As you keep your skills sharp and stay competitive with the right content marketing books, sometimes, picking the right book from hundreds of books can be challenging. Which books will give you the right skills to boost your brand? Which books will cater to your industry?
Given the number of books, we’ve curated a list of the top 50 content marketing books for you to read in 2024. We know you’re always busy creating content, so you might not have time to read all 50. To simplify your life, we’ve separated these into 10 books and 40 that you can read to supplement the first 10.
Choosing the best books for your specific role will be challenging even with this list. For this reason, we’ve included a summary of each book, so you know what each has to offer.
Once you’ve brushed up on your skills with these content marketing books, give your content creation process a boost as well by signing up for Kontely. With Kontely, you and your team can create content faster and publish it to several channels simultaneously – all from one place. Join Kontely today and streamline your content workflow to collaborate while producing and publishing content faster for your clients.
10 Content Marketing Books That You Absolutely Must Read
The following 10 content marketing books have been chosen specifically because they are the most highly acclaimed books of the lot. The best content marketers write them and include revolutionary advice to boost your content marketing efforts.
1) Epic Content Marketing: How to Tell a Different Story, Break Through the Clutter, and Win More Customers by Marketing Less
Author: Joe Pulizzi
In this book, Joe Pulizzi discusses creating content that will stand out in a digital space ruled by information overload and clutter. As one of the world’s leading content marketers, Pulizzi has developed a collection of tricks for capturing the attention of your target audience and inspiring action.
Why You Should Read It:
Why is this book #1 on our list of content marketing books? Today, people are wary of advertisements that promise the sun and the moon. They also don’t like being told what to do.
Because of this, it’s essential to connect with your target audience meaningfully. You need to be able to drive these people to a particular action in a way that inspires them rather than manipulates them into taking it.
If you want to build genuine connections with your customers, Epic Content Marketing is your book. In this book, Pulizzi guides you through what it takes to create content that entertains your audiences. Moreover, he includes case studies of how John Deere, LEGO, Coca-Cola, and other well-known brands have built outstanding content marketing campaigns.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Epic Content Marketing here.
2) They Ask, You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today’s Digital Customer
Author: Marcus Sheridan
In They Ask You Answer, Marcus Sheridan offers an ingenious approach to content marketing. Rather than focusing on selling to people, Sheridan believes we should answer their questions. As someone who transformed himself from a struggling entrepreneur to an inbound marketing guru, he knows about building client trust.
Why You Should Read It:
This book features in our top 10 content marketing books for good reason. Gone are the days when traditional ads, keyword stuffing, and link building were all you needed to reach your target audience. If these are the only tactics you rely on, your strategy will likely fall flat. Since so many people distrust traditional marketing these days, Sheridan’s book focuses on showing you how to create quality content that your target audience wants so that you can build trust with potential clients.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of They Ask, You Answer here.
3) Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content
Author: Ann Handley
Ann Handley uses Everybody Writes with wit and insight to teach her readers how to create quality content that people will want to read. According to Handley, your words matter whether you build your brand website, interact with clients on social media, or draft marketing copy.
Why You Should Read It:
Out of all our content marketing books, this is the best one to help you write better. Since we’re all writers, there’s a lot we can learn from Handley. Words have immense power – they can differentiate between retaining customers and sending them running in the opposite direction.
Handley’s book is an enjoyable six-part course on creating content that will leave your readers wanting more. It’s divided into 1) How to Write Better, 2) Writing Rules, 3) Story Rules, 4) Publishing Rules, and 5) Things Marketers Write, and includes a list of content tools to help you produce outstanding content.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Everybody Writes here.
4) What to Post: How to Create Engaging Social Media Content that Builds Your Brand and Gets Results
Author: Chelsea Peitz
If you’re used to abandoning marketing guides halfway through, Chelsea Peitz’s book will surprise you with advice you can refer to repeatedly. Peitz covers everything you need to market your real estate business, from building a memorable brand to creating relatable content and boosting your reach.
Why You Should Read It:
What to Post is on our list of content marketing books because it will help you boost your social media presence. This book is for you if you don’t know what to post on social media to increase engagement and make genuine connections with your audience.
