.
With Marketing Made Simple, you will learn everything you need to know to take your business to the next level.
2. The 1-Page Marketing Plan
“Lifetime value and customer acquisition cost are two of the key numbers you need to know to measure marketing effectiveness.”
Allan Dib
WARNING: Do Not Read This Book If You Hate Money
This book will teach you how to create marketing plan simple & fast. It’s literally a single page, divided up into nine squares. With it you’ll be able to map out your own sophisticated marketing plan and go from zero to marketing hero.
In this groundbreaking new book you’ll discover:
• A simple step-by-step process for creating your own personalized marketing plan that is literally one page. Simply follow along and fill in each of the nine squares that make up your own 1-Page Marketing Plan.
• How to annihilate competitors and make yourself the only logical choice.
• How to get amazing results on a small budget using the secrets of direct response marketing.
• How to charge high prices for your products and services and have customers actually thank you for it.
I can’t even stress enough how this book had helped me tremendously every time I wanted to start a marketing campaign. Learn more about this book here.
3. This is Marketing
“Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem. Their problem.“
Seth Godin
If you haven’t heard of Seth Godin, go read his other books like Purple Cow and Tribes. His works bring revolutionary to the marketing world.
In this book, Seth is teaching a new philosophy of modern marketing. If you’re looking step-by-step way to do modern marketing, THIS IS NOT the book for you. But if you’re looking to conjure a new perspective and meaning of doing marketing, then you definitely need to read this book.
Seth Godin share that that the primary purpose of marketing is to create change in the world; meaningful, positive change.
Seth emphasizes three critically important questions:
- What change are you trying to make?
- Who are you seeking to change?
- What promise can you make to your potential customers? (Hint: your promise needs to connect to the change you want to make in the world.)
It’s a must-have book for every marketer.
4. Building a Story Brand
“STORYBRAND PRINCIPLE ONE: THE CUSTOMER IS THE HERO, NOT YOUR BRAND. “
Donald Miller
”What if the problem wasn’t the product? What if the problem was the way we talked about the product?”
In “Building a StoryBrand”, Donald Miller guides you through a framework to help you clarify your message so customers will listen.
You will learn a powerful framework that has been getting and keeping people’s attention for thousands of years. If you want to get attention for your products, services or for yourself, the author teaches you how by using a powerful story formula.
The key takeaway from this book:
- The brand is NOT the hero. The CUSTOMER is the hero. That’s the only way to engage them. And the Brand’s role is to guide the hero successfully through their challenges. You want your Brand to be the Yoda to Luke Skywalker, your customer.
- Your marketing should invite your customer into a story.
- Help customers see the transformation they will get after they purchase your product by giving them a vision
Personally, this book had helped me in developing my own copywriting and content skills. You should give it a try.
5. Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content
“In an online world, our online words are our emissaries; they tell the world who we are,”
Ann Handley
At first, I thought this book is about how to become a book author but when I look at it closely it’s a book about content creation.
The author, Ann Handley is a columnist for Entrepreneur magazine and Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs. Handley was also listed by Forbes as the most influential woman in social media.
In this book, Ann Handley gives expert guidance and tricks into the process and strategy of content creation, including production and publishing.
Whether you’re writing for your website, email marketing, blogs, social media, or even ad copy, you’ll discover how to write better, how to tell authentic stories, and finally, how to stand out in a digital world.
This book is great for any content marketer or anybody who has to do the majority of copywriting for their business.
6. The 4-Hour Workweek
“Focus on being productive instead of busy.”
Timothy Ferriss
I know you might be thinking, this is not a book about marketing. Yes, I totally agree with you. But I totally recommend reading this book because when it comes to marketing execution, it’s all about time management. You don’t want to feel overwhelmed or burned out, which is hard to control when you’re a marketing professional.
One of the lessons I want to share is to be effective, not efficient.
In this book, Tim has mentioned that he lived his life according to the 80/20 rule or the Pareto principle. Most people measure productivity by the time spent working, but that’s a bad measurement because we waste so much time at work.
Tim suggests spending your time effectively: on the 20% of things that get you 80% of the results, and not vice versa.
