Particularly in the wintertime, it can be easy to slip into a creative lull and hard to maintain your forward momentum. We're convinced that the best medicine for garnering motivation and inspiring movement is picking up a new skill or perspective on your work. Alas, we've compiled eight books that are sure to give you the mental jump start you need to tackle your 2018 marketing goals with renewed energy and insight.
1. To transform your content marketing strategy:
Top of Mind by John Hall
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Achieving success in any business is all about nurturing valuable and relevant relationships. Top of Mind delves into how to use content marketing to stay at the forefront of your target audience’s thoughts. With clarity and concision, Hall reveals the elements of effective content marketing strategies and addresses how to bridge the barrier of consumer mistrust in the modern age. Whether content marketing is part of your current engagement strategy or is on your list of New Years resolutions, this book will help you better understand how buyers engage with web content and how your digital communication strategy affects your brand’s integrity and staying power.
2. To learn tricks for maintaining forward momentum and cultivating innovation:
Leap First by Seth Godin
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Since he made his debut blogging in the early 90s, Godin has written eighteen best sellers and gained worldwide acclaim as a thought leader in areas such as marketing, creativity, leadership and innovation in the modern business world.
Unlike Godin’s more product-focused marketing books like The Purple Cow, audiobook Leap First: Creating Work That Matters focuses on the individual behind the product. Through a series of anecdotes, creative examples and witty tangents, Godin describes how cultivating the right mix of professional qualities can help you create work that is exceptional, fresh and impactful.
3. To understand what makes some companies succeed and others fail:
The Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank
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Steve Blanks if famous for his theory on customer engagement and advancement (as he lays out in The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer), but this earlier book is jam-packed with foundational business wisdom that makes it an essential prerequisite. With the spirit of an entrepreneur and the wisdom of a seasoned expert, Blanks discusses what elements make a successful product and what skills are needed to create and sustain business growth. Although at first glance, it may seem that The Four Steps to the Epiphany is targeted at business owners, under the hood it has an acumen and practical application that transcends different roles and career trajectories — making it relevant to anyone who wants to get ahead in the business sphere.
4. To discover what motivates action and inspires mass change:
The True Believer by Eric Hoffer
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An inspiring work of social psychology, The True Believer is still as relevant today as it was when it was first published in 1951. In this influential work, Hoffer discusses the irrational and intangible factors that motivate group behavior. Although not a business book in the traditional sense, the ideas discussed in The True Believer and the assertion that meaningful narratives hold transformative power is worthy of every marketer's time and attention — no matter what your unique goals may be.
5. To master the knack of generating buzz:
Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz
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This book reveals how the world’s most successful companies became self-generating-lead-machines by harnessing the art of communication and buzz. Sernovitz lays out five essential steps to mastering “word of mouth” marketing and describes how to hone your blogging strategy, email campaigns and other social communication channels to further those ends. He presents concepts in a straightforward and digestible way that makes it the perfect quick-read for marketers looking to polish their multi-channel marketing efforts.
6. To explore what gives certain products and ideas magnetism:
Contagious by Jonah Berger
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Named best marketing book in 2014, Contagious: Why Things Catch On is a study of what makes some products more popular, some ideas more infectious and some content, viral. Berger explores why certain brand narratives are more compelling and lasting than others — and how those stories contribute to the popularity and staying power, or “stickiness,”of a product. Through a series of smart examples, Berger looks at what products have succeeded in the past and why we still hold them in high esteem.
7. To become more influential:
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini, PHD
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This National bestseller explores the psychology of persuasion and how to channel those skills to be a master persuader. Cialdini identifies six principles of influence and details why they’re effective, guiding readers through the logic behind why people say “yes.” Although this book has applications beyond the business sphere, understanding the science of persuasion is an imperative skill for marketing and sales professionals seeking to influence prospects and customers on a daily basis. Originally published in 1984, Influence has earned positive critical acclaim for over thirty years.
8. To win more sales:
To Sell is Human by Daniel H. Pink
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By now, most of us have heard of the elevator pitch — but what are its successors in the digital age? Selling is both an art and a science; Pink lays out ways to excel in both departments. Whether you’re selling a product, a service or simply an idea, this book provides a thoughtful and informative take on how to be an exceptional salesperson beyond the bounds of the elevator.
No matter what your marketing goals are, find your motivation to make it happen in 2018. Getting started is as easy as taking the first step:
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