There are many reasons to be excited about the upcoming winter holiday break. And if you’re like us, then one of those reasons is the idea of cozying up by a roaring fire with a steaming hot beverage and a good book. If you’re like us, you might also be multitaskers who want to channel your love of reading towards enhancing your marketing skills and strategies. We’ve done our research and are looking forward to reading these books—all of which will help executive marketing leaders understand how to effectively create and apply brand and marketing strategies and tactics.
Customer Insight Strategies: How to Understand Your Audience and Create Remarkable Marketing, by Dr. Christine Bailey
Dr. Christine Bailey is the current CMO of Passport and has spent her career in various B2B marketing rolls. A well-respected thought leader and public speaker, Bailey has been voted #1 Woman in Tech by B2B Marketing, #3 female influencer in UK B2B Marketing by Onalytica and one of 150 women B2B thought leaders you should follow in 2021 by Thinkers360.
In Customer Insight Strategies, Bailey “outlines the critical role of customer insight and provides techniques and strategies that will help marketers identify trends, nurture leads and understand consumers – ultimately, empowering them to grow profits.” At BrandActive, we’ve discussed in previous blogs the importance of incorporating customer insights and data into long-term marketing strategy, a trend that will only grow in 2022, and we’re looking forward to learning from Dr. Bailey’s expertise.
Contagious: Why Things Catch On, by Jonah Berger
Jonah Berger is a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an internationally bestselling author, and a world-renowned expert on change, word of mouth, viral marketing, social influence, and how products, ideas, and behaviors catch on.
In Contagious, Berger explains the psychological and societal reasons behind word-of-mouth and social transmission, as outlined by his “Six Principles of Contagiousness.… products or ideas that contain Social Currency and are Triggered, Emotional, Public, Practically Valuable, and wrapped in Stories.” Through breaking down these principles, Berger provides specific, actionable techniques for creating messages, advertisements, and other content that will catch on. This is an important read for organizations as they plan upcoming marketing strategies—especially for those in the midst of a rebrand.
Create Togetherness: Transform Sales and Marketing to Exceed Modern Buyers’ Expectations and Increase Revenue, by Jeff Davis
Jeff Davis is the Founder and CEO of JD2 Consulting group, Associate Director, Business and Brand Strategy at Abbvie, and a sales and marketing alignment expert who pulls from his over 15 years experience in sales, marketing, and business development. His work with companies such as Salesforce, LinkedIn, Seismic, Oracle, and more, and his insights on sales and marketing alignment have made him a highly regarded and popular speaker at conferences, workshops, and company events.
In Create Togetherness, Davis discusses how the misalignment between sales and marketing departments can result in lost revenue. He provides a “step-by-step guide for sales and marketing to join forces, thereby creating a partnership between the two to meet the new demands of the modern buyer.” At BrandActive, we’ve discussed in previous blogs the necessity of breaking down silos between departments, especially between marketing and sales, and we’re excited by this roadmap that Davis has created for businesses everywhere.
Renegade Marketing: 12 Steps to Building Unbeatable B2B Brands, by Drew Neisser
Drew Neisser is the Founder and CEO of Renegade and a veteran of Big Advertising, where he created many award-winning campaigns. He is a recognized expert in non-traditional marketing techniques and a frequent speaker at marketing industry events. Over the years while working with brands of all sizes, Neisser interviewed over four hundred top marketing professionals to uncover the top four characteristics that all successful marketers have in common: “they are Courageous, Artful, Thoughtful, and Scientific (CATS).”
The framework for Renegade Marketing is based on CATS and presents Neisser’s twelve-step formula to “radically simplify B2B marketing and build an unbeatable brand.” He interviewed 1,200 CMOs for the book, which also covers discovering and simplifying your company’s purpose, building team support for new marketing initiatives, creating effective marketing plans, and creating a culture of metrics to drive continuous growth. This book includes a wealth of specific case studies and is a great read for B2B marketers on any stage of their journey who want to learn to be the most effective marketer they can be.
Fanocracy: Turning Fans into Customers and Customers into Fans, by David Meerman Scott & Reiko Scott
This father-daughter author duo consists of David Meerman Scott, an internationally acclaimed strategist who has authored three international bestselling books about marketing, and Reiko Scott, a neuroscience graduate from Columbia University, Emergency Medicine Resident, fandom expert, and “professional nerd.”
In Fanocracy, David and Reiko explain the neuroscience of fandom and how brands can leverage die-hard fans, “the most powerful marketing force in the world,” to attract word-of-mouth buzz and radical devotion around unexpected products, such as car insurance and underwear. This book provides a “road map for converting customers’ ardor into buying power” using examples from a variety of companies. This is a great read for companies looking for a radical refresh of their brand and marketing messaging.
They Ask, You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today’s Digital Consumer, 2nd ed., by Marcus Sheridan
Marcus Sheridan is highly sought-after speaker and consultant in the digital sales and marketing space who has worked with hundreds of businesses and brands to achieve their potential. As a keynote speaker, he has presented over 250 sales, marketing, and communication workshops worldwide.
In They Ask, You Answer, Sheridan discusses the importance of learning the questions, concerns, and problems consumers have and answering them as honestly and thoroughly as possible so your content will appear at the top of search engines where the questions are being asked. You may feel that you have read this book before, but in the second edition of They Ask, You Answer, Sheridan has updated his guide of practical tactics and insights for transforming marketing strategies to “reflect the evolution of content marketing and the increasing demands of today’s internet-savvy buyers.” This book is a useful resource for businesses looking for a fresh approach to marketing and sales that is already proven to generate more traffic, leads, and sales.
We hope that’s enough books to keep you busy over the winter season, and beyond! Did we miss one of your favorites? Share it using the form below and we’ll include it in a future article. Happy Holidays 😊