To put it from a marketing perspective, focus on 20% of marketing activities that bring 80% of revenue to your company.
There are many business and life lessons you can get from this book, and I totally recommend it!
7. SELL LIKE CRAZY: How to Get As Many Clients, Customers and Sales As You Can Possibly Handle
““The ability to write ads and marketing messages that sell is by far the most lethal money-making skill you could ever hope to acquire.”
Sabri Siuby
I have to be honest here. When I saw this book’s ads on my Facebook timeline, I’m quite skeptical. Plus the author is giving it away for FREE! I’m not joking. You just have to pay the shipping cost. Actually, the author is still promoting this book to this day!
You can get this book for FREE (seriously) here –> https://selllikecrazybook.com/997-book/
Should you get it? My answer: YES, DEFINITELY!
This book is the ultimate digital marketing crash course. If you can’t afford to attend any digital marketing masterclass or webinar, then this book is for you.
This book is teaching you how to do digital marketing in the proper order. Which marketing strategy should you start first? How to grab your prospect’s attention? How to identify your dream buyer? All in this book.
From reinforcing the right way to do a business (focus on the top 4% of income driving activity), a whole chapter dedicated to email marketing, to a practical formula on how to write irresistible copy for your ads.
8. Contagious: Why Things Catch On
“People don’t think in terms of information. They think in terms of narratives. But while people focus on the story itself, information comes along for the ride.”
Jonah Berger
A New York Times bestseller and named Best Marketing Book of 2014 by the American Marketing Association.
This book is an analysis of why some things (ideas, behaviors, products) ‘catch on’.
It looks into how or why some ideas spread when others die. The author digs into the ideas of ‘social transmission’ and how word-of-mouth gets spread from person to person.
Jonah Berger breaks down his idea of viral social transmission into 6 steps, or 6 ‘STEPPS’ as the acronym suggests:
- Social currency – we share things that make us look good
- Triggers – top of mind, top of tongue
- Emotion – when we care we share
- Public – built to show, built to grow
- Practical value – news you can use
- Stories – information travels under the guise of stories
Here are 3 most important lessons I’ve learned from this book:
- Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing mechanism
- “Top of mind leads to the tip of the tongue” should be the mantra of all marketers
- People intuitively make sense of the world through stories
Hands down, one of my favorites!
9. Made in Future
“”Without insightful creativity, marketing is probably just sales with good looks.”
Prashant Kumar
One of the must-read books by marketing and branding professionals. It took me almost 3 months to finish reading this book and guess what, totally worth it!
When you read his background and resume on the 1st page, you can’t help but feel very impressed.
Prashant Kumar is the founder of Entropia, a next-gen marketing service company, now part of Accenture. Entropia was recognized as the third-fastest-growing large agency in the world by AdWeek, New York.
Honestly, I have read many books and e-books on marketing tricks, strategies, and tips but this book has blown me out. The author really took his time to define and explain all things that are important in marketing within the current trend.
The book provides valuable insights into the realm of new-age marketing.
Due to its depth and complexity, I found it necessary to take personal notes for future reference. The author’s perspective on marketing is exceptional and captivating, and ahead of its time.
Reading this book with patience can be a transformative experience. The author’s mastery of language and ability to present facts and case studies of successful and unsuccessful brands elevates the book to a new level.
One way I can summarize this book – it’s like philosophy + socio-economic + marketing + tech + life lesson all rolled into one.
Final thought.
Marketing will be becoming more challenging and evolving in the next 5 to 10 years. Our customers are getting smarter. Our competitors will offer cheaper and faster solutions.
Are we able to keep up and stay ahead? So go pick up your favorite marketing book!
I hope you find this article helpful.
My name is Arinah, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia I’ve been involved in marketing since 2013 at IMAN Media Group Sdn. Bhd.
Throughout the years, I have collected many tips and errors along the way. I also lead a multi-talented team and help turn a start-up company (5 figures a month) into a hyper-growth company (7 figures a month) in less than 5 years.
Now, I want to share this journey with you.
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Hi, my name is Arinah. 