People can’t read a book if they don’t know it exists, and you can’t market and sell your product if you don’t learn the best marketing tactics, algorithms, and apps.
In today’s ever-changing marketing environment, you need to develop a solid grasp of the frameworks and strategies you’ll need to be successful.
This is where reading comes into play. In addition, an excellent way to get started is by reading the best marketing books written by experts.
But, where do you begin when there are thousands of marketing books available?
The answer lies in choosing the right book. Well, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack, we know! That’s why we put together a list of the ten best books on marketing to help you get a holistic view of the marketing world and choose the right strategy for your business.
While it’s easy to look at what others are doing and assume that’s how you should be marketing, you have to know that it isn’t a good idea at all!
By reviewing this list of books, you will gain insights from the best marketers and business leaders worldwide to think differently, define your business purpose, create customer engagement, and improve your marketing strategy.
Top 15 Marketing Books
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned expert, here are the best marketing books you should read.
Reading these books will help you understand the techniques for effective marketing and provide you with clear guidance on how to improve your current approach.
5 Best Marketing Books for Beginners
1- This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin
Marketing is about the stories you tell. And in this practical and insightful book, Seth Godin teaches you how to build products that resonate with customers, develop a loyal following and attract new audiences.
One of the best authors in marketing, Seth Godin is the author of nineteen international bestsellers translated into over 35 languages and has changed the way people think about marketing and work.
Why should people have this book?
In This Is Marketing, Godin shows how to put together an integrated marketing campaign using a wide variety of tools (including digital ones) to deliver your message to your target audience at the right time. But most importantly, it teaches you the secret behind successful marketing by focusing on a genuine connection with your customers.
It’s one of the best options for beginners who want to learn how to do work they’re proud of, no matter if they’re tech startup founders, small business owners, or employees of a large corporation.
Amazon Rating: 4.6 out of 5
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2- Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life by Rory Sutherland
Have you ever wondered why certain products and brands become insanely popular while others flop? The answer may seem elusive, but this book argues that there are rules that can help a marketer create a hit.
Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life examines the strange magic of marketing through the lens of psychology.
In Alchemy, Rory Sutherland shows that the same unorthodox thinking that drives great scientific advances can also generate brilliant marketing ideas. In essence, it’s a book about turning lead into gold.
Sutherland dismisses traditional marketing’s obsession with focus groups and research, arguing instead that the world of consumer logic is often illogical. He uses various examples to demonstrate how strange reasoning behind consumer choices provides an opportunity for marketers to make an unlikely brand or product insanely popular.
Why should people have this book?
The strange reasoning behind consumer choices provides an opportunity for marketers to make an unlikely brand or product insanely popular. While this phenomenon can be unpredictable, the book lays out a list of rules to increase the chances of creating a hit.
Alchemy is an entertaining and informative read that reveals the strange and wonderful workings of the marketing world.
Amazon Rating: 4.6 out of 5
Notable Review:
3- The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From The Crowd by Allen Dib
In The 1-Page Marketing Plan, Allan Dib draws on his own experience and the concepts of Lean Startup, traction, and agile marketing to help readers set goals and develop a concrete plan that can be implemented immediately.
With the 1-Page Marketing Plan, busy executives and entrepreneurs can create marketing strategies that are simple, effective, and easy to implement.
Many professionals have a long-standing fear of the infamous marketing strategy plan. Most of them feel time-consuming, confusing, and over their heads. But what if, instead of putting together a lengthy business plan, the marketing plan can fit onto a single page?
Imagine your entire marketing blueprint mapped out on one sheet of paper while still creating visibility, attracting new leads, and filling the sales funnel.
The truth is that you cannot build a successful business without an effective marketing strategy, and reading this book can significantly assist you in creating such a plan.
Why should people have this book?
The 1-Page Marketing Plan is the fastest, easiest way to create a marketing plan that will propel your business growth. And unlike complicated marketing strategy tools, this book guides you through the entire process in simple steps.
Amazon Rating: 4.7 out of 5
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Buy The 1-Page Marketing Plan now!
4- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive, and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Why is it that some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? The Made to Stick book answers those questions, offering a set of concrete techniques to help you make ideas stickier.
The book uses dozens of examples to back up its theory and offers practical tips on crafting persuasive messages such as:
- Identifying the core idea
- Simplification
- Finding the underlying story
- Using an analogy
- Following the “inverted pyramid,”
- Applying the Velcro Theory of Memory
- Making people feel good
Why should people have this book?
In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that “stick” and explain how you can make ideas memorable. In this edition, the brothers have added two new chapters.
One delves into the sticky power of questions; for example, simple questions can help transform even complex situations into memorable stories. In the other new chapter, research from Consumer Neuroscience sheds light on how emotions direct our decision-making.
The ideas and strategies you get from reading this book can help you grow your brand significantly.
