Reading one of the best marketing books listed below is likely to change and improve the way you market. While there are many classic marketing books that could make a best-books list, the recommended reading list below focuses only on marketing books published within the last 5 years. Serious marketers should read the equivalent of 10 or more educational and industry books per year (2500 pages) to maintain and expand skills and knowledge. You may be surprised by the findings in BrightEdge Research's latest channel share report. One digital channel continues to grow and this data will help you make the case and prioritize your traffic efforts. Below are our suggestions for the must-read best marketing books this year.

Great marketing books for this year

1. Unleash Possible: A Marketing Playbook that Drives Sales by Samantha Stone

Like many marketing books, the subtitle well positions the books key thesis. Stone delivers the goods with a 15-chapter playbook that includes the frameworks, question lists, and templates that make you want to put the book down and try the tactics recommended. There are very few good books on product marketing that make the discipline more clear without burying you in too much theory or too many worksheets, but Stone does an excellent job detailing it. She has practical advice on how to move beyond profiles to personas and solid go-to-market planning. Download the SEO initiatives playbook. Another great section is on account based marketing, where she explains the unique role marketing plays in defining and running a significantly different program. She brings her extensive approach and skill as a consultant and experienced marketer to the challenges of a Marketing Playbook that Drives Sales. 

2. This Is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See By Seth Godin, 2018

The latest from one of the great thought leaders in Marketing. Marketers make change by creating tension which leads to new choices. That is the central premise of the book. Godin points out that marketers' job is to pick a story and repeat it and stick with long after we marketers become tired of it. He reminds us that over-reliance on ad spending is for lazy marketers. Download the content funnel mapping checklist. He disembowels marketers who cut price and race to the bottom as the laziest. "Low price is the last refuge of a marketer who has run out of generous ideas." Or maybe never had any to begin with.

3. Hacking Growth: How Today's Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success By Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown, 2017

Most marketing books are old wine in clever new bottles, but about once or twice a year I come across marketing books that are completely new wine. Hacking Growth is that wine, er, book and my top pick for 2019. Ellis named and started the growth hacker movement in 2010 after his successes at Dropbox and Logmein. The book is a how-to guide on running a growth program in your company. If you are in digital marketing and not evolving toward growth and away from channels and marketing activity, you are in danger of being left behind. Download the martech stack checklist. Epic, breakout book. Highly recommended.

4. Play Bigger: Create New Categories and Dominate Markets By Maney et al, 2016

Serious marketing executives need to be familiar with this book. In it the authors describe the process of category creation and how to become a category king. They cover how to discover a category, the power of a point of view, creating a flywheel, continuous category creation and how to overcome the innovator's dilemma, and finish with category definition and creation for your career. Download the site readiness checklist. Though marketing plays a big role, category creation has to be embraced by the whole company from the CEO down to have a chance.

5. Data-Driven Marketing with Artificial Intelligence: Harness the Power of Predictive Marketing and Machine Learning by Magnus Unemyr, 2018

The author says he was looking for marketing books that introduced and explained the martech companies and products that are using AI to help us do our jobs, and he could not find one, so he wrote this one. He identified the top two dozen products and interviewed each company to populate the first section of the book. He groups the products into the following sections: Competitive Intelligence, Predictive Pricing, Ads Strategy, E-commerce, Content Marketing, Lead and Customer Acquisition, Customer Relationships, Segmentation, and Customer Journey. That makes it a very helpful roadmap to evaluating and adopting AI solutions.

6. Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller, 2017

Storytelling is the focus of so many marketing books and assets in recent years that it is impossible to ignore; it's like a tidal wave washing over drab beaches cluttered with pale, self-promoting, feature-based marketing. Miller takes a topic that seems kind of obvious and adds his proven 7-step StoryBrand framework. He analyzes the structure of good story: character, problem, meets a guide, gets a plan, drives to action, avoids failure, and ends with a success. Where Miller exceeds Duarte is that he directly applies the storytelling structure to business cases that resonate with marketers like me and you. Download a free site style guide checklist to help you communicate your message to more customers.

7. Marketing: A Love Story, How to Matter to Your Customers by Bernadette Jiwa, 2014

Don't be deterred by the "love" in the title; instead focus on the ultra-compelling subtitle "How to Matter to Your Customers." Mattering to your customer requires emotional connection. These types of marketing books will apply for entrepreneurs, B2B, and B2C marketers. If you have been unsure about how to introduce emotion into your sales or marketing communication, this book will give you more insight, ideas, and inspiration than any other book out there. She claims you don't sell a product, you sell a story and doing so requires both facts and feelings. Download a Content Funnel Mapping Checklist to help you deliver your message to your prospects and customers.

8. The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly by David Scott, 2017

The rules of digital marketing are constantly changing. Using case studies and real-life examples, Scott explores the latest best practices that lead to marketing success.

The book is a good introduction to the role of social media marketing and PR. The first part is an argument why organizations, especially smaller businesses and nonprofits, should emphasize social media and how the efficient use of social media depends on a different way of thinking compared to traditional media.

He covers the implications for web site content as well. See how to maximize the SEO value of press releases with this checklist.

9. Don't Make Me Think Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability By Steve Krug, 2014

Krug published the first edition in 2000, and the book has been the bible of user experience since the early 2000s. Web sites are the primary interface between most businesses and their customers. So all the great marketing campaigns in the world won't work well unless the site is effective at handling the customers marketing brings to it. The title is the recurring theme of the book: customers should not have to figure out or interpret your site, it should just work the way they expect. Download a free site style guide checklist to help you communicate your message to more customers. The book is shortish at 191 pages and uses the principles he recommends. It is colorful, uses high-contrast layout, and is very skimmable with clear headlines and subheads. Every marketer with a web site needs to read this book periodically.

10. PRE-SUASION: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini, 2016

Cialdini wrote the seminal work on Influence in 1984; Pre-Suasion is the long-awaited sequel, and it delivers. Both books belong on a marketer's bookshelf because marketers work to influence people to take particular actions. In Pre-Suasion Cialdini goes deeper into the subtleties of persuasion, covering privileged moments, attention and importance, focus and causality, identity, place, crowds, and shared action. The book seemed particularly insightful and relevant after watching the momentous 2016 US presidential election. Watch a webinar on persuading your organization to support SEO. These insights help a marketer in two primary areas: 1) persuading internal colleagues and executives to support the marketing plan and its initiatives, 2) persuading the consumers to take appropriate action. A compelling read.

11. Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Digital Distraction by Derek Thomson, 2017

Thomson set out to study what makes things break big. This is an important topic for marketers whose main goal is to make their products known and loved by as many people in their target market as possible. He covers many media over the last 2 centuries, including Impressionist art, winning political speech and speakers, movies, music, fashion, books, Etsy hit products, and mobile apps. In the end he concludes there are no hard and fast rules on what makes things pop, but there are some reliable patterns: 1) simplicity, 2) familiarity, 3) frequency, 4) influential supporters, 5) close-knit supportive groups, 6) rhyming and catchy copy, 7) logical balance and intriguing inversion in messaging, 8) cross-channel support, 9) gradual innovation, and 10) ad hoc random influences. Thomson is a good, young writer and fine storyteller, and he has put together a useful treatise on a nebulous topic.

12. Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley, 2014

Marketing is driven by content, so our next pick on the list of the best marketing books is about content creation. To create really good content, you need the writing skills to make your ideas come alive in an engaging way.

This book has dozens of useful insights for how to produce really good writing content. Highly recommended for all the marketers who write or edit content.

Read the free ebook on content marketing success.

13. The Ten Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences by Matt Watkinson, 2013

Watkinson is a designer and consultant who helps businesses get their customer experience right, and he brings a product and service design perspective to customer experience.

Great customer experiences are effortless -- for the customer. He outlines 3 areas to address: 1) Time on task, 2) Convenience, 3) Simplicity. Companies often lose track of this principle as they evolve and update their products and services. Download a checklist of site usability and readiness.

The book is an excellent read on design and customer delight which leads to better customer retention with many practical tips and takeaways.

14. Non-Obvious: How to Predict Trends and Win the Future By Rohit Bhargava, 2018

Bhargava focuses on the landscape in which we work, spots trends, and explains how marketers can tap into and take advantage of them. He also explains how to curate information and spot trends for those who are interested. Bhargava republishes the book each year as he understands that trends are fast moving and he wants to keep a current perspective. His trends include: Enlightened Consumption, Overtargeting, Brand Stand, Backstorytelling, Manipulated Outrage, Lightspeed Learning, Virtual Empathy, Human Mode, Data Pollution, and Predictive Protection among others. See how I tried to do some LightSpeed Learning by benchmarking your digital marketing skills with the 4-minute BrightEdge digital marketing quiz.

15. Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong By Eric Barker

This is one of the more general marketing books that marketers will find interesting. Barker reviews some well-trodden success paths and digs further and adds nuances that are fresh and interesting. He cites research that is less well known than what is usually cited in business success books. Here are some of the most interesting takeaways: Drinkers make 10% more money than non-drinkers and smokers make 7% less because drinking is social but smoking is usually private. Speaking early and often in groups causes other people to see you as a leader. Employee networks are valuable to companies; contacts are worth an average of $948 each. Wearing glasses does make people think you are smarter. Read the book to learn how all these data points fit together to make a person successful.

16. Digital Marketing for Dummies By Ryan Deiss and Russ Hennesberry, 2017

Digital Marketing for Dummies is published by Wiley. This book is an excellent reference, and it includes many practical, specific, and current details, insights, and advice. Learn more about the channels and the digital marketing technology in the free Martech Stack Checklist. It’s a very readable 300 pages and covers the customer journey, marketing planning, landing pages, blogging, SEO, SEM, social, display, email, and data and analytics. I like the focus on landing pages, which often get lost in the shuffle of channel and media planning as a high-leverage link in the funnel chain. They also reiterate the importance of the offer and revisiting and tuning the offer regularly. They provide 57 blog category ideas, including List, How-To, Research, Stat Roundup, People to Follow, Parody, Issue, Comparison, What-If, Challenge, and Products Tips to name just 11.

17. Blue Ocean Shift by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, updated in 2017

Blue Ocean has become a fairly well-known term for creating new markets and not just fighting over the same fixed pie in your current market. A blue ocean strategy focuses on how to create new value for customers. Blue Ocean thinking requires managers to innovate how they plan, develop, and deploy value for their customers. Blue Ocean recommends against over-focusing on your competition for risk that doing so can make you more like them and less differentiated in consumers' minds. On the topic on creating new markets, I much prefer Play Bigger, listed above, over Blue Ocean Shift.

Read a list of recommended SEO books and top B2B marketing books in these posts. Also see our list of best digital marketing books.

Most of the titles on this best marketing books list are well worth the money and time and will help set you up for a productive year. After all that knowledge acquisition, learn more about enterprise SEO platforms.

In doing my research for this post, I found fewer digital marketing books than I expected on each of the topics I wanted to cover. I guess in the digital era, these topics are more often being covered in posts and ebooks. However, if you are reading this post then you, like me, prefer good old books over digital marketing books for self-education.

I decided to find and recommend digital marketing books for each digital channel: SEO, Paid Search, Email, Display, Social, Blog, and Webinar. But before I dive in on the digital marketing books, let me share an excellent resource.

You won't believe the findings in our latest channel share report. One digital channel continues to grow and this data will help you make the case and prioritize your traffic efforts. Also see our list of best marketing books and learn about what features deliver the best seo platform for your SEO success.

 

1. Digital Marketing for Dummies

By Ryan Deiss and Russ Hennesberry, 2017

4.6 rating on Amazon, #53 in web marketing

So my #1 recommendation is Digital Marketing for Dummies published by Wiley, a BrightEdge customer. It’s a very readable 300 pages and covers the customer journey, marketing planning, landing pages, blogging, SEO, SEM, social, paid display, email, and data and analytics. Get a checklist of the marketing stack of technology categories.

I like the focus on landing pages, which often get lost in the shuffle of channel and media planning as a high-leverage link in the funnel chain. They also reiterate the importance of the offer and revisiting and tuning the offer regularly.

