8 Best Books for Product Marketing Managers

Improving skills in product marketing requires effort on many areas of social relationships: influencing, persuading, knowing how to address to whom. Here are some of the best books for product marketing managers to read on self-improvement and the best marketing strategies.

Before moving on to the list of books written by the leading names of their fields, make sure to check another list we have prepared for product marketing managers, Tool Suggestions for Product Marketing Managers.

1. Product-led Growth by Wes Bush

Product-led Growth, written by a marketing veteran and current principal of the Product-led Institute Wes Bush is a must-read for every product marketing manager. Throughout the book, Bush challenges the traditional approach to marketing where the growth of a product is in the hands of an expensive sales team and answers the question “How to build a product that sells itself?”. The topics discussed in the book offer lessons of great value that could change the entire marketing strategy of any company that aims big. Learn more about Product-led Growth here.

2. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

This book by Al Ries and Jack Trout is no doubt one of the essentials of marketing. It is revolutionary in the sense that it leaves the traditional ways of advertising and turns to a new technique. Ries and Trout here focus on some case studies from many successful companies. Even though the book was released in 1981, before the digital developments of our time, it is still considered as a classic when it comes to product positioning and messaging.

3. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Many people argue that Influence is the most important marketing book ever written. As the guru of social influence, Robert Cialdini talks about six actionable steps of influence and how to use them to become a good marketer. This book helps you revise the basics of persuasion and create better direct communication with your target audience.

4. Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore

Another must-read for product marketing managers who try to improve themselves to the best before deciding who their target audience is. In this book that was released in 1991, Geoffrey Moore contributes to the idea of creating a market strategy, product positioning and importantly, segmentation. Despite being written more than 25 years ago, Moore’s work is still valid today. Besides, there is an updated version just to keep up with the new content in the marketing world.

5. Four Steps to Epiphany by Steve Blank

Using customer development methodology, the book provides valuable information for product marketing managers. It is a clear guide that is based on a Lean Startup approach. The fact that Steve Blank, as an entrepreneur, spent more than thirty years with technology forms the basis for the book. He shares his experiences and gives many good and bad strategical examples. Discussing the concepts such as rapid iteration and customer feedback, The Four Steps to Epiphany is well worth the read.

6. To Sell is Human by Daniel H. Pink

This impressive book by Daniel Pink challenges your perspective on sales. To be a good marketer, you should persuade yourself to buy your product first. While achieving this self-persuasion, To Sell is Human teaches product marketers how to understand the other party’s perspective with three rules. It also teaches how to frame your message more clearly and more persuasively. This book is full of practical tips and shares quite interesting ideas about marketing and sales.

7. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

As we know, storytelling is an essential part of product marketing. Chip Heath and Dan Heath work on this topic in this bestselling book. They aim to give the idea of creating a story that distinguishes your product from the others. They explore curiosity gaps and how can they be used in storytelling for marketing. Made to Stick is a useful guide for finding convincing narratives for your product marketing.

8. Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

Hooked is one of the books that are highly recommended to understand how some brands get their users hooked. For product marketing managers, it is quite significant to discover the value of your product and how customers distinguish the value from the others. Nir Eyal, in this book, gives great examples from the recent products like iPhone, Twitter, and Pinterest. He teaches his four-step process that product marketing managers can use to drive demand and form stronger and healthier relationships with their customers.