Amazon Rating: 4.6 out of 5
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5- Becoming A Digital Marketer: Gaining the Hard & Soft Skills for a Tech-Driven Marketing Career by Gil Gildner and Anya Gildner
Gil and Anya Gildner put all the required information into words to help both beginners and fresh graduates out when getting into a tech-driven world.
The authors decide to divide this essential book into two parts to explain hard skills in one while describing soft skills in the other.
Going into detail, the first part focuses on topics like organic search (SEO), social media marketing, and email marketing; the second part concentrates on getting a job in a marketing team, handling several marketing channels, and becoming a marketing professional that can start their own agency.
Also, let me tell you that Digital Marketer is definitely one of the top 10 marketing books for entrepreneurs!
Why should people have this book?
This digital marketing book shows the ropes to beginners, i.e., how to start from the bottom and become a digital marketing expert that can lead a successful marketing campaign in the target market.
Moreover, it discusses the basic concepts of online marketing one by one so that people can make healthy business decisions when it’s time for them to form digital marketing strategies.
So, if you wish to self-study marketing on your own, give this business book a read!
Amazon Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Notable Review:
Buy Becoming A Digital Marketer now!
5 Best Marketing Books for Content Marketing
6- Content – The Atomic Particle of Marketing by Rebecca Lieb
Content – The Atomic Particle of Marketing explores how the intersection of content, marketing, and media changes today’s marketing strategy.
While most marketers clearly understand the need for content – after all, it’s hard to imagine a successful ad campaign that doesn’t include a slogan or a piece of supporting content to back it up; many are unaware of the role content plays throughout the media universe.
Rebecca Lieb, the content author, provides a playbook that goes beyond traditional “paid, owned, and earned” marketing to create “Expanded Media Planning.”
It demonstrates how online and offline marketing must work together-contextualized and curated to deliver results.
Why should people have this book?
This book explains how a shift in perception, when executed correctly, can allow brands to reach customers at every touchpoint. You can learn everything you need to know about developing a successful content marketing campaign from scratch in this research-based guide.
Amazon Rating: 4.3 out of 5
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Buy Content: The Atomic Particle of Marketing now!
7- Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
Contagious by Jonah Berger explores what makes products and ideas catch on in society.
Berger draws on academic research and his original research to present six key STEPPS (Social Currency, Trigger, Emotion, Public, Practical Value, and Story) that underlie all contagious ideas.
Berger also discusses ways to harness the power of word of mouth for your marketing efforts where it is most effective and offers practical examples of how to change individual behaviors and add new tools to your marketing dissemination kit.
Why should people have this book?
For over 15 years, Berger has studied the impact of social influence on products and ideas and used his personal experience in this book to help the readers.
This brilliant book, filled with entertaining stories and rooted in the theoretical underpinnings of human behavior, challenges readers to think differently about viral marketing, social media, and other topics essential to modern marketing methods.
Amazon Rating: 4.7 out of 5
Notable Review:
8- Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley
As marketers, you must know content’s integral role in the overall business strategy. Ann Handley is a digital marketing pioneer and the current Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs, one of the marketers’ most influential educational online resources.
The Everybody Writes book breaks down actionable solutions to help you create, produce, and publish content that will attract and retain customers. No matter your role, you will gain valuable insights on content creation that will fuel your marketing strategy and yield significant results.
Why should people have this book?
By the time you finish reading this book, you will understand how to create practical and effective content in social media and SEO, content strategy, consistency, style guides, and more. Everybody Writes, is your go-to guide for attracting visitors and customers with great content — now and in the future.
Amazon Rating: 4.6 out of 5
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9- Epic Content Marketing: How to Tell a Different Story, Break through the Clutter, and Win More Customers by Marketing Less by Joe Pulizzi
This book takes a different approach to marketing since it solely focuses on creating “epic content marketing” strategies so that you can attract potential customers while improving your relationships with customers that are already on the verge of becoming loyal customers.
To achieve this, Pulizzi defines the key concepts that you need to construct habit-forming product content which affects buying decisions at the end of the day.
Furthermore, this book gives you some tips on creating a successful marketing campaign, relying on content and content only.
Why should people have this book?
If you’re one of the people who believe that inbound marketing is the future of digital marketing, you should read this marketing book for sure.
To go into more depth, let me mention some of the topics this book includes: customer behavior, storytelling, social marketing, and many more that can guide you on the road to becoming a content marketing guru.
Amazon Rating: 4.6 out of 5
Notable Review:
Buy Epic Content Marketing now!
10- Permission Marketing by Seth Godin
In this classic marketing book, Godin explains how marketing messages should be formed and delivered.
He talks about the importance of communication when it comes to building a strong foundation for a great customer experience and enhancing relationships with customers that your business already interacts.
So, you could say that this book alters the definition of marketing for digital marketing professionals who are looking for a way to understand messaging, positioning, and value proposition on a different level.
Why should you read this book?
You should read this excellent book if you’re looking for a way to improve your marketing skills ’cause this book provides readers with a new perception of marketing.