They provide 57 blog category ideas, including List, How-To, Research, Stat Roundup, People to Follow, Parody, Issue, Comparison, What-If, Challenge, and Products Tips to name just 11. On email, the recommend writing to answer the four questions: Why now? Who cares? Why they should care? Can you prove it? They introduce data.studio.google.com for visual reporting.

Lastly, traditional publishers like Wiley add the editors and designers to the writers to make a polished product that defines a classic reference book and provides the value most people seek from an educational business book. Highly recommended. 

Overall, it is one of the extremely useful and valuable digital marketing books. Find out how to integrate SEO into the other marketing channels.

 

2. For recommended SEO books, see my Best SEO Books post.

Learn more about VSO or Vertical Search Optimization.

 

3. Don't Make Me Think Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

By Steve Krug

4.6 rating on Amazon, #1 in User Experience and Usability

Krug published the first edition in 2000 and the book has been the bible of user experience since the early 2000s. Web sites are the primary interface between most businesses and their customers. So all the great marketing campaigns in the world won't work well unless the site is effective at handling the customers marketing brings to it.

Download a free site style guide checklist to help you communicate your message to more customers.

The title is the recurring theme of the book: customers should not have to figure out or interpret your site, it should just work the way they expect. He adds his web facts of life to guide us: #1 We don't read pages. We scan them. #2 We don't make optimal choices. We satisfice them. #3 We don't figure out how things work. We muddle through. For the most part, be conventional and don't try to reinvent the wheel each update or release.

The book is shortish at 191 pages and uses the principles he recommends. It is colorful, uses high-contrast layout, and is very skimmable with clear headlines and subheads. Every marketer with a web site needs to read digital marketing books like this periodically.

 

4. Google AdWords for Beginners: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to PPC Advertising

By Cory Rabazinsky, 2015

4.4 rating on Amazon, #1053 in advertising

This is a self-published work and a slender 59 pages for $9.99 in physical book form, which makes sense for a single digital topic. This is a good primer for people new to Google AdWords which will give you enough to get started and optimize your campaigns to a reasonable degree.

The book reads like an intro to a PPC training class as he goes through his 8-step process for setting up, bidding, and operating an AdWords account covering the following topics:

1. Account and Campaign Structure
2. Location, Location, Location
3. Bidding and Budgeting
4. Ad Extensions
5. Writing Ads
6. Keyword and Match Types
7. Research
8. Optimizing and Testing

The book could benefit from 3 additional elements: 1) context of PPC in the marketing mix, 2) examples of successful campaigns, and 3) a summary section on tips and tricks and pitfalls to avoid. Overall, it is good place to start, informative, and a quick read. Try our Digital Marketing Quiz.

 

5. Introduction to Programmatic Advertising

By Dominik Kosorin, 2016

5.0 rating on Amazon, #192 in Advertising

This is an upper-intermediate to advanced book that provides breadth and depth on the topic of programmatic display buying. As a career performance digital marketer, I have always had a problem with the nuances of programmatic buying because it was so close to the direct response method we employed all along. In brief, programmatic buying uses segmentation, tracking, behavior, and contextual bidding to mine general bulk ad inventory for targeted inventory results at a more efficient price.

Learn more about display retargeting.

Kosorin provides a thorough explanation of tracking cookies and pixels and the differences between first-party and third-party tracking. He explains contextual, semantic, behavioral, and look-alike retargeting. He covers programmatic TV, programmatic native, and programmatic video and audio ads as well. He also defines how mobile programmatic is different from desktop, using app info, cross-device identification, and location-based marketing.

The key acronyms in the space are: DSP – demand side platform, SSP – supply side platform, and DMP – data management platform. In brief the DSP is a purchase desk, the SSP is a selling desk, and DMP is the data and logic needed to make good buys. DMP is basically data alchemy that identifies the gold in the ore and informs how to and how much to bid. What is truly new in Programmatic Advertising is RTB or real-time bidding where automated formulas can find a particular targeted user, offer 1 unit of inventory and proffer it to an exchange and find the highest bidder and serve the ad, all within a few seconds.

Kosorin’s book reads like a work from a deep subject matter expert. I recommend digital marketing books like this for people with a few years’ experience in the advertising industry.

 

6. Blogging: A Practical Guide to Plan Your Blog: Start Your Profitable Home-Based Business with a Successful Blog

By Jo and Dale Reardon, 2015

4.3 rating on Amazon, #1 in Kindle store for Computers and Technology

This digital marketing books overview is excellent and provides good step-by-step advice for setting up and running your blog. The book is digital only and free. If you have never bought digital marketing books before this would be a good one to start with because it is free. You do not need a Kindle or dedicated reader, you can read it on your laptop or smartphone. Usually the free and $0.99 books are too thin and used as lead gen to upsell bigger digital marketing books or training courses, but that is not the case with this one. See the blog checklist.

The very practical 10-step model is:

1. Define Your Goals
2. Choose Your Site Name
3. Manage Your Technology
4. Define Your Target Audience
5. Identify Your Keyword Phrases
6. Define Your Blog Categories
7. Create Your Content Strategy
8. Create Your Blog Publishing Schedule
9. Decide What Type of Content to Publish
10. Decide Who Will Do What

The authors provide an excellent review of and links to free tools you can use to apply their advice. So it really delivers on its title and I highly recommend it.

Blogs make sense for all kinds of websites because they create a section for deep authoritative content useful for new visitors and those moving down the funnel. Recent research shows that pages ranking in position 1 and 2 in Search are averaging more than 1500 words, and a blog is one of the few places on the site that can handle the volume.

A few blog tips I will add for corporate marketers and SEOs:

1. Target demand before you start writing
2. Write at least 1000 words
3. Use keyword-rich titles and H1s, and H2s
4. Use 3 images per post with image alt tags
5. Interlink your blogs and pages
6. Link from the blog to content that causes leads or transactions
7. Update your blogs and refresh the publish date.

 

7. Email Persuasion: Captivate and Engage Your Audience, Build Authority and Generate More Sales With Email Marketing

By Ian Brodie, 2013

4.7 rating on Amazon, #353 in Direct

Email is one of the most mature digital channels, so I would have expected a wide selection of digital marketing books on the topic. There were only 9 physical books and 5 digital marketing books on the topic on Amazon. I reviewed 3 of them and recommend this one.