Filled with many relatable examples and actionable tips, What to Post will transform you from a social media novice to a social media guru. Peitz even includes some blank pages where she guides you through brainstorming sessions. While it’s written for real estate marketers, the tips in this book can be applied to any industry.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of What to Post here.
5) The Practice: Shipping Creative Work
Author: Seth Godin
The Practice is the key to discovering the most creative version of yourself. In this book, Seth Godin busts several myths about creativity and productivity and consistently shows how to create quality content.
Why You Should Read It:
Seth Godin’s books will appear a few times on this list of content marketing books, and with good reason. As a content creator himself, Godin can teach us a lot about producing content that turns heads and leaves a lasting impression. If you often battle writer’s block or perfectionism, then this is just what you need to help you push through those moments when you feel uninspired.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of The Practice here.
6) Become a Content Brand: Build a Team, Own your Audience, and Create Video your Customers will Love
Author: Chris Carter
Chris Carter has spent years helping 180 brands with content creation and building a network of over 150,000 creators, filmmakers, editors, and marketers worldwide. This experience has made him realize the growing demand for video and that no single brand can keep up with it. He wrote this book to help brands produce quality videos that can make a splash.
Why You Should Read It:
Out of all our content marketing books, this is the only one focusing specifically on videos. These days, we’re drowning in new content from brands every day. Instead of struggling with this constant flood of content, Carter shows you how to create quality content that will stand out from your competition. Do you want to learn how to create genuinely memorable videos? Then this is the book for you.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Become a Content Brand here.
7) Content that Converts: How to Create a Profitable and Predictable B2B Content Marketing Strategy
Author: Laura Hanly
Laura Hanly taps into her experience to show people how to use content marketing to generate a predictable stream of qualified leads. Her methods have yielded positive results and are easily replicable by any brand.
Why You Should Read It:
Do you need help attracting more leads to your brand and converting these leads into paying customers? Then it’s good that Content that Converts is on our list of content marketing books because this is the book for you.
Hanly covers everything from establishing the right target audience to creating quality content to establish you as a thought leader in your industry. Rather than recycling tips from other content marketing gurus, Hanly fills her book with strategies that have worked for her campaigns.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of the Content that Converts here.
8) Content: The Atomic Particle of Marketing
Author: Rebecca Lieb
Inspired by years of qualitative research and interviews with leading brands, Rebecca Lieb’s book is written to help you produce engaging social media content. Written by an industry thought leader, the content covered in this book should help anyone build a comprehensive content marketing strategy.
Why You Should Read It:
Lieb’s book is just what you need to create an integrated marketing strategy. This comprehensive book is why it’s in our top 10 content marketing books. By backing her ideas up with examples, graphs, and case studies, Lieb has created a foolproof guide to building a content-centric brand. To create a memorable brand that thrives on quality content, you must get a copy of this book ASAP.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Content: The Atomic Particle of Marketing here.
9) The Lead Machine: The Small Business Guide to Digital Marketing
Author: Rich Brooks
In this book, Rich Brooks shares his digital marketing secrets. Brooks has tips for digital marketers of every level, from teaching brands how to rank higher on Google to showing content creators how to generate higher engagement on social media.
Why You Should Read It:
If you own a small to medium-sized business and are keen on it and generating leads, this book will help you meet those challenges head-on. With a combination of humor and insightful advice, Brooks enables you to build a website, attract the right people, and convert these leads into sales.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of The Lead Machine here.
10) Superfans: The Easy Way to Stand Out, Grow Your Tribe, and Build a Successful Business
Author: Pat Flynn
In a world where people constantly chase likes and followers, Pat Flynn uses this book to remind us that a small, engaged audience is better than a sizeable, apathetic audience. His book is a series of tips and tricks to help you engage with your audience and turn them into superfans.
Why You Should Read It:
This book scored a place in our top 10 content marketing books because it will help you dramatically transform your social media strategy. Your regular audience members will like your social media pages and maybe even buy a product or two here and there.
Even so, the audience members who feel seen and heard will genuinely become your brand ambassadors. These people will tell their friends and family about you and share positive reviews online. They will also send you encouraging messages during a low-peak season and share your social media posts with their online network. We know you want to turn your target audience into superfans (who wouldn’t?), so this one is definitely for you.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Superfans here.
