Operating in the business-to-business marketing world can sometimes feel a bit like getting left behind. Many educational materials for marketers such as courses, masterclasses, and certificates focus on the business-to-consumer side of the equation. That leaves B2B experts scraping the barrel for resources or adapting B2C content to apply to them. Thankfully, there’s a strong community of authors providing B2B marketing books to help marketers grow and evolve in their profession.
Hone Your Craft With These B2B Marketing Books
Here are some of the best B2B marketing books available:
1. Mean People Suck: How Empathy Leads to Bigger Profits and a Better Life by Michael Brenner
Marketing isn’t just about selling a product; it’s about establishing relationships with people who may eventually become customers. That’s one of the compelling premises behind Mean People Suck. Michael Brenner’s book explores just how far empathy can go in building workplace cultures that deliver success and greater satisfaction for employees, customers, and shareholders. Just about everyone knows mean people suck, but there’s not always an obvious way to counter that negative energy. Brenner’s book outlines a helpful way for turning kindness against rudeness and strengthening your business in the process.
2. Renegade Marketing: 12 Steps to Building Unbeatable B2B Brands by Drew Neisser
If the insight of a single marketing expert can completely transform the way you view your profession, what impact do you think the insight of over 400 would have? Drew Neisser interviewed that many top marketers for Renegade Marketing. And B2B professionals at all stages of their career will have something to learn from what he found. Nessier formulated what he called the CATS characteristics — courageous, artful, thoughtful, and scientific. He found these were the cornerstones of all great marketers. His book helps everyone who reads it leverage their CATS qualities to experience marketing success.
3. Top of Mind: Use Content to Unleash Your Influence and Engage Those Who Matter to You by John Hall
When people think of leaders in your industry, there are probably a few names that pop up no matter who you ask. Why is that? What makes those people so universally acknowledged? That’s the question John Hall asks in Top of Mind. He finds that it’s essential to deploy the right content in the right places at the right times. His insights can be immediately put into practice by B2B marketers. You can leverage your existing marketing skills toward achieving levels of reach you never thought possible.
4. Product-Led SEO: The Why Behind Building Your Organic Growth Strategy by Eli Schwartz
Marketers who have dabbled in SEO know that it often feels more like witchcraft than science. Eli Schwartz is here to demystify it all for you. Product-Led SEO isn’t just a how-to guide that tells you what to do without giving you an explanation. Instead, it’s a deep-dive into the fundamentals and logic of SEO. B2B marketers can’t afford to ignore SEO, and Schwartz’s book is the best introduction out there. You don’t have to feel as though you’re stumbling through the dark.
5. Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers With Word of Mouth by Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin
The best marketer isn’t really a marketer at all: it’s the customer. A satisfied customer will sing your praises to other customers likely to engage with your products. If they have a good experience, they create even more satisfied customers and so on. How can marketers maximize this effect? Talk Triggers gives a multitude of examples and case studies to try and answer this question. Authors Jay Bear and Daniel Lemin also provide a framework for trying to formulate your own methods. The more customers who do your marketing for you, the easier your job becomes in the long run.
6. The Challenger Customers: Selling to The Hidden Influencer Who Can Multiply Your Results by Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon, Pat Spenner, and Nick Toman
Trying to market a product to an entire business poses a number of challenges. One of the biggest is often trying to drum up a consensus within the business itself. You may have successfully sold to a certain project manager only for another to step in and disagree. The Challenger Customer was written to help you identify exactly who you need to direct your efforts toward. Hint: It’s the person who’s able to build the consensus necessary to buy your product. If you can convince them — which the book also provides guidance for — you’ll be able to convince the entire business.
7. The Launch Book: Motivational Stories to Launch Your Idea, Business, or Next Career by Sanyin Siang
Sometimes all you need to succeed is to know that others have done the same before you. Sanyin Siang has collected success stories from across the business world in hopes of inspiring others. The Launch Book is a great B2B marketing book for those looking for expertise and guidance. Even better, it’s in a format easy for quick, on-the-go reading.
8. The Ultimate Marketing Engine: 5 Steps to Ridiculously Consistent Growth by John Jantsch
Titles that assist business owners of all sizes in realizing growth through effective marketing practices are especially noteworthy. More often than not, “the little guy” gets ignored as authors assume readers work with six-figure marketing budgets. John Jantsch gets this. He opted to name his approach The Duct Tape Marketing System. The title itself mirrors his dedication to maintaining ideas that are both approachable and relatable. In The Ultimate Marketing Engine, Jantsch encourages marketers to focus less on ROI and turn their attention to the customers. By working to bring about the growth of the customer, you facilitate the growth of your businesses. Relating to customers as human beings fuels a consistently healthier bottom line.
9. Law Firm SEO: Exposing the Google Algorithm to Help You Get More Cases by Jason Hennessey
It takes more than just talent to drive clients to your law firm. You also need to stand out in Google search. Jason Hennessy gives law firm marketers the competitive edge they need to stand out in today’s crowded market. In Law Firm SEO, Hennessey shows readers how he used practical tools and techniques to reverse engineer Google’s algorithm and achieve SEO success. This book proves that you don’t have to be an SEO expert to utilize this essential marketing tool.
10. Creating Superfans: How To Turn Your Customers Into Lifelong Advocates by Brittany Hodak
What’s the best marketing tool in the world? A raving customer. In her book Creating Superfans, customer experience speaker Brittany Hodak teaches readers how to turn customers into loyal, enthusiastic advocates. This is the rare business book that’s actually fun to read, thanks to anecdotes Hodak shares from her collaborations with superstar artists and brands like Taylor Swift, Motley Crue, Walmart, and Disney. She drives home the point that every employee is in the experience department. Then she gives them the tools they need to turn CX into a superpower.
11. Beyond High Performance: What Great Coaches Know About How the Best Get Better by Jason Jaggard
Sustained success isn’t solely dependent on innate talent or abundant resources. Rather, it’s about embracing a mindset that sees challenges as opportunities and utilizes failures as stepping stones toward improvement. In Beyond High Performance, Jason Jaggard reveals how the best consistently excel without burning out. With his real-world coaching experiences and coaching tools from Novus Global and the Meta Performance Institute, this book provides a fresh perspective on leadership and organizational growth. Marketers who adopt the insights, tools, and culture-shaping principles shared in this book, can push their boundaries. They’ll thrive in the face of challenges, and consistently evolve to meet the ever-changing demands of the industry.
12. The Hawke Method: The Three Principles of Marketing That Made Over 3,000 Brands Soar by Erik Huberman
In the realm of B2B marketing, success often comes down to having a well-defined strategy. Amidst the myriad resources available, one book stands out as a comprehensive guide to achieving marketing excellence: The Hawke Method. This book encapsulates the distilled wisdom of a marketing savant who has propelled over 3,000 brands to soaring success through a proven framework. Drawing from his extensive experience, Huberman identifies three core principles that underpin every thriving marketing strategy — awareness, nurturing, and trust. Readers who learn to seamlessly integrate these three principles, will have a powerful and effective approach to B2B marketing.
No great marketer ever became great all on their own. They may have had a valuable education, expert mentor, or perhaps just a particularly insightful book. The B2B marketing books on this list can help elevate your marketing skills. You may even be surprised by how they shift your mindset.
The post 12 B2B Marketing Books To Add To Your Reading List appeared first on Marketing Insider Group.