Read more on marketing automation.

Email Persuasion covers the basics and intermediate-level email strategies, including:

1. The Customer Insight Mapping technique for building deep understanding of what your clients need and what will motivate them to buy from you.
2. 6 surefire subject line models that will get your emails opened and read.
3. The "opt-in formula" for getting the right people to subscribe to your emails (and how to accelerate the growth of your subscriber list).
4. How to engage AND persuade with your emails so that you build a loyal "fan base" ready to buy from you.
5. The advanced techniques for turning email subscribers into paying clients (and why accepted wisdom on selling in emails is almost all wrong).

I particularly like chapter 4, Talk to Me: Writing Emails that Engage and Persuade, which explains the key to voice and effective messaging.

“What we’re aiming to do is get our subscribers used to taking action whenever we send them an email. If subscribers see themselves as action takers when they receive your emails because they’ve taken small actions before, then when they are considering a bigger action like calling you to discuss working together or buying one of your products, they’re much more likely to do it. We’re also building our relationship with them by interacting personally.”

Solid advice, right?

 

8. Social Media Marketing All-In-One for Dummies

By Jan Zimmerman and Deborah Ng, 2017

4.2 rating on Amazon, #60 in web marketing

Social is one the newer channels and it has become complex with both organic and paid elements. Social is defined by user-generated content and dialogue verses the traditional push marketing of offline and digital. Companies need to embrace these two elements to make social successful.

Wiley’s comprehensive 677-page anthology of social, called Social for Dummies says it is 9 digital marketing books in one. It covers content marketing and Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Snapchat, Instagram, and LinkedIn platforms in detail. They also touch on the tier-2 platforms: Spotify, Tumblr, Vimeo, Periscope.

Chapter 5 covers paid advertising on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. The last 100 pages or so is dedicated to social media tracking and analytics.

The book has graphic labels down the margins of every page for Tips, Warnings, and Remember. Every chapter section includes summary bullet lists. Like Digital Marketing for Dummies, this book shows the extra care a traditional publisher makes to transform text into a text book. This is recommended for full-time social media marketers.

Read a Twitter case study white paper.

 

9. The Webinar Way: The Single Most Effective Way to Promote Your Services, Drive Leads & Sell a Ton of Product

By Sherri Rose, 2012

4.9 rating on Amazon, #626 in web marketing

You can tell from the title that the authors are major evangelists for the webinar channel. The book is structured on their alliterative 7 pillars: Perspective, Plan, Promote, Present, Power Position, Pitch, and Partner. These make a good webinar framework, especially the Pitch or offer point.

Learn the surefire method for successful webinars in this checklist.

After doing more than 30 webinars for BrightEdge, my top tips are:

1. Use webinar for mid-funnel new and to engage existing customers
2. Scrub your list for accuracy and to improve deliverability
3. Integrate your registration with your CRM and your CRM with your email system
4. Invite your list 3 times to the event
5. Make sure your salespeople invite their warm prospects to the event
6. Ask questions and use polls, ask them if they would like follow up from you
7. Make a very clear call to action before the 30 minute mark of the event
8. Make sure your salespeople follow up with both attendees and non-attendees

After reviewing all these digital marketing books, I again recommend Wiley’s Digital Marketing for Dummies for all beginners and early intermediate practitioners and any of the other digital marketing books on the list for intermediate to advanced marketers.

Although there are numerous blogs and websites dedicated to SEO, sometimes the best way to learn in depth is by finding expertly-written SEO books that can explain the intricacies of SEO strategy and tactics.

These are interesting times for books. Books now come in hardcover, paperback, Kindle, Kindle Unlimited (free with subscription), PDF, and audio formats. After experiencing consistent growth, ebook sales were actually down about 20% 3 years ago, while analog books were up 7%. Analog books are back, especially with young children. Sales of e-readers declined steeply by more than 40% between as more people use smartphones to read ebooks, according to consumer research group Euromonitor International.

However you want to read them, here are the best SEO books that we have found for marketers from beginners to experts looking to improve their SEO techniques and results. Learn how to organize and operate an SEO team in SEO Management. Discover a succinct 4-step SEO methodology in How to Maximize SEO ROI. Check out our blog on 10 Steps to Becoming an SEO Expert. And learn about what features deliver the best seo platform for your SEO success.

Best SEO Books 2019

SEO for Dummies, 6th Edition

By Peter Kent 5.0 stars on Amazon $15.99, 2016 If you are serious about learning a subject, then you should probably have a text book in your lineup. Text books cover a subject with breadth and provide an index and a reference. The downside of text books is that they are a little bit difficult to read cover to cover. Text books tend to take a tactical approach to the topic instead of an abstract or strategic one. SEO for Dummies is a solid SEO book that provides detailed and code-level recommendations for nealy all of the topics relevant in SEO. Kent goes from the industry to the site to the page to the code. Kent has a coders perspective on most of the topics, which is helpful when SEOs need to generate understanding and support with their organizations. The book is a little out of date now and references some sites and resources that no longer exist. Aside from that it is a useful book for an intermediate SEO marketer. Wiley has another Dummies book on the topic called Search Engine Optimization for Dummies by Bruce Clay. The book is a thick 737 pages and covers a lot of ground. Clay is a regular speaking presence at the SEO conferences and offers in-person trainings there. This SEO book was published in 2016 so parts of it are out of date now.

SEO No BS Strategy

By Casey Henry, 2018 This is a self-published work from Casey Henry someone who does not normally publish in the space. The book is very good for people new to SEO and launching or working on smaller sites. The writing style is like a blog or social media, which is likely a good fit for many readers. Henry has a lot of practical tips and he does a nice job of covering free and cheaper point solution tools. This SEO book is organized the way most of us would approach it: discover keywords, write content, optimize content, do social and get links. Some useful tips for discovery are to type a term in the search bar and note everything that pops up as autocomplete recommendations and to look at the related terms listed at the bottom of the page. On the content creation front, he strongly recommends outsourcing the writing and mentions Upwork a few teams. This is  an excellent approach for small teams and also because it can get overwhelming to write, edit, and do the on-page SEO by yourself. On photos, he recommends taking original photos and making graphics to appeal to Google’s stated interest in fresh, original content and help with rank generally and in Google Images. He has a section on video and YouTube and he points out that no matter how attractive an opportunity video is there will always be less competition because video is significantly more trouble to produce than text. One knock I have on the book is that Henry asserts a lot of recommendations but does not cite any internal or external experiments where it was proven to help lift rank and traffic. Still a good read for beginners. See the latest channel share research, you will be surprised to learn that SEO has grown its share of trackable traffic.

