Top 3 Books Every Marketer Should Read

Whether you’re a marketing mogul or a newbie, you can always learn more about developing a successful marketing strategy by picking up a book. Reading keeps you agile in diverse strategies and tactics, up to date on industry trends and able to think creatively from various perspectives. When the Roop & Co. team isn’t busy cranking out content or tuning into a marketing podcast, we expand our knowledge and capabilities by reading.

Here are just a few of our favorite marketing books:

1. Confessions Of An Advertising Man

Dubbed the “father of advertising,” David Ogilvy authored Confessions Of An Advertising Man in 1963 to help attract new clients, take his company public and boost his reputation. The book details Ogilvy’s philosophies on creativity, copywriting and building advertising campaigns, as well as business management, corporate ethics and office politics. This candid guide to advertising is one of the earliest examples of evergreen content, as the book remains relevant to modern communications even to this day. His attention to branding was particularly notable, especially compared to competing ‘60s-era advertisers who were focused on driving short-term sales. According to Ogilvy, “Every advertisement is not a one-time shot, but a long-term investment in the total personality of their brands.”

2. The Best Digital Marketing Campaigns in the World II

In The Best Digital Marketing Campaigns in the World II, author Damian Ryan reveals 40 case studies of world-class campaigns that boosted brands through blogs, social media, email and online video. Complete with budget information, honest results and direct quotes from campaign creators, this book gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how powerful brands position themselves in our modern marketing landscape. The broad range of campaigns will surely inspire you to develop your own clever ideas and embrace the new digital tools available to marketers today.

3. Epic Content Marketing

Written by content marketing expert (and fellow Clevelander) Joe Pulizzi, Epic Content Marketing takes you through the process of developing stories that inform, entertain and compel customers to act—without actually telling them. The book is an excellent primer on the practice of content marketing, with the key takeaway being: “Your customers don’t care about you, your products or your services. They care about themselves.” It’s a harsh reality, but one that marketers need to recognize to forge stronger relationships with their target audiences.