As we’ve already said, our 10 most highly recommended content marketing books are above. If you don’t have time to read all 50 books on our list, you should at least read these 10.
More Content Marketing Books for Your Bookshelf:
In addition to the 10 content marketing books you must read, here are more to supplement your reading.
11) Clout: The Art and Science of Influential Web Content
Author: Coleen Jones
In this book, Coleen Jones demonstrates how to create content that converts using 8 principles of influence. According to Jones, using fancy technology and designing pretty content is insufficient to convert your leads into sales.
Why You Should Read It:
As a content creator, it is easy to focus on producing aesthetically pleasing content and using the newest technology to wow your audience.
However, Jones forces us to pause and understand why content is crucial to consumers and how to create content that meets their needs. This book will help you make the content your audience craves, thus creating a genuine connection with them.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Clout here.
12) F*ck Content Marketing: Focus on Content Experience to Drive Demand, Revenue & Relationships
Author: Randy Frisch
Randy Frisch believes the most successful brands worldwide don’t simply do content marketing. Instead, they focus on creating content experiences—imagine the immersive scrolling experience created by Netflix, Spotify, and Instagram.
Why You Should Read It:
Do you want your consumers to feel like you’re speaking directly to them in all your content marketing? Do you want them to forget where reality ends and your marketing begins?
If so, this is the book for you. Frisch designed it to teach content marketers how to use the Content Experience Framework to create personalized content that drives product demand and builds client relationships.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of F#ck Content Marketing here.
13) Master Content Strategy: How to Maximize your Reach & Boost your Bottom Line Every Time you Hit Publish
Author: Pamela Wilson
Instead of producing endless low-quality content, Pamela Wilson teaches us how to create the best content for each growth stage. As a business owner, marketing consultant, and thought leader, Wilson has practical tips that can be applied in both a B2B and a B2C setting.
Why You Should Read It:
This book, by Pamela Wilson, will guide you through the different stages of creating precious content for your audience. What makes this book stand out from the rest is that it will teach you how the needs of your newly launched blog will change as it ages. Instead of offering cookie-cutter advice, this book will grow with you and your business.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Master Content Strategy here.
14) Brand Identity Breakthrough: How to Craft Your Company’s Unique Story to Make Your Products Irresistible
Author: Gregory V. Diehl
Gregory V. Diehl believes that every brand has a unique story to tell. Moreover, you carve out a more specialized niche in your industry with every new product. Diehl is passionate about helping content marketers combine these elements to build a standout brand identity.
Why You Should Read It:
The lessons in this book will help you build a brand that your clients can trust and tell your brand story to the world in a memorable way.
Diehl will show you how to be personable enough on your website, social media, and content to create a genuine relationship with your leads. Your brand could benefit from this book since sales follow only once this relationship happens.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Brand Identity Breakthrough here.
15) Faster, Smarter, Louder: Master Attention in a Noisy Digital Market
Authors: Aaron Agius & Gián Clancey
In this book, Aaron Agius and Gián Clancey share secrets that helped them transform their two-person agency into a global leader in digital marketing. It is filled with tips to help you cut through the noise and information overload and build a more visible, long-lasting, and louder brand.
Why You Should Read It:
This book doesn’t simply present a list of successful marketing strategies. Agius and Clancey go beyond that to explain why these strategies were successful.
This approach makes it easy for content marketers to adapt the recommended methods to their brand. With actionable how-tos and step-by-step instructions, this book is an excellent blueprint for anyone committed to excelling with their digital marketing.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Faster, Smarter, Louder here.
16) Storytelling: Manipulation of the Audience
Author: Daniel Anderson
Daniel Anderson believes well-crafted stories build trust among your target audience and inspire action. His book contains tips and tricks for telling stories that will excite them about your brand.
Why You Should Read It:
Telling good stories can help you connect emotionally with your audience. If you want emotionally invested customers in your brand, you must pick up a copy of this book. Once you start using your content to tell powerful stories, your content marketing strategy will be more effective.
Read More: Why is Content Marketing Important for Your Brand?