Definitive Guide to Selling on Amazon

By Tracey Wallace, et al 5.0 stars on Amazon $7.03 This newer SEO book on selling on Amazon came out in early 2017. They report that just over half of Amazon's sales are through their 3rd party merchants, making them the overwhelming marketplace leader. As of early 2017, Amazon accounted for 43% of all US online sales with Fortune predicting it will be 51% by 2021. Succeeding in a marketplace requires an understanding of: 1. Marketplace knowledge, 2. Competition and price, 3. Sales volume, 4. Fees, 5. Control The good news is that the marketplace is open to merchants of all sizes, and those that have a solid SEO strategy can see sizable improvement in SERP appearance and results. In chapter 10, How to Master Amazon SEO and Move Your Products up the Search Rankings in 2018, they cover Amazon SEO and how to appeal to the Amazon A9 search engine. It is similar to Google's search algorithm, but less mature than our RankBrainy friend. They explain the ins and outs of titles, reviews, pictures, descriptions, and meta-data. They also introduce some helpful free tools to help get the work done. It's great for SEO to contribute outside of its traditional realm and makes SEOs who master those adjacencies more valuable. It is self-published on Amazon and very good value at $7 bucks. Check it out. See the latest channel share research, you will be surprised to learn that SEO has grown its share of trackable traffic.

SEO for Growth: The Ultimate Guide for Marketers, Web Designers & Entrepreneurs

By John Jantsch and Phil Singleton 4.8 stars on Amazon #5 in SEO on Amazon $14.95, 2o16

As the title suggests, this SEO book is written for the 3 major stakeholders of the website besides the SEO: the marketers, the designers, and the executives, and all can benefit when the interests of the thee groups are aligned. While the title highlights SEO, this book is also about developing a well-rounded marketing strategy as it is about getting better Google rankings for your website. The authors describe how websites have evolved from digital brochures to marketing platforms, but also how a lot of the web design industry still treats web design as a creative and development exercise; SEO and lead generation often aren’t included in the process. This book is great for business owners, it gives them a look under the hood without getting too technical, and it will show them how to get more out of their team's effort for the website. Written in an easy and approachable style, this comprehensive guide on SEO allows any of the 3 personas it addresses to take a valuable journey through industry facts and resources to come to the conclusion that they must take action on SEO. SEO lead generation is a long-term strategy that requires up-front work but pays off with sustainable gains. According to the authors, from this book, you’ll learn how to: Create and re-purpose content and plan an editorial calendar, use different social media channels to generate engagement with your content, build and manage your online reputation, plus handle negative reviews, do quality link building without resorting to the shady practices Google now penalizes, conduct keyword research to optimize your website and all of your content, use pay-per-click advertising in the most cost-efficient way to get the biggest bang for your buck, and build a revenue-generating website that will help power your company’s growth for years to come. Will vertical search engines overtake native search engines? The answer may surprise you. This is an excellent new book in the space. The book is best for beginners and people outside the field or SEOs with less than a year experience. See the latest channel share research, you will be surprised to learn that SEO has grown its share of trackable traffic.

SEO Like I'm 5: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Search Engine Optimization

By Matthew Capala 4.5 stars on Amazon #13 in SEO books on Amazon $26.95, 2015

Matthew Capala has been working in digital marketing for over a decade, including having experience with big-name brands such as Apple, Smirnoff, and Prudential. He teaches at NYU while helping businesses of all sizes understand how the internet can be used for tremendous growth. In addition to the catchy and appealing title, there are a number of interesting aspects to this book: 1) It is self-published, which is rather unique in the world of technical education books, and hoorah for that 2) It is very colorful as a 5-year-old would like it 3) As a self-published SEO book, it has a manuscript feel and layout, which is both endearing and annoying 4) It is on the expensive side for a 233-page book at $26.95 This book has been written for beginners and it remains true to that purpose. It focuses on providing high-quality, actionable information for those new to the world of SEO, who might not be familiar with the latest marketing terms. He organizes the book into what he calls the 5 Cs of SEO: Content, Code, Credibility, Connections, and Cash, which makes a good structure. True to his teacher roots, Capala details dozens of websites and resources to help readers do SEO. In addition to the colorful screen shots and cartoon images, Capala uses extensive analogies to make his points, but they become a jumble: "You can compare each of the Cs to a well-organized football team;" "Content marketing is similar to baking a cake for a party;" "The Wild West Era of SEO;" "Golden Nugget Keywords;" Internet information is "passed through the grapevine." The self-published layout and non-standardized graphics are distracting and make it hard to skim and re-read the book. I think Capala should spend the money to hire a designer and get professional layout and typesetting support, especially at this price point. But, the content is thorough and useful for a beginner that likes a lot of storytelling and playfulness in their SEO. This SEO book is also best for beginners and people outside the field or SEOs with less than a year experience. Download our free Search Engine Optimization 101 beginners' video.

SEO: Learn search engine optimization with smart internet marketing strategies

By Adam Clarke 4.5 stars on Amazon #1 in SEO books on Amazon $9.99, 2018

Adam Clarke has spent the past decade consulting with various brands and building websites that he claims regularly reach the number one slot on Google. This SEO book comes recommended both from those new to SEO and from more experienced marketers looking to learn more about some of Google’s latest algorithm updates. Clarke breaks down clear strategies for optimizing content without triggering penalties. He uses easily scaleable techniques for businesses of all sizes and explains sophisticated SEO topics without resorting to industry jargon. Important topics include web analytics, keyword research, and link building. And find out how to optimize press releases for best SEO results.  This is an excellent value at $9.99 for the paperback. How is your SEO? Test your SEO skills in minutes with the SEO Traveler and SEO Explorer quizzes.

