Marketing is a key component of business. Without marketing, even the best products, services, and companies would fail to gain any traction. This is why marketing is a key operation for every venture—whether you’re selling electronics, raising money for your favorite foundation, or want to become a famous artist, you’re going to have to market.
These concise classics will level up your marketing ability.
- THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF MARKETING
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing is on the shortlist of business books recommended by Mark Zuckerberg. He attributes much of Facebook’s early and continued success to this treatise.
In it, Al Ries and Jack Trout take what they have learned working their entire lives in marketing and distill it into twenty-two straightforward principles. The writing is clear, concise, and every law is backed up by a real-world case study.
If you do opt to read it, make sure you get the original version (not the one updated for the digital era).
- PURPLE COW
Seth Godin, the book’s author, is revered as perhaps the best marketer of the modern era. His daily blog is read by hundreds of thousands of marketing professionals around the world.
Another short book packed with priceless information, Purple Cow shows readers ways to differentiate themselves and be heard through all the noise in today’s world. It makes the case that being different—finding your purple cow—is the only way to survive in modern business. Also, modern marketers must be intimately aware of what they are selling; they need to be involved in every step of the process in order to be effective.
Purple Cow features stories of entrepreneurs and artists using unorthodox tactics to stand out. It’s a must-read for anyone seeking to be heard.
- INFLUENCE
While technically a psychology book, Influence may be the most popular book among professional marketers today. Dr. Robert Cialdini’s classic has sold over three million copies world-wide.
Why is it so popular among marketers?
Well, marketing is essentially storytelling with the intention to persuade. Influence is a scientific text on persuasion; Dr. Cialdini lays out several Weapons of Influence, and then backs each one up with a number of case studies. It’s essentially a manual on how to persuade people.
No matter who you are, this book can have immense valuable. By understanding these compliance tactics, you can help guard yourself against unwanted influences.
Seth Godin wrote a book called All Marketers Tell Stories. This is true. And because human beings are hardwired to listen to stories, marketing is a necessary component of any successful endeavor.
Marketing is as much art as it is skill. Like many other artistic pursuits, marketing works better when you follow a basic set of ground rules. These easy-to-read classics show you these rules and help lay a solid foundation that you can build upon.
So if you’re an artist, entrepreneur, or someone with an important message, check out these three books.
You’ll be glad you did.