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of storytelling here.
17) The Context Marketing Revolution: How to Motivate Buyers in the Age of Infinite Media
Author: Mathew Sweezey
In this book, Mathew Sweezey describes our unique digital landscape where – for the first time – our customers have the power to create content themselves. He goes one step further to talk about going beyond traditional marketing strategies to break through the noise and reach these customers.
Why You Should Read It:
Traditional marketing won’t cut it in a world where everyone with a smartphone is a content creator. Your traditional ads are more likely to be a bore or an annoyance to the people you’re trying to reach.
This book will arm you with strategies to break through information overload and reach your target audience. Context is important—helping your customers meet a need in the moment. Once you realize that, you’ll produce the content your audience has always wanted.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Context Marketing Revolution here.
18) Effective SEO and Content Marketing: The Ultimate Guide for Maximizing Free Web Traffic
Author: Nicholas Papagiannis
Since people assume content marketing is simply about producing quality content, SEO is an underrated part of content marketing. Papagiannis shows how optimizing your content can increase brand awareness and drive more people to your website.
Why You Should Read It:
This will be a good read if you need help understanding SEO—from the basics to how to implement an effective SEO strategy. Many people assume that SEO only applies to their website or blog.
On the contrary, SEO is just as important on your social media channels, and Nicholas Papagiannis can show you exactly how to optimize these platforms.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Effective SEO and Content Marketing here.
19) The One-Page Content Marketing Blueprint: Launch a Content Marketing Strategy in 90 Days and Double your Inbound Traffic, Leads and Sales
Author: Prafull Sharma
This book will offer an eagle-eye view of how content marketing works, including what to expect at each step of the journey. This is a comprehensive guide on how all the elements of content marketing come together to build a strategy that works.
Why You Should Read It:
A Google search on “content marketing” will leave you overwhelmed and drowning in tips, strategies, and advice from different people. These results are often conflicting, and very rarely will one result give you an idea of how all the various parts of content marketing fit together. If you know the feeling, you will appreciate Prafull Sharma’s guide on building a content marketing strategy, piece by piece.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of The One-Page Content Marketing Blueprint here.
20) Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins
Author: Mark Schaefer
Today, technology makes it easy for our customers to share recommendations with friends and family. As a result, most marketing happens without brands even getting involved.
The consumer is the new marketer. Schaefer uses this book to show us how to be part of these conversations by appealing to the people initiating them.
Why You Should Read It:
This book will challenge your understanding of being an marketer and show you how to build genuine connections with your consumers.
Today, the most prominent brands succeed because they can create human impressions that help customers believe, belong, and find meaning.
Don’t be left behind. With the right strategy, you can join your consumers’ conversations and arm them with the information and passion they need to be your brand ambassadors. If you’d like to do this for your brand, you must get your hands on this book and join the marketing rebellion.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Marketing Rebellion here.
21) The Content Fuel Framework: How to Generate Unlimited Story Ideas
Author: Melanie Deziel
In this book, professional journalist and award-winning marketer Melanie Deziel shows you how to consistently produce engaging content. Her framework will give your brainstorming sessions the boost they need, helping you generate new ideas effortlessly.
Why You Should Read It:
Even the best content creators suffer from writer’s block or brain fog occasionally. With this book, you can forget about wondering what to post on your social media or waiting for that “big idea” to boost your content.
The Content Fuel Framework is designed to help storytellers in any industry develop fresh, unique ideas anytime and anywhere.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of The Content Fuel Framework here.
22) Pre-suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade
Author: Robert Cialdini
According to this New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, your message does not influence people and change their minds. Instead, the moment before you deliver your message has the most power to drive action.
Why You Should Read It:
Cialdini believes that optimal persuasion can only happen after sufficient pre-suasion. For this reason, his book focuses on preparing your audience to be receptive to your message before you even deliver it. If you want to understand how to use diversion to prepare your audience to say “yes” to your brand, this book will be your new best friend.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Pre-suasion here.
23) Content Inc: How Entrepreneurs Use Content to Build Massive Audiences and Create Radically Successful Businesses
Author: Joe Pulizzi
Our list of recommended content marketing books features a second book by Joe Pulizzi. As founder of the Content Marketing Institute, Joe Pulizzi has the credentials to teach us how to be better content marketers.
