Top 40 Marketing Books

#17 How to Start and Grow an E-commerce Business – Best for E-commerce 

Successful e-commerce entrepreneur Charles Camisasca offers user-friendly, step-by-step instructions on how to build a booming e-commerce business and a business plan generator to clarify your vision. 

Relevant if you: 

• Want to start or grow an e-commerce business

#18 Own Your Niche – Best for Service-Based Businesses 

From award-winning author Stephanie Chandler, this book promises to boost sales and widen audiences for service-based businesses. This book is packed full of relevant marketing knowledge and written in an easy-to-understand format.

Relevant if you: 

• Operate a service-based business

#19 Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got – Best for Beating Competition

Marketing expert Jay Abraham has created his program and successfully put it to the test. In this practical guide, he teaches you every step of his model. In addition, this book is replete with strategies and valuable tools. 

Relevant if you: 

• Have competitors 
• Want to access overlooked opportunities and untapped resources 

New Brands & Growth

#20 Marketing Simplified – Best for Beginners

If you’re new to marketing, entrepreneur Danny Decker’s handbook will help demystify the process and introduce you to the basics of marketing in user-friendly language.

Relevant if you: 

• Are new to marketing
• Prefer lighter reading

#21 Purple Cow — Best for New Brands

Seth Godin’s most well-known book, Purple Cow, is a how-to guide on building a remarkable brand. 

This book provides more actionable information than others by the author and includes dozens of case studies and examples to clarify abstract theories.

Relevant if you: 

• Have no marketing experience 
• Understand content best through examples

#22 Marketing for Dummies – Best for Beginners 

From the classic collection of how-to guides, this book will teach you the broad strokes and most recent research — it is edited every year to reflect shifting trends and data.

Relevant if you: 

• Need someplace to start 
• Are working with any size business or budget 

#23 1-Page Marketing Plan — Best for Small Businesses

Alan Dib doesn’t waste any time; his 232-page book is straightforward, clear, and actionable. 

This book mainly considers the needs of small and medium-sized businesses but also applies to larger companies. It’s been well-received due to its simplicity. 

Relevant if you: 

• Own a small or emerging business 
• Want a logical read

#24 Influence – Best for All Businesses 

This book is an in-depth analysis of the psychological motivations of consumers. Robert Cialdini is the leading expert in the field of persuasion and brings over thirty-five years of experience to this beloved book.

Relevant if you: 

• Work in any field or industry 
• Are interested in human psychology

#25 Growth Hacker Marketing – Best for Building a Movement 

Growth hackers know how to build a buzz around a low budget. This guide teaches you how to leverage a low budget to reach financial success. Growth hacking is the newest trend in marketing and is the secret weapon of brands like Airbnb and Facebook. 

Relevant if you: 

• Have a low budget 
• Want to build a narrative 

#26 The Anatomy of Buzz – Best for Word-of-Mouth Marketing 

Effective word-of-mouth campaigns can revolutionize your brand. 

Emmanuel Rosen draws insights from interviews with more than 150 successful executives and researches the time-honored strategy of word-of-mouth marketing. This book will teach you to spread the word and grow your customer base.

Relevant if you:

• Have experience in marketing 
• Want to grow an existing business or product

#27 Whatever It Takes — Best for Personal Growth

This book is part autobiography and part guide to success. Brandon Bornancin writes with sincerity and heart as he explores the lessons of his own life and imparts valuable advice to his readers. This book will guide you to break bad habits and unlock your passions.

Relevant if you: 

• Love self-help books
• Want to expand your success in other areas of life

Copy

#28 The Copywriter’s Handbook – Best for Beginning Copywriters 

This book by persuasion expert Robert Bly appeals to all writers and editors. Whether you’re just getting started or are a veteran, Bly’s guide will have something to teach you. 

Relevant if you: 

• Are an emergent copy-writer 
• Want to extend your expertise

#29 The Adweek Copywriting Handbook — Best Guide to Writing Marketing Copy 

Legendary copywriter Joe Sugarman has written a dense, in-depth exploration of solid writing for marketing, and the reviews are in: it works.

According to reviewers, this book is dense and information-packed and will revolutionize your copy-writing — and your business.

Relevant if you: 

• Write copy
• Want to improve your writing in general 

Social Media & Branding

#30 Social Media Marketing Workbook — Best for Social Media Marketers

This workbook by Jason McDonald is fun, engaging, and comprehensive. It covers marketing across most of the major platforms and provides explicit, direct instruction. 

Relevant if you: 

• Learn best from writing and reflecting
• Rely heavily on social media marketing
• Want to break into social media marketing

#31 Everybody Writes – Best for Content Creators 

Whether you’re a social media influencer or writing your copy, this book will help you fine-tune and strengthen your writing to reach the right audience.

Ann Handley is an excellent and engaging writer and teaches by example.

Relevant if you: 

• Write anything for an audience
• Want to improve online communication

#32 Made to Stick – Best for Strong Branding 

This option is also a book about the power of images and the brands we associate with them. The book is adaptable to all industries and applicable to all businesses.

Chip and Dan Heath explore popular household names to get to the origins of their success.

Relevant if you: 

• Are ambitious 
• Want to build a popular brand 

#33 You Are The Brand – Best for Personal Branding

Behind every successful brand is a credible and compelling person. This book teaches you the basics of personal branding so you can become the next big name in your industry.

Relevant if you:

• Want to boost your expertise and credibility

#34 Contagious – Best for Growing Brands

Jonah Berger’s 2016 best-seller provides an in-depth analysis of popularity and how certain brands captivate the public.

This book is best for those with interest in psychology and human behavior. 

Relevant if you: 

• Want more impact—even with a smaller budget 
• Have big dreams of reaching a broad audience