5 books you should read if you want to become really good at marketing

If you want to become truly great at marketing, it is not enough to learn which buttons to press in Meta Ads Manager or how to build a nice-looking campaign. Good marketing is just as much about understanding people, ideas, communication, and why certain messages stick while others disappear into the noise.

There are, of course, thousands of books on marketing, but some appear time and again when marketers share books that have actually changed how they view their profession.

Here are five books we believe everyone working in marketing should have read.

Contagious – Jonah Berger

What makes certain products, ideas, and campaigns spread while others get no attention at all?

That is the question Jonah Berger attempts to answer in Contagious: Why Things Catch On. The book is about what makes people talk about, share, and recommend certain things – and how companies can use that knowledge in their marketing.

Berger presents six principles that help explain why things spread. Among other things, he discusses social currency, emotion, practical value, and how the right type of message can make people want to pass it on.

The interesting thing is that the book is not just about creating something that becomes "viral." It is rather about understanding why people choose to talk about certain things. It is knowledge that is useful regardless of whether you work with social media, content marketing, PR, or traditional advertising.

Purple Cow – Seth Godin

In a world where everyone is fighting for attention, it is not enough to be good. You must be worth noticing.

That is the core of Seth Godin's classic Purple Cow.

The title comes from a simple thought: imagine you are driving through a landscape and you see cows. After a while, you probably stop noticing them. But what if you suddenly saw a purple cow? Then you would likely react.

Godin's point is that companies need to create something that actually stands out. Being yet another company that does roughly the same thing as everyone else is rarely a recipe for being remembered.

For marketers, this is an important reminder: differentiation is part of the marketing – not something that comes afterwards.

How can your brand be different? What makes your offering worth talking about? And why would someone choose you specifically over your competitors?

Epic Content Marketing – Joe Pulizzi

Good content is not about filling the company's Instagram feed with posts. It is about creating content that people actually want to consume.

That is one of the central ideas in Joe Pulizzi's Epic Content Marketing.

The book goes through how companies can use content to build an audience, create trust, and, in the long run, gain more customers. It covers, among other things, strategy, storytelling, different types of content, and how to create content that both engages and helps the recipient.

What makes the book relevant is that content marketing has become a central part of many companies' marketing. Blog posts, newsletters, social media, video, and other content formats are today essential parts of how companies build relationships with their target audience.

Influence – Robert B. Cialdini

Why do people say yes to certain things and no to others?

To become a better marketer, you need to understand more than just communication. You also need to understand human behavior.

That is precisely what Robert Cialdini explores in Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

Cialdini goes through the psychological principles that influence people's decisions and behaviors. The book addresses, among other things, principles such as social proof, authority, scarcity, reciprocity, and commitment & consistency.

For a marketer, this is highly practical knowledge. Why do customer reviews work? Why does it influence us when others have already chosen a product? Why can limited availability make an offer more attractive?

Made to Stick – Chip Heath & Dan Heath

You can have the best idea in the world – but if no one remembers it, it doesn't matter that much.

That is the starting point for Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath.

The book is about why certain ideas stick in people's memories while others are quickly forgotten. The authors identify a number of characteristics that help messages become more memorable, including that they should be simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, and emotional.

This is particularly relevant for marketers. We are not just competing with our competitors – we are competing for people's attention in a constant flow of information.

Therefore, a message must not only be correct. It must also be easy to understand, remember, and retell.