In this book, Pulizzi recommends reversing the traditional model where brands create a product first and then look for an audience. Instead, he suggests that brands create content, build an audience around that content, and then develop a product for that audience.
Why You Should Read It:
Building a product and trusting that you will find an audience for it is much easier said than done. Brands that do this gamble with their money and investors’ funds. You can never guarantee that there will be an audience for your product once you’ve developed it.
However, if you build an audience first and create content that encourages them to engage with you, you are more likely to make the product they want. Pulizzi shows you how to create content that excites your audience and sparks meaningful conversations.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Content Inc. here
24) The Content Code: Six Essential Strategies for Igniting Your Content, Your Marketing, and Your Business
Author: Mark W. Schaefer
Mark Schaefer shares six digital secrets in The Content Code to help marketers master content promotion and distribution. He also teaches readers how to optimize their content for the web.
Why You Should Read It:
In a world where too many brands fight over a limited attention span, Mark Schaefer teaches these brands how to create content that encourages engagement.
Beyond simply generating engagement, Schaefer’s formula helps brands create content that will turn their audiences into fans who take over, driving their content to new places. This is a must-read if you want to make content your audience will be excited about.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of The Content Code here.
25) Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers with Word of Mouth
Authors: Jae Baer & Daniel Lemin
According to marketing experts Baer and Lemin, word-of-mouth advertising is directly or indirectly responsible for 90% of all purchases. Their book is designed to teach brands how to reach people who love to talk and turn them into brand ambassadors – at no extra cost to the brand.
Why You Should Read It:
We all rely on word of mouth from friends and family to make buying decisions. Ironically enough, fewer than 1% of companies have built a strategy for inspiring customers to do word-of-mouth advertising for them.
Talk Triggers provides that strategy in a compelling, relevant, and timely book. This relatable strategy can be implemented immediately by any business.
Where You Can Find It:
26) Storynomics: Story-Driven Marketing in a Post-Advertising World
Buy your copy of Talk Triggers here.
Authors: Robert McKee & Thomas Gerace
In this book, Robert McKee partners with Skyword CEO Tom Gerace to create a formula for story-driven marketing. This solution is the perfect alternative to interruptive advertising, which our customers are fed up with.
Why You Should Read It:
People rarely click on pop-up ads anymore, so it’s time we found an alternative that works. Are you tired of annoying your target audience by jumping out at them and interrupting their browsing?
If so, this is the perfect read for you. Pick up a copy of this book and learn how to craft a brand story your target audience will naturally be drawn to.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Storynomics here.
27) Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life
Author: Rory Sutherland
In this book, Ogilvy advertising legend Rory Sutherland decodes human behavior and tells us how to create that magical formula to draw customers to our products. It is a treasure chest of the secrets to human decision-making.
Why You Should Read It:
Most human interactions involve marketing, even if it’s not apparent. Sutherland analyses human interactions – from the everyday to the weird – to explain why humans behave the way they do.
By examining human behavior on such a fundamental level, brands everywhere can learn to create content that appeals to the human mind.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Alchemy here.
28) Stories that Stick: How storytelling can Captivate Customers, Influence Audiences, and Transform your Business
Author: Kindra Hall
You already know storytelling’s power to help you connect with your audience and convert leads. But do you know the correct stories to tell? In Stories that Stick, Kindra Hall helps us decide which stories are worth telling and to whom.
Why You Should Read It:
Storytelling seems simple in theory, but crafting a story that your audience will genuinely connect with can be challenging. If you struggle to communicate with customers, build trust with investors, and inspire your audiences, then this is the solution you never knew you needed.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Stories that Stick here.
29) The Copyeditors Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications
Authors: Amy Einsohn & Marilyn Schwartz
Schwartz and Einsohn have developed this guide for new and seasoned copyeditors looking to sharpen their skills. This workbook includes the latest advice from language authorities and recognizes shifts in 21st-century copyediting.
Why You Should Read It:
If you write for a living, then you need this book. Schwartz and Einsohn have thought of everything you could need, from help writing for a global audience to working with authors who write in English as a second language.
