In a world of information overload, if you want to be the best you best be taking advantage of all this information! And with a limited amount of time it’s wise to only read the best of the best and use your most precious resource as wisely as possible! One of the best ways to become the best is to continue to read, read, read. One of the only things the best of the best have in common is they read and read a lot!
So, we’ve made it easy for you. If your looking to become a much better marketer in 2016 - then here are our 11 top recommended marketing books to read in 2016. Supercharge your marketing game by reading the best marketing thoughts and practices to learn from and use in your business.
1. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip & Dan Heath
Only when you fully understand and appreciate the concepts in this book can you be truly successful in today's online media world. A great book to read and re-read to increase your marketing results for your company in 2016 and beyond.
To listen to a short podcast with the author's click here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7486659
For a short summary of the book click here:
2. Smartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success by Shane Snow
Do you know how to work smart? This book will help educate you on the nine principles undercovered by Shane Snow for working smarter, and illustrates each one with a chapter that weaves together several mini-histories and mini-biographies.
Snow was fascinated by how certain people and companies have been able to achieve amazing things in hardly any time. What causes this? His obsession with finding the uniting principles behind their success, he calls Smartcuts. We could all use more Smartcuts - so study this book to help you see the patterns you might be missing.
Or to listen to a podcast from the author himself - check out this link:
For a great synopsis of the book read this Blog post: https://medium.com/@brandon_lee_09/the-9-secrets-hackers-innovators-and-icons-use-to-accelerate-success-e46e4fda0013#.ie9afk2u3
3. What's the Future of Business: Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences by Brian Solis
Do you want to better understand the future of marketing? Then read this book! Brian Solis is principal at Altimeter Group, a research firm focused on disruptive technology. He’s a digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, who studies the effects of emerging technology on business, marketing, and culture. This book will help shine a light on the future of business and marketing.
For the official summary SlideShare presentation click here:
To check out the author's blog click here:
4. The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott
This book will help change the way you think about marketing and inspire you to think about marketing in a whole new way. Digital marketing is the most powerful way to drive more revenue to your business - but only if you know how to use it. Read this book to better understand how to attract more customers using digital media and then start applying what you know
Check out the author's blog here:
To follow the Author on Twitter click here:
5. The Pirate's Dilemma: How Youth Culture is Reinventing Capitalism by Matt Mason
If your brand targets a youth audience than this book is a must! It's a fun read and explores various youth movements impact in our society. The author, Matt Mason, makes a compelling argument for openness, collaboration and the value of altruism (vs. self interest) in business and why the best strategy for responding to pirates (AKA digital sharers) is to compete with them, not try to shut them down.
To listen to speeches from the author check out the author's blog here:
For a free PDF and Epub version of the book click here:
6. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay
Ultimately, marketing means understanding groups of people and how they think and using these understanding to move them into action. The best marketers are brilliant studiers of what drives human behaviors. Even though technology has changed over the decades, our brains have not, so it shouldn't be surprising that in 1841, Charles Mackay captured the essence of our bonehead group-think. Read this, and you'll never be surprised by events like the Great Recession or the popularity of the Kardashians.
Best quote: "We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first."
For a free copy of the book click here:
Or for a free epub version click here:
7. Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday
Do you want more PR for your business? Then Ryan’s book is a must. His book will help you understand how today’s online media works and how to get your message to spread. Ryan Holiday was the director of marketing at American Apparel by age twenty-one. Unlike the big players in the retail place, he had virtually no marketing budget to play with and these constraints drove the insights that he unpacks in his book. He understood the fundamentals and economics of the media system and how to manipulate it. Read this book to really understand how journalists and bloggers think, how to get your message across on a virtually no budget and realize just how corrupt and awful the system can be.
For the authors how-to excerpts on SlideShare:
For Ryan Holiday’s Blog Post on how to Market a Boring Business click here: https://medium.com/@RyanHoliday/how-to-market-a-boring-business-15d118b3e6b1#.m1n5x5zcb
8. Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing by Harry Beckwith
Powerful, practical advice on marketing and selling services and intangibles. The short lessons are easy to read, yet thought-provoking and entertaining. Most lessons contain examples from the sales and marketing efforts of companies, or anecdotes from the author’s experience. The examples and stories work well for illustrating his points, but I prefer to see claims backed by broader research and statistical evidence. Based on the author's twenty-five years of experience with thousands of business professionals, this book delivers its wisdom with unforgettable and often surprising examples--from Federal Express, Citicorp, and a growing Greek travel agency to an ingenious baby-sitter, Fran Lebowitz, and the colors of oranges and lemons.
For a short summary from JFD Perf Solutions click here:
To Read Reviews of the book From GoodReads click here:
9. Contagious: How to Build Word of Mouth in the Digital Age by Jonah Berger
We’re big Jonah Berger fans here at Seecows and we’ve implemented a lot of his principles into our product and marketing. At the end of the day - if you want your message the spread but ultimately you want your message to spread while also growing your revenue. Jonah will help uncover some principals to help you create the next viral hit and help your business knock it out of the park in 2016.
For a 40 minute presentation with the author at Talks at Google click here:
For a Good Summary of the book from Impact Executives click here:
10. Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear by Frank Luntz
Are you sure you're saying the right words to help you make the most money from your marketing efforts? Frank Luntz is an expert at leading the public perceptions through image and words. If you want to do a better job marketing your business you need to understand the power of language and framing and this book will help you do just that.
To watch a YouTube presentation with the author click here:
For a great short summary of the book click here:
11. "Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This": A Guide to Creating Great Ads by Luke Sullivan
This book was an easy read, but absolutely packed with great information. The book is mainly targeted to people already in the advertising industry; however, even if you're outside the target audience, it is still very helpful. So, even though you might not be able to use some of the sections of the book like “how to get a job in advertising” it will be helpful to understand the thinking and process to make remarkable ads.
For the author's blog click here:
To listen to a podcast covering similar topics explained in Luke’s book click here:
BONUS: Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works by A.G. Lafley & Roger L. Martin
This is the most clear book on what business strategy is, how you can define and execute one for your team. It’s not exactly a marketing book, which is why it’s our bonus book; however, it outlines the strategic approach A.G. Lafley used to double P&G’s sales, quadruple its profits, and increase its market value by more than $100 billion when Lafley was first CEO.
This is a great book to read as you should be able to understand strategy just as much as much as understanding marketing. Whether it is for outlining your own or advising clients. The book does an important job of defining what strategy is not so you can catch yourself if you are off track.
To hear what A.G. Lafley’s definition of what strategy is not click here:
To watch a video with the author click here:
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