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The 6 Best Marketing Books to Read in 2018

There are a lot of ways to stay on the cutting edge for marketing strategies in 2018 (like reading this blog for example). Reading is one of the top characteristics of successful people so we’ve developed this list of the 6 best marketing books to consider reading. From virtual reality, to content marketing to  evolving brand management these are the books to consider reading this year. 

  1. Brand Intimacy: A New Paradigm in Marketing by Mario Natarelli and Rina Plapler

Brand Intimacy was an immediate “yes” to our list of the best marketing books to read. This book does a really nice job of explaining the underpinnings of brand loyalty on a number of levels including psychology, marketing and the consumer journey. Authors Natarelli and Plaper draw some intriguing conclusions, for example, the ways consumer intimacy with brands closely mimics human intimacy with family and friends. Brand Intimacy offers a helpful guide for assessing the intimacy of your brand and delivers a comprehensive look at how businesses of all kinds can build the intimacy so many covet.

Replete with helpful infographics and divided into exceptionally well-organized sections, the lessons of Brand Intimacy: A New Paradigm in Marketing are digestible and easily transferable to your own business.  

2. Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords: How to Access 100 Million People in 10 Minutes (Ultimate Series) 5th Edition by Perry Marshall, Mike Rhodes, and Brian Todd

Google AdWords is an essential tool for growing the “discoverability” of your brand. Knowing the ins and outs of Google’s built-in advertising feature can be tricky but the Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords explains it in a frank and easily understandable way.. This book is written for users with all levels of experience. Whether you’re a newcomer to the SEO/AdWords game or have been running campaigns for years, everyone can learn something from what this trio of authors has to say. It takes a long time to refine your landing pages and ad campaigns to get the formula right. The beauty of this book is that it’s set up perfectly to read some chapters here and there and tinker as you go along.

At just $9 for the Kindle version, Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords is a steal. There’s a lot of info in here, so feel free to only read the bits you find most useful.  But so much of the process of getting AdWords right is incremental, so trying as many of the tips as possible will likely yield the best results. 

3. Marketing New Realities: An Introduction to Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality Marketing, Branding, & Communications by Cathy Hackl

Marketing New Realities, written by someone at the frontier of technological improvements in the marketing field, equips you to get ahead of trends rather than just meagerly imitating what others are doing.We can’t pretend VR and AR are fads that will disappear in the next few months or years. As this book demonstrates, the possibilities for VR in all sorts of industries are limitless. More and more businesses are making the foray into VR to build a unique and interactive branding experience. 

An innovative touch may just be what your business needs to stand out. Implementing VR isn’t as daunting as it sounds. One of the strengths of this book is that it is devoid of the vague jargon and technobabble that could confuse and discourage readers. It’s clear in its instructions and astute in its analysis. The sooner you read Marketing New Realities the sooner you can reap the full benefits of an intimate grasp of how to leverage VR and AR. 

4. The Belief Economy: How to Give a Damn, Stop Selling, and Create Buy-In

We’ve been hearing about millennials and Gen Zers for a while now, mostly in tired and lazy tropes. One thing about them that’s true and has real implications is that they are very socially conscious and make their purchasing decisions accordingly. Research has shown that millennials disproportionately support brands that are sustainable or are trusted to make socially optimal decisions. This book can help you understand exactly what you need to do to strike the right tone with your business’s social stances. It’s going to be tougher and tougher to sell just on the strength of your product. Your customers will need to be convinced that you care about the things they care about. This book will underscore why the need to evolve is so pressing, the ways brands can effectively engage young customers and identifies real-world examples of impactful socially conscious campaigns. It’s a must read for a deep understanding of the future economy.

5. Practical Content Strategy & Marketing by Julia McCoy

One of the most frustrating things about content marketing is feeling like the content you’re making isn’t reaching anyone. Just about every topic you can think of is covered in this great book by Julia McCoy, Practical Content Strategy With five modules discussing subjects like cornerstone content, mapping out buyer personas, guest blogging and more. There’s a lot that goes into producing content that people will read, but the first step is figuring out a cohesive strategy. This book does a tremendous job of creating a purpose behind every action. There has to be some rationale behind doing every single thing you decide to do.  It’s straightforward and easy to apply to creating exceptional content. The title holds true—this advice really is practical. If you want a no-nonsense approach to constructing a content strategy that will actually work, this book is for you. 

6. Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling by Michael Port

For services firms and consultants dealing with bad clients can be frustrating, including the feeling that you can’t drop them and lose revenue.  We included Book Yourself Solid on our list of best marketing books as a great guide to getting out of the cycle of attracting bad clients and working with people who are good fits for you and you’re business. It’s a good book for marketing if you’re a consultant, small business or solopreneur but there are quite a few good tips for anyone in there. 

This book is not only eloquently written it’s an easy read.  It’s also well organized, with separate chapters on all aspects of branding yourself; chapters include “Becoming a Likeable Expert in Your Field” and “The Book Yourself Solid Referral Strategy.” You do your best work when you’re working with people who share your vision and respect your abilities. The idea that marketers struggle to market themselves is a bit ironic, but is something we all struggle with to some degree. Thanks to this book, you’ll become an expert at attracting the clients you want to have.  

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