The writers have added a dash of humor and interesting anecdotes for language lovers, including a history of punctuation marks that weren’t cut.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of The Copyeditor’s Handbook here.
30) The End of Marketing: Humanizing Your Brand in the Age of Social Media and AI
Author: Carlos Gil
This book helps brands navigate the murky waters of social media marketing, where a single influencer can quickly get more views a day than Apple. Carlos Gil explains how brands can stay relevant in a world where traditional marketing is dead.
Why You Should Read It:
Today’s consumers don’t want to be sold to. Instead, they want to be engaged by the brands clamoring for their attention. Building engagement should be a priority for every brand in this digital landscape. By buying this book, you’re putting the formula for generating positive engagement with your audience in your own hands.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of The End of Marketing here.
31) Words that Change Minds: The 14 Patterns for Mastering the Language of Influence
Author: Shelle Rose Charvet
This book digs into the science of influence to teach readers how to use their words to persuade people without manipulating them. It’s perfect for sales, marketing, recruiting, negotiation, teaching, training, communication at work, and conflict resolution.
Why You Should Read It:
As a content marketer, everyone you talk to has a “communication wall” built around them. This wall is designed to keep out the big lousy marketer notorious for promising the sun and the moon but delivering a rock instead. If you want to get through to even the most stubborn of people, then you need to buy this book.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Words that Change Minds here.
32) Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
Author: Donald Miller
Building a Story Brand is an excellent solution for entrepreneurs who struggle to talk about their brand to audiences. Donald Miller shares lessons on crafting the perfect message for your website, brochures, and social media.
Why You Should Read It:
Building a brand story that excites your audience is crucial to content marketing. Donald Miller’s book teaches you how to do this. By sharing the seven universal story points humans respond to and the real reason customers make purchases, Miller will transform how you talk about your brand.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Building a Story Brand here.
33) Content Strategy for the web
Author: Kristina Halvorson
In this book, Halvorson explains why content is integral to your marketing strategy and how to make it work for your brand. This book offers a refreshing break from content marketing books, which focus on design by putting the focus on quality content.
Why You Should Read It:
A beautiful website is great but means nothing without creative and engaging content. This book will teach you how to combine the aesthetics of your content with valuable information in a beautiful harmony that will appeal to your audience.
Don’t get stuck on beautiful designs while neglecting your content. Offer your target audience the best of both worlds, and they will stick with you.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of “Content Strategy for the Web” here.
34) Binge Marketing: The Best Scenario for Building Your Brand
Author: Carljin Postma
In this book, Carljin Postma takes us to the people who have turned capturing and retaining an audience’s attention into an art: Hollywood. Since Hollywood has been getting people hooked on engaging content for decades, this is an excellent place for content marketing advice.
Why You Should Read It:
As content marketers, we often make the mistake of looking at each piece of content as a separate piece. In Binge Marketing Postma, we are encouraged to think of each new piece of content as a new episode in a TV show.
Creating this kind of serial content fosters trust and builds genuine long-term relationships with your audience.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Binge Marketing here.
35) Killing Marketing: How Innovative Businesses are Turning Marketing Cost into Profit
Authors: Joe Pulizzi & Robert Rose
Pulizzi and Rose take us behind the scenes to innovative marketing departments worldwide, showing us how they are ending marketing as we know it. Their new marketing model is so successful because it focuses on consumer needs.
Why You Should Read It:
If you can create value for your consumers through your owned media and savvy content marketing, you will boost brand loyalty and reach wider audiences. This book will show you how to do that, helping you transform your from a cost center to a profit machine.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Killing Marketing here.
36) Integrated Marketing Communications: Putting it Together & Making It Work
Authors: Don E. Schultz, Stanley Tannenbaum & Robert E. Lauterborn
According to this book, your business formula can be replicated—except for your content marketing. Don E. Schultz and his colleagues are committed to helping brands produce outstanding content that meets the needs of their consumers.
Why You Should Read It:
You might have a fantastic product, but your content helps you build a unique brand image and stay top of mind among your target audience. If you want to create content that stands out, this book is just what you need.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Integrated Marketing Communications here.
