When you hear the word, “marketing,” what do you think about? The world of business is a lot about marketing. For instance, how you market yourself and your product. It’s important to know who you’re marketing to, and that your marketing resonates with that audience. Marketing is an art. It will help you out in every aspect of your business. So it’s important to study it. A lot of you have asked me to give you the top marketing books, so in this video, I have 10 marketing books I recommend to you.
I believe every entrepreneur must study these 10 marketing books.
#10: The Art of SEO
Number 10 on this list is The Art of SEO. It's a pretty big book, around 645 pages. The best way to use this book is to go to the Table of Contents and then go directly to the part of the book that covers what you're struggling with. This book has become like the bible for SEO. And if you don't understand SEO for your company or website, you'll be left behind. You, your team, and your staff need to understand the language, and this is the book I'd recommend for learning SEO.
#9: Contagious
The next marketing book I recommend is Contagious. Contagious is a very good book that describes the necessary elements that when combined, make something go viral. It uses words such as:
- Social currency
- Triggers
- Emotion
- Public
- Practical value
- Stories
I highly recommend that you read this book because once you read it, you'll understand why certain stories go viral, why the idea caught on and started spreading. One of the stories told in the book is about a blender company asking the question, "Will it blend?" and putting an iPhone in the blender. You can check out the video here. In it, the blender chops up the phone, and the video went viral. This was the start of a marketing campaign to demonstrate the power of the blender. And blenders sold all over the world as a result of that video. So the book, Contagious is a great marketing book.
#8: Made to Stick
Next, Made to Stick. This book explains how a story sticks with an audience. A lot of times we forget everything we hear. For instance, you go to a presentation, and as soon as you walk out of the presentation, you forget everything. But then you go to another presentation on the exact same topic and remember everything. The second speaker told six different stories, and you remember three of them. One of them brought tears to your eyes. That story is made to stick. It sticks with you, and you forever link that company to the story. Made to Stick is a great marketing book because it teaches you how to get your stories to stick with the people you're doing business with.
#7: Traction
Next, the book, Traction. I chose this as one of the top 10 marketing books because it has several points on what to do so your concept or product starts to have traction and builds momentum.
#6: Trust Me, I'm Lying
The book, Trust Me, I'm Lying has to have one of the best titles out there for marketing. It's a beautiful title for a book. The author, Ryan Holiday, tells great stories about what he did to market his products.
#5: DotCom Secrets
DotCom Secrets is written by Russell Brunson, someone who's pretty well-known in the marketing space. People pay him seven figures to do work for them. In his book, DotCom Secrets, he simply tells you how to set up your emails, and how to set up your marketing funnels in a way that people ask for more.
#4: Marketing Management
To me, number four on the list of the top marketing books is Marketing Management by Kotler and Keller. It's an old-school university textbook. If you study this book, you don't need to get a marketing degree, because this book covers it all. It has so much great stuff, I almost put it as number one, but it's number four.
#3: Tipping Point
Number three is The Tipping Point. Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat all experienced a tipping point. Listen in here for how Dollar Shave Club experienced a tipping point and how it paid off for them.
#2: Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
Number two is very close to number one, but not quite. It's Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. It's an older book, so some of the companies used as examples are older, but the book is still so effective and relevant today, I think every marketer should not just read, but study this book.
#1: Blue Ocean Strategy
The number one marketing book for entrepreneurs is Blue Ocean Strategy. You've heard me recommend this book so many different times. It's already sold three or four million copies. Every single CEO, executive, and marketer should read this book cover to cover. I assigned this to a room full of 40 people, and we spent eight hours discussing ideas that came from reading the book.
So often people come to me with questions about marketing, and I tell them to first read the book, Blue Ocean Strategy. It is that important of a book for every entrepreneur, and every person planning on doing anything that has to do with marketing. If you read it, it will give you an edge in business, how to market and tell your story in a unique way that separates you from all your competitors.
Those are the top 10 marketing books I recommend you read. If you've read any of them, comment on the bottom. And if you have any other marketing book suggestions, comment on the bottom as well. I've read most of them, but I'm always looking for good marketing books.
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