3 Must Read Top-Rated Books to Up Your Marketing Game

The best way to enhance your marketing chops is by creating and executing campaigns. You’ll fail. You’ll succeed. But most importantly, you’ll learn.

Still, failing isn’t exciting, but it is inevitable. By learning from marketing masters, your failures are reducible. These teachers have written books to lead you down the path of success. You won’t learn everything in these books, but you’ll have a better idea of how to get started in marketing.

This list comprises classic novels that many marketers will swear by. Take a look.

1. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads by Luke Sullivan

Do you want to create and tell brand stories? Do you want to be a digital marketer or focus on traditional outlets? What is the value of authenticity, and how is it attainable? The answers are written, plainly, in this book. Additionally, you’ll learn:

• How to turn ideas into successful campaigns
• Methods to protect your work
• To sell without being a sellout
• Work in digital and traditional media outlets

Any marketer worth their salt has read Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This. It’s the holy grail of tidbits, and knowledge from Luke Sullivan, a man who lived and breathed ad agency life. From idea conception to campaign execution, you’ll see the insider’s perspective on the world of advertising.

And no, it’s not always Mad Men in the office. But that’s because the creative process — necessary for any advertising conception — doesn’t follow a script.

In today’s world, everything is vying for our attention, but few will get it. Learn how to break through that noise, be seen, and be bought with Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This.

2. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

Why do people say, “Yes?”

For some, it’s an automated response, prompted by specific words or circumstances that make it impossible to say otherwise. For others, it’s out of obligation. But why? This is what Robert B. Cialdini answers in his favored book, Influence.

When we know why people agree to circumstances, it’s possible to apply it to other aspects of life. Say, for instance, marketing.

Don’t dive into this expecting a quick read. Dr. Robert Cialdini dedicated 35 years to researching behavioral changes through conducting psychological experiments. He found six universal principles that humans abide by and showcases his evidence in Influence.

Not only will you learn how to become a skilled persuader, but also how to protect yourself from others.

3. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk

This is the book for digital and social media marketers needing to cut through the noise, convert traffic, and see results.

In marketing, the first objective was planning the “right hook” — the sale or campaign to blow the competition out of the water. It would be so successful that customers couldn’t help but flock to companies.

After the hook, companies began jabbing — engaging customers, building relationships, facilitating brand loyalty. But landing the finishing blow, that eliminates competition while pulling in their customers, was the final result.

But that’s old school marketing. We now have social media platforms that require jabs and right hooks to follow a different formation. Author Gary Vaynerchuk believes high-quality content isn’t enough. It has to be high-quality content developed for each particular social media platform.

Social media is 24/7. Building relationships are about giving. But how much, and of what? You’ll have to read, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook for all the creative details.

Photo by Dariusz Sankowski on Unsplash