37) The Social Organism: A Radical Understanding of Social Media to Transform Your Business and Life
Authors: Oliver Luckett & Michael Casey
In this book, Luckett and Casey make a fascinating comparison between social media and the biology of an organism. They explain how we can use our social media content to take part in the evolution of information on these platforms.
Why You Should Read It:
Do you know how to create shareable content that can go viral? It might seem easy to see other brands doing it, but developing viral content takes time and understanding your audience.
This book shows you how to tap into your consumers’ social DNA and create content they will replicate and share with you repeatedly.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of The Social Organism here.
38) The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period!
Author: Stoney deGeyter
The title of this book speaks for itself—it’s the ultimate guide to boosting your digital marketing. Packed with website strategies, it will help you increase your web traffic and improve your web presence.
Why You Should Read It:
Designing an effective website isn’t simply about slapping pretty colors and leaving it at that. It’s essential to focus on elements that search engines and your target audience will love.
Stoney deGeyter’s checklist covers web marketing strategies for design considerations, site architecture, conversion optimization, website optimization (SEO), website advertising (pay-per-click or PPC), content writing, and social media strategy.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of The Best Damn Marketing Checklist, Period! Here.
39) Top of Mind: Use Content to Unleash Your Influence and Engage Those Who Matter to You
Author: John Hall
John Hall uses his experience to teach readers how to build content-driven relationships that keep your brand in mind among consumers. With the tips in this book, you can make a lasting influence on your target audience.
Why You Should Read It:
The most loyal customers see you as a trusted friend, and Hall teaches you how to build this relationship with your consumers.
Successful businesses do so well because they are the first brands that come to mind when customers think of a particular product. If you want to rise in the ranks and join these brands, then give Top of Mind a read.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Top of Mind here.
40) Giftology: The Art and Science of Using Gifts to Cut Through the Noise, Increase Referrals, and Strengthen Retention
Author: John Ruhlin
If you’ve never considered using gift-giving to boost your brand and connect with potential clients and influencers, then the concepts in this book will surprise you. Ruhlin believes something as simple as a handwritten note could brighten someone’s day and seal a deal.
Why You Should Read It:
You might not have realized this before, but branded gifts can boost your content marketing efforts. The trick is to give your prospect a gift they need precisely when needed.
John Ruhlin teaches his readers how to master the art of gift-giving. You can boost brand awareness and build brand loyalty by learning to give thoughtful gifts.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Giftology here.
41) Powering Content: Building a Nonstop Content Marketing Machine
Author: Laura Busche
When your new product is ready to launch, you want to shout about it from the treetops. But how do you create content that will shout loud enough to be heard above the noise and clutter? Well, you can start by reading this book.
Why You Should Read It:
You might have developed the best product in the world, but your marketing efforts will fail if your audience isn’t excited about your brand.
With Busche’s guide, you can learn to create content your audience can relate to, speaking directly to your customers and inspiring them to take action.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Powering Content here.
42) Brand Now: How to Stand Out in a Crowded, Distracted World
Author: Nick Westergaard
With the rise of technology, sharing the good news about your product will be more accessible than ever. On the contrary, since smartphones have transformed everyone into a content creator, you must find creative ways to break through the clutter. You can start by creating a memorable brand.
Why You Should Read It:
In this book, Westergaard explains how to build a brand that resonates online and offline. Written with wit and insight, brand Now will teach you how to give your brand an unforgettable personality with which your target audience can connect.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of the brand Now here.
43) Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends, and Friends into Customers
Author: Seth Godin
Seth Godin states, “Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal, and relevant messages to people who want to get them.” His book teaches brands how to create content that people will miss.
Why You Should Read It:
Imagine how good it would feel to be missed by a customer who picks up the phone or emails you are complaining that they didn’t get their newsletter this week.
Any brand would dream of creating content that is missed by its audience. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Pick up a copy of Permission Marketing and learn how to create content your clients cherish.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Permission Marketing here.
44) The Age of Influence: The Power of Influencers to Elevate Your Brand
Author: Neal Schaffer
In The Age of Influence, Neal Schaffer explains the elements needed to create an effective influencer marketing strategy for your brand. Schaffer, a social media expert, offers many tips and tricks to help you navigate today’s constantly evolving digital landscape.