Also, learning how Godin sees permission marketing as dating and gives the 5 most powerful marketing tips on this matter might help your marketing team make better decisions and achieve more goals.
Amazon Rating: 4.4 out of 5
Notable Review:
5 Best Marketing Books for Branding
11- Marketing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step StoryBrand Guide for Any Business by Donald Miller
Marketing Made Simple is a step-by-step guide for any business or brand looking to create and implement an effective marketing strategy. Miller takes you from discovering your brand’s identity to building a plan of action for marketing success.
With checklists, actionable steps, and examples of real-world successes like Warby Parker, Lyft, and Casper Mattress, Marketing Made Simple will get you back to the basics with a simple but targeted message that attracts customers who are the right fit for your business.
Why should people have this book?
Marketing Made Simple is a step-by-step marketing book that teaches small business owners how to execute the marketing strategies they need to win.
Developed with working professionals in mind, readers will learn proven tactics for building brand visibility, capturing leads, and converting sales using the StoryBrand Marketing Framework.
This guide walks readers through practical exercises that help them apply concepts such as brand strategy, segmentation, lead generation, and email automation with confidence.
Amazon Rating: 4.7 out of 5
Notable Review:
Buy Marketing Made Simple now!
12- How Brands Become Icons by Douglas B. Holt
How Brands Become Icons, explains why some brands can create a cult-like following.
In this book, Holt examines how these famous brands like Nike, Apple, and Coca-Cola were able to establish themselves in the first place; and then investigates what they did to sustain their popularity in a constantly evolving environment.
How Brands Become Icons, emphasizes that cultural branding is not just another marketing buzzword by giving examples of successful businesses that have used these strategies to capitalize on their brand.
Why should people have this book?
In this book, Holt shows how a brand can grow through connecting in an emotional way with consumers by applying insights from anthropology, psychology, and sociology in addition to recent examples of brands like Dove and Nintendo.
The book is filled with case studies and references for anyone looking to make their brand iconic. This is a must-have for marketers.
Amazon Rating: 4.6 out of 5
Notable Review:
Buy How Brands Become Icons now!
13- Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout
A landmark work on the power of positioning, Ries and Trout’s book is often used to create a basic understanding of marketing. The authors discuss how to word products and services to create a position in consumers’ minds and make a lasting impression.
Their takeaways include how companies can make their competition irrelevant, how to get a jump on the competition, and why you should fix the product and develop top-of-mind awareness (TOMA).
Why should people have this book?
Ries and Trout share their years of experience in the position of marketing in their book and show how a good positioning concept, to be effective, must be focused, simple, different, and practical.
This classic will show you how to stop selling what the market is buying and start selling what consumers seek!
Amazon Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Notable Review:
14- International Marketing by Philip R. Cateora, John Graham, and Mary C Gilly
One of the best marketing textbooks ever, International Marketing tells students (and anyone interested in the matter!) about the history of marketing.
Taking it from the start, this book is definitely for avid readers who are here for a long ride, as it takes it from the very first start, i.e., how the principles of marketing came alive.
Beware, though: This book particularly revolves around the history of marketing and other areas that it’s interrelated with, such as language, geography, and economics.
Why should people have this book?
Because this book helps readers connect with how marketing came to being and how it interlocks with other areas that humanity put together to attach importance to embrace the notion of marketing on a different level.
So, history lovers, give this book a chance when you want to be able to connect the dots faster than ever.
Amazon Rating: 4.3 out of 5
Notable Review:
Buy International Marketing now!
15- Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
Building a StoryBrand is all about defining and enhancing your brand positioning.
On the road to bringing customers more value, branding takes the lead; thus, the brand message must be clear to the target audience.
This classic book tells readers about the key concepts to clarify the message you give to your audience, and it gives you all the details regarding the story creation process.
Why should people have this book?
For people who need to obtain knowledge for effective messaging, this book is a must-read.
As you’ll be using your voice in several channels, including social media marketing channels, you should be able to make your message get across to the target audience.
And to succeed in marketing without any prior experience, you should read this one which teaches you how to build your brand and know how to enhance it throughout the lifecycle.
Amazon Rating: 4.7 out of 5
Notable Review:
Buy Building a StoryBrand now!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which books should I read for marketing?
Here are the top marketing books you should read:
- This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See
- Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life
- The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From The Crowd
- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
- Content – The Atomic Particle of Marketing by Rebecca Lieb
- Contagious: Why Things Catch On
- Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content
- Marketing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step StoryBrand Guide for Any Business
- How Brands Become Icons
- Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
What book helps you get marketing results?
If you want the best results in each part of your marketing journey, it is best to read books about that specific topic, which will help you improve your abilities and grow your business.
Who is the best author in marketing?
Here are the best marketing authors:
- Seth Godin
- Rory Sutherland
- Allen Dib
- Chip Heath
- Dan Heath
- Jonah Berger
- Ann Handley
- Donald Miller
- Al Ries
- Jack Trout
- Douglas B. Holt