SEO Fitness Workbook: The Seven Steps to Search Engine Optimization Success on Google

By Jason McDonald 4.8 stars on Amazon #13 in SEO books on Amazon $27.28, 2018

McDonald first became involved with online media back in 1994 and is widely considered an industry leader. He also teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area. This book goes beyond just teaching theories and ideas; it offers readers a host of tools to ensure that they internalize the information. It comes with worksheets and access to online SEO tools to help people put the information they learn through the text to good use. This SEO book helps marketers get into the mindset of SEO so they can seamlessly adapt to future industry changes and remain optimized. The book is intended for marketing professionals, designers, small business owners, and anyone else who wants to learn and understand the latest in SEO strategy. Not only do you learn about keywords, links, and metrics you also receive worksheets and tips to put that knowledge to use for your business. Learn a great formula for SEO management. See the latest channel share research, you will be surprised to learn that SEO has grown its share of trackable traffic.

The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization

By Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer and Jessie Stricchiola 4.5 stars on Amazon #19 in SEO books on Amazon $39.99, 2015

Each of the authors is highly respected within the field of marketing and especially SEO, having established marketing companies and popular industry blogs. This SEO book provides readers with a comprehensive overview of enterpirse SEO, putting the complicated theories and techniques that guide some of the foremost experts on the subject into easy-to-understand language. The advice and information is accompanied by numerous screenshots and examples to help people fully grasp the topics being discussed. The book presents a plan for success that companies can implement in their own strategies to reap the benefits of modern digital marketing. The authors take readers from the earliest stages of defining their audience to anticipating the SEO of the future. Are you ready for the voice search tidal wave? Find out. This SEO book is for the intermediate to advanced SEO and people with a few years experience in the field. See the latest channel share research, you will be surprised to learn that SEO has grown its share of trackable traffic. And don't miss our list of best marketing books and best B2B marketing books!

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These books describe a new approach to understanding, connecting and motivating your buyer. Big, spendy, inefficient budgets are out and creating smart content is in. Maybe this is a by-product of the great recession of 2021; people started to look very closely at what they could get for a million bucks or a hundred thousand bucks. Executives started to press Marketers and SEOs to look at how to get more juice for the squeeze since the search changes from COVID-19.

The focus on earned media exploded. You won't believe the earned media findings in our latest channel share report. One digital channel continues to grow and this data will help you make the case and prioritize your traffic efforts.

1. Unleash Possible: A Marketing Playbook that Drives Sales

by Samantha Stone

Stone delivers the goods with a 15-chapter playbook that includes the frameworks, question lists, and templates that make you want to put the book down and try the tactics recommended.

There are very few good B2B marketing books on product marketing that make the discipline more clear without burying you in too much theory or too many worksheets, but Stone does an excellent job detailing it. She has practical advice on how to move beyond profiles to personas and solid go-to-market planning.

Download the SEO initiatives playbook.

Another great section is on account based marketing, where she explains the unique role marketing plays in defining and running a significantly different program.

She brings her extensive approach and skill as a consultant and experienced marketer to the challenges of a Marketing Playbook that Drives Sales.

Highly recommended B2B read as we head into 2020.

2. The Challenger Customer: Selling to the Hidden Influencer Who Can Multiply Your Results

By Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon, Pat Spenner, Nick Toman, 2015

4.6 rating on Amazon  |  #16,817 on Amazon

The name on this one is a bit deceptive. This book is the sequel to the immensely popular and interesting Challenger Sale. The Challenger Sale used research to show that the most successful sales people are the ones who sell with knowledge and value add with education. In the Challenger Customer, the authors go deep into the mind and the context of the buyer commission to prove how vital information and education are to helping them make the case for your product.

A key statistic they share is that purchase intent drops directly with the number of people involved in the decision, from 81% with 1 person to 45% with 5.4 people. The odds are against the solution seller because solutions are usually bought by groups not individuals.

By now everyone in B2B marketing and sales is familiar with the concept of securing a champion on the customer side to help shepherd the order over the line. The challenger authors determined that there are an average of 5.4 people involved in each deal in a B2B sale. Therefore, it is not just a single champion you need, but a challenger champion who can effectively persuade the other 4.4 people to buy your solution.

Chapter 10 is my favorite as it details the impact of this approach on demand generation. In short, their advice is to shift from qualifying leads generally, like in a BANT (budget, authority, need, timing) model, to qualify leads according to your unique differentiators and criteria. Don't generate demand; mobilize the right demand. Create content paths that confront and connect to your differentiators. Adjust lead scoring criteria to reflect confrontation and connection. Nurture leads explicitly for commercial insight.

You can tell from the words in this quick summary that the concepts are fresh, original, and insightful. That is why The Challenger Customer is a terrific marketing and sales book.

3. The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation

By Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon, 2011

4.4 rating on Amazon  |  #2892 on Amazon

If my #1 on the list is Challenger Customer, then Challenger Sale has to be close by on the list as well. In just 8 years, Challenger Sale thinking and lexicon are already deeply ingrained in B2B technology selling. First off, no one aspires to sell software but instead to sell solutions. No one aims to be a supplier but instead a solutions provider. No one wants to be vendor but now everyone wants to be a trusted adviser. 

Based on an extensive study of thousands of sales reps across multiple industries and geographies, The Challenger Sale argues that classic relationship building is a losing approach, especially when it comes to selling complex, large-scale business-to-business solutions. The relationship-building rep often loses control of a deal when their relationship-oriented contact fails to persuade colleagues to support the purchase.

Instead of bludgeoning customers with endless facts and features about their company and products, Challengers approach customers with unique insights about how they can save or make money. They tailor their sales message to the customer's specific needs and objectives.

Rather than acquiescing to the customer's every demand or objection, the framework recommends challengers be assertive, pushing back when necessary and taking control of the sale. As a buyer, I am not sure how effective it is for people selling in a new solution to try to overtake control of the sales process. I usually do not let that happen.