Why You Should Read It:
Influencer marketing is an essential part of content marketing. Partnering with influencers helps you create content that your audience can relate to.
A good influencer marketing strategy will help you turn your audience into fans, subsequently turning these fans into influencers. If this sounds good, you must buy a copy of this book.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of The Age of Influence here.
45) Brand New Name: An Unforgettable Brand Name
Author: Jeremy Miller
Jeremy Miller believes your brand name forms the foundation of your branding and content marketing efforts. With this book, you can create an unforgettable brand name that travels far and wide.
Why You Should Read It:
Your brand name is everything. It gives your brand a personality and helps your audience remember your core product or service.
Although many content marketing books focus on branding, this book will help you build a truly exceptional brand that people enjoy connecting with.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Brand New Name here.
46) The Definitive Guide to Strategic Content Marketing: Perspectives, Issues, Challenges and Solutions
Authors: Justin Kirby & Lazar Džamić
This book collects advice from content marketing experts worldwide. A treasure chest of theories, tips, and tricks, The Definitive Guide to Strategic Content Marketing is designed to educate content marketers of all levels and abilities.
Why You Should Read It:
Are you curious about the theories that have made content marketing work so well for brands today? This book is just that, with examples from brands worldwide. Understanding how content marketing theories have shaped today’s marketing world will help you adapt these theories to your brand.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of The Definitive Guide to Strategic Content Marketing here.
47) One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days
Author: Brendan Kane
In One Million Followers, digital strategist and growth hacker Brendan Kane teaches readers how to go beyond building an engaged social media following to gain dedicated fans.
Why You Should Read It:
Do you want to create content that inspires your followers to do more than mindlessly click the ‘like’ button and scroll to the next thing? Would you like to publish content that stops people in their tracks and drives them to check your website and purchase your products?
If this is you, you should let Kane show you how in this book. Having built online platforms for A-listers, including Taylor Swift and Rihanna, he has what it takes to transform your social media presence.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of One Million Followers here.
48) Content Marketing for PR: How to Build Brand Visibility, Influence, and Trust in Today’s Social Age
Author: Trevor Young
Standing out from the competition and producing content that matters has become almost impossible today. Even so, with this guide, you can boost brand visibility and gain your audience’s trust.
Why You Should Read It:
As content marketers, we yearn to produce content that helps us break through the sea of voices crying out for attention. This is the only one of our 50 books that examines content marketing from a PR perspective.
This book combines influential content marketing and public relations theories to help you do just that. The right content marketing strategy is a series of good decisions you make for your brand. The first good decision you can make is to read this book.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of Content Marketing for PR here.
49) Ultimate Guide to Link Building
Authors: Eric Ward & Garrett French
Content marketing isn’t simply about producing brilliant content for your brand. You must also make sure this content is easy to find. Ward and French’s book shows us how to optimize our content for the web.
Why You Should Read It:
Your job as a content marketer doesn’t end when you’ve created unique content. To truly outshine your competitors, you must also ensure this content is visible on search engines. In The Ultimate Guide to Link Building, Eric Ward and Garrett French will show you how to make your audience happy while making Google happy.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of The Ultimate Guide to Link Building here.
50) This is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until you Learn to See
Author: Seth Godin
No, you’re not imagining things. Out of our list of 50 content marketing books, this is the third Seth Godin book we’ve recommended because he’s just that good. In another insightful book, Godin explains the importance of your audience in your content marketing efforts.
Why You Should Read It:
Many marketers make the mistake of using consumers to fulfill the brand’s needs instead of vice versa, which is how it should be. Seth Godin tells us, “You can’t be seen until you learn to see,” effectively saying that you must see your audience to produce valuable content.
Understanding your audience’s pain points is vital to this. With Godin’s content marketing tips, you can finally learn what it takes to produce content your audience values.
Where You Can Find It:
Buy your copy of This is Marketing here.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many good content marketing books. If you want to brush up on your content marketing skills, the 50 books above are an excellent place to start. Alternatively, a good content marketing course could be just what you need.