Top Marketing Books: Experts Recommend the Best!

Ann Handley – CCO, MarketingProfs; author of Everybody Writes and Content Rules.

	The New Rules of Marketing & PR, David Meerman Scott.  It’s the book that literally reframed the way I think about marketing. I wouldn’t have co-written Content Rules were it not for that book. (Or even thought of writing Everybody Writes.) Honestly: I probably wouldn’t be in marketing had I not read that book when I did!
	Linchpin, Seth Godin A seminal book for me that made me truly grok the notion that at some point, you have to take a leap and SHIP. As a world-class procrastinator, this was invaluable for me to internalize.

Jeffrey Hayzlett  host of C-Suite with Jeffrey Hayzlett and Executive Perspectives. Author of Think Big, Act Bigger: The Rewards of Being Relentless, Running the Gauntlet, and The Mirror Test.

	So, What’s The Bottom Line?,  Yitzchok Saftlas – This book covers a wide array of topics related to business, from marketing initiatives to communication, customer retention to strategic planning, and everything in between.
	Big, Social Mobile, David Giannetto – Big Social Mobile shows how big data, social media, and mobile technology can be used differently. Integrated into each other and into the enterprise itself, these digital initiatives can deliver tangible value, drive the achievement of strategic objectives and even create competitive advantage.
	Marketing Masters, Connie Pheiff  – Provides creative strategies combining the old school tricks of marketing with today’s digital tactics to connect with the NOW generation. You will immediately convert consumers to customers, relationships into partnerships, and ideas into realities.

Henneke Duistermaat (She’s known by her first name)  of EnchantingMarketing.com.

	Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath- This is my all-time favorite business book; it’s an excellent guide for anyone who wants to communicate better.
	The New Rules of Marketing & PR, David Meerman Scott –  This was the book that made me see marketing in a different light – the start of my journey in content marketing. This is a great primer for anyone who wants to learn how to market in a world where everyone gets tired of marketing.
	Brainfluence, Roger Dooley – Section 9 of this book taught me the magic of words, showing me why certain words are more powerful and persuasive than other words.

Erika Heald  is a Content Marketing Consultant and runs the #ContentChat on Twitter on Mondays.

	Content Inc., Joe Pulizzi  – Shows the impact great content can have on an organization’s bottom line
	Everybody Writes,  Ann Handley Is a funny and approachable look at how to improve your writing even if you’re not a natural grammar fiend; and
	Spin Sucks, Gini Dietrich Shows the modern face of PR needs to look like (i.e. it’s a lot more than just media relations).

Carlos Hidalgo – Author of Driving Demand

	Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charran. I read this before I co-founded ANNUITAS and I did not know it then, but it provided a lot of information and advice that I apply today in my CEO role.
	Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath. I use a few of their quotes in Driving Demand as I think the concepts are so clear and practical and have helped me formulate my thoughts on change management.
	Balancing the Demand Equation by my business partner Adam Needles. He wrote this before we partnered together, but I thought it was the best treatise on how organizations need to approach demand generation in the age of “Buyer 2.0”

Albert Jan (AJ) Huisman  of Y Content (content marketing consultancy) and co-founder and Chief Content Officer of Content Marketing Fast Forward  (platform to inspire and educate marketers).

	Permission Marketing, Seth Godin,  Classic on the end of interruption marketing, Seth describes the basic definition of content marketing back in 1999!
	The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Al Ries and Jack Trout – Another (1994) classic but as the laws of nature, they still hold true. “Marketing is not a battle of products, it’s a battle of perceptions – The Law of Perception” – use that in your content marketing!
	It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be, Paul Arden – It’s a handbook on how to succeed in the world, so also in marketing!  “What ever you think, think the opposite!” It’s a great read on taking bigger risks – how’s that for your content marketing?!

Greg Jarboe  of SEO-PR, an award-winning content marketing agency. Author of YouTube and Video Marketing as well as a contributor to 4 other books.

	Diffusion of Innovations, Everett M. Rogers. It’s a classic work on the spread of new ideas via social networks using communication channels over time. It’s both a marketing and a sociology textbook. It provides the foundation for content marketing, social media marketing, and influencer marketing.
	Ogilvy on Advertising, David Ogilvy. Another classic work on all aspects of advertising from the man Time magazine called “the most sought after wizard in the business”.
	Web Analytics 2.0, Avinash Kaushik. It presents a new framework that will permanently change how you think about analytics. It provides specific recommendations for creating an actionable strategy, applying analytical techniques correctly, solving challenges such as measuring social media and multichannel campaigns, achieving optimal success by leveraging experimentation, and employing tactics for truly listening to your customers.

David Jenyns – Author of Authority Content

	Elon Musk’s biography by Ashley Vance,
	Steve Job’s biography by Walter Isaacson,
	Richard Branson’s autobiography (Losing my Virginity).

Carla Johnson, Co-author of Experiences: The 7th Era of Marketing .

	It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven by Purpose, Roy Spence. I picked Roy’s book because I’ve re-read it more times. Most marketers struggle with the ability to see the big picture of the difference that their work makes in the lives of customers. If they don’t know it, they’ll never be able to get the rest of their organization on board and their work will lack focus. This is a great book that gets into the nitty-gritty about how to get the brand purpose right, how to get executive buy-in (it hits at financial performance) and how instill it across the organization.
	To Sell is Human, Daniel Pink We all sell in everything we do. Realizing that and looking at how we communicate from that frame of mind makes a big difference in how we interact with other people. With all that’s changing in marketing these days, marketers need to realize how much selling ideas is now a part of their responsibility.
	Content Inc., Joe Pulizzi Content, Inc. is important because every business regardless of size needs to learn things that add to their business success. Looking at content as a core function of the business is a big part of today’s business success.
	Start With Why, Simon Sinek

Christian Karasiewicz of StreamYard.

	The Disney Way: Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company, Bill Capodagli
	Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content, Ann Handley
	SEO for WordPress, Yoast – Yoast is mainly known as a WordPress plug-in [Editor: We use it!] This is the book that goes with it.