The things that make Challengers unique are replicable and teachable to most sales reps. Once you understand how to identify the Challengers, you can model their approach and embed it throughout your sales force. People who understand the Challenger model and make it work then take the appropriate step of screening for the behaviors and traits as they hire to increase the proportion of productive challengers on the team. Learn how to capture year-end B2B budget.

Both challenger B2B marketing books are put out by CEB (Corporate Executive Board), which surprisingly is a publicly-traded, huge, global consulting company with a $2B market cap. The Challenger Sale is a breakthrough work and an instant classic for B2B marketers who must partner closely with their B2B sales counterparts.

4. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It

By Chris Voss, 2016

4.8 rating on Amazon  |  #277 on Amazon

I resisted reading this book for the first 2 years because I thought it would be a maximally capitalist tome on how to dazzle your opponent and eat their lunch. Not that I don't want to do that sometimes, but somehow I did not want to see myself as someone who took the time to study how to do that. 

To my surprise the book and its methodology closely resemble the sales training I provide to new sales reps at BrightEdge. Former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss' strategy starts with open-ended questions, like "How do I even know you have the capacity to meet that schedule?" Next he recommends mirroring the other persons words and behaviors, which is a tactic my sales trainer explained to me 25 years ago when I was a new sales rep.

The next 2 tactics were very fresh, tactical empathy and label their pain. It actually shocks me how often empathy comes up in business literature in the last few years. Voss combines common sense listening and empathy with labeling the other person's issue, much like a political candidate tries to label an opponent before they have a chance to define themselves. Beware of Yes and master No are two more Voss originals. He goes on with chapters on getting them to say "That's right" and "Bend Their Reality" and "Bargain Hard."

So never split the difference does not mean that you grind away until the other person gives in, it means you operate at deeper and more sophisticated levels and grind away to win them over to your view. You can see why this book is one of the best B2B marketing books and is my top B2B book recommendation for 2018.

5. Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising

By Ryan Holiday, 2014

4.3 rating on Amazon  |  #7298 on Amazon

If you like short B2B marketing books and quick reads, this book is only 77 pages. Of the many hacker-themed books this one is the most marketing-focused. Author Ryan Holiday has an interesting background: he dropped out of college at 19 and rose to VP of Marketing at American Apparel, and when he learned about growth hacker marketing, he resigned and became a promotional consultant. 

Growth hacking is one of those terms that started to make me nervous after it broke in 2012 in Andrew Chen's post. I kept hearing it and I started to worry that it was either going to be a game-changing concept that would select the next wave of top marketing managers and the has-beens or it would fade. It was and is prominent in the start-up and software industry that employees me.

Holiday defines a growth hacker marketer as someone who throws out the traditional marketing playbook that includes big launches, large media budgets, and uncertain connectivity to results for "only what is testable, trackable, and scalable. ... growth hackers relentlessly pursue users and growth." Unlike some trendy concepts, this definition is a reasonable evolution of Internet marketing 1.0. Like Lean Startup it biases for minimum viable product and extensive testing to prove yield before additional investment.

The book begins with the line: "You know what the single worst marketing decision you can make is? Starting with a product nobody wants and nobody needs?" For us marketers, that could be right up there with "Call me Ishmael." If you have ever had to twist yourself and your team into a pretzel to spin a product or service, then you have been in this position. The solution for this condition is to develop product-market fit, which means that you adapt your product to match it to your market instead of the other way around. Lack of fit leads to over-investing in communication to muscle the market's interest in your product.

Check out this great free deck with inspiring growth hacker quotes.

Out of all these B2B marketing books, this one is both simple and revolutionary.  I think you will also.

6. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

By Simon Sinek, 2009

4.5 rating on Amazon  |  #433 on Amazon

My marketing team was working on an asset recently and our head of product marketing reorganized the message to start with why and use the customer voice as the lead and end with the what and how. Why is a stronger opener and a better hook. Why gets us to focus on the source of benefits and not features. 

Sinek starts his work with a fundamental question: Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?

How does a company create strong kinship with customers? The book explains the Golden Circle concept, which shows how to inspire with why instead of trying to manipulate customers or employees to act. Sinek explains that trust is built naturally when you target customers that understand and believe in your why.

Sinek argues that when you start with why you get to the heart of what motivates you - why you do what you do as a company - and that purposefulness attracts people and loyalty to your company and products. When marketing, sales, and customer reps understand why they sound authentic, it wins people over.

B2B marketing books are not all full of specific best practices or how-tos, but in this one, the big idea is worth the price of admission for everyone in the communication business. Starting with why is the cure for starting with a wordy description of what you sell and what it does.

You can listen to Sinek explain start with why in his TED talk, which has been viewed more than 29 million times on the Ted Talks site alone.

7. Driving Demand: Transforming B2B Marketing to Meet the Needs of the Modern Buyer

By Carlos Hidalgo, 2016

5.0 rating on Amazon  |  #200,616 on Amazon

B2B marketers may know that there are very few good B2B marketing books on systems. Carlos Hidalgo provides a clear roadmap and framework on how B2B organizations can implement change management and transform their demand generation from traditional outbound systems to efficient outbound/inbound systems. Hidalgo includes case studies and excerpts from B2B marketing practitioners and clients who have transformed their organizations, and how they accomplished this change are incorporated throughout the book.

Driving Demand gives Marketing and Sales an understanding of why they are not achieving the results they want and how to remedy it. Hidalgo explains why change management is a necessary part of marketing organizations today and how top-performing organizations focus on the buyer when developing a demand generation strategy. Driving Demand gives a unique perspective on why it's time to transform B2B marketing and specifically how to do it.

It includes a mix of inbound and outbound marketing demand generation and shows how B2B marketing is really the marriage of marketing programs coupled with a structured sales process. 

B2B marketing books like this are excellent and provide pragmatic advice as to how to transform the B2B marketing function to match the way customers go about buying these days. The author's extensive experience is shared in a way that is actionable for many Marketing and Sales leaders, yet also points out attempts that did not work - and why it failed.

A lot of the examples include advice as to how to navigate the resistance to change that so many organizations suffer from, but after reading this book it should give the marketer who is willing to challenge the status quo the added confidence needed to press forward and take in the challenge.

8. The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue

By Robbie Kellman Baxter, 2015

4.8 rating on Amazon  |  #61,214 on Amazon

Digital has changed the consumption model for many categories from a preference for owning things to having fast, convenient access. Consider movies, music, photos, books, cars, bikes, enterprise software, and even physical fashion items, like purses and shoes.

The difference defines the approach of ownership companies verses membership companies. Membership companies are more likely to consider lifetime value, giving users more flexibility and control, adding continuous value, and building a relationship directly from the brand to the consumer. Those four differences are dramatic and require a completely different mindset from the companies that seek to provide them. In membership, customers are more aware of what the company does for them, identify more closely with it, and are more likely to discuss and recommend them. Think about how readily and happily Uber and AirBnB users switched the verb for getting a taxi and finding a hotel to Ubering and AriBnBing. Not only did they make the switch, but you could hardly stop them from talking about it.  That's identification marketing and membership.

Previously membership was about exclusivity and status with high barriers to entry, like a tennis club or think about American Express' slogan: "Membership has its privileges." Modern membership is about inclusivity and equality and has virtually no barriers to entry.

In a membership-driven organization, Marketing should "ensure that the offerings the organization creates meet the ongoing requirements of the target buyers and that those prospective buyers know about the benefits of the offering, sign up, and become loyal." The membership philosophy is an impactful basis for proper customer marketing. An intriguing and refreshing read.

Ironically, Baxter does not offer a link to a community to become a member in the community for the book, but you can see her consulting website and sign up for her newsletter.

9. From Impossible to Inevitable: How Hyper-Growth Companies Create Predictable Revenue

By Aaron Ross, 2016

4.3 rating on Amazon  |  #7,350 on Amazon

Ross wrote the immensely influential Predictable Revenue which, since its publication in 2011, has redefined the lead generation and prospecting models and roles for SaaS companies. The book is dense with advice and examples and took me weeks to get through. It includes strategy and specific tactics and advice. It feels like a series of one-on-ones with a talented and respected executive mentor.

Marketing, when properly integrated, is a key driver of revenue growth. He outlines 3 approaches, 1) Seeds, 2) Nets, 3) Spears. Seeds are happy customers and word of mouth. 2) Nets are one-to-many campaigns, like content and inbound marketing. Spears are targeted outbound campaigns. He goes into explicit detail on how to organize the inbound SDRs at various stages, which is an issue I have dealt with actively over the last few years at BrightEdge.

Ross states that marketing should be led by a demand generator and not a brander. He says that demand marketers can handle the "squishy" marketing stuff well enough but brand marketers cannot handle the demand generation effort.

He explains in detail how to plan and develop the sales and growth effort in SaaS companies in terms of picking the right size customers and going up-market and up-deal size at the right time. He adds a few chapters of realistic and achingly honest advice for start-ups and entrepreneurs.

The book includes many helpful lists and some simple and insightful diagrams. Overall it is an excellent and valuable resource, and I highly recommend it.

10. The Startup Pitch: A proven formula to win funding

By Chris Lipp, 2014

4.9 rating on Amazon  |  #7474 on Amazon in Entrepreneurship

I include this on the list of B2B marketing books because it has a significant internal persuasion-for-funding component. Entrepreneurs have to make their pitches clear and concise, and this knowledge and approach can help all types of B2B marketers in all size companies.

One of the things that stands out is the quality and precision of Lipp's prose. It is fresh and fun to read and the voice is neither corporate nor cheeky but, ultra-helpful and relevant. The book is meticulously structured and each chapter moves from a framework through explanation to specific pitch examples that won funding. In addition the book has a modern design and style including colored-font callouts that make it easy to read and re-skim.

Lipp starts with ground rules on: the audience, clarity, and concision. He moves on to the 4 areas of the pitch: Problem, Solution, Market, and Business. After Lipp introduces a thought framework, he provides additional drill down. In Problem, he recommends the sub-points of Description, Pains, and Trends. In Solution he break down further to Value Proposition, Demo, Benefits. In Market, he recommends Target, Size, and Advantages. In Business he offers Go-To-Market, Revenue Model, and Milestones. And at this point in the book, he has already shown you how to structure your deck.

Chapter 4 "Delivery Through Dialogue" belies the title of the book. In it Lipp describes how a pitch really works and that is by making it a relevant dialogue. He recommends that you know your audience, prepare for questions, answer questions, ask questions, and align yourself with the investors. He goes on with storytelling tips and attention capturing openers. Valuable for all types of business people and marketers.

11. Account Based Marketing

By Sangram Vajre, 2016

3.8 rating on Amazon  |  #667 on Amazon in Marketing

I am realizing that Wiley puts out most of the valuable B2B marketing books in this category. This is another in the Dummies series that is actually for sophisticated marketers.

Before ABM, there was a concept called Target Account Selling. ABM refined that and is a much more intentional kind of marketing that works to increase the yield of the funnel by shrinking the top or entry point. So, ABM is a funnel-flipping exercise where you start with Identifying a narrow group of target accounts, Expand contacts within the account, Engage the contacts, and then Close and build Advocates.

This 355-page book goes over ABM in a clear and organized way. The main concepts I took away were: Targeting your best-fit accounts, Tracking and reporting at the account level instead of the lead level, Improving the sales velocity, Leveraging customer advocacy.

Another important result is that the skill of targeting prospects with ABM is very close to targeting your existing customers to drive up-sell, cross-sell, and renewal.

Best B2B Marketing Books - Conclusion

So if you consider these B2B marketing books as a set, you recognize some recurring patterns around change management and adaptation. Marketers have to lead change within their organizations to lead the market outside of it. The Startup Pitch will teach you how to persuade and secure resources.

The Challenger Customer describes a strategy for selling to B2B buyers, The Challenger Sale tells you who to hire to sell it, Growth Hacker Marketing explains how to make a product for a market, Start With Why tells you how to attract and inspire, Driving Demand tells you in detail how to build a good B2B marketing system, and The Membership Economy tells you how to build loyalty, community, and recurring revenue.

Reading all these B2B marketing books will make you a better marketer and help you get more juice from your marketing squeeze.