Marketing reading list

I was recently invited to a Sunday guest workshop/lecture about startup marketing for DDVE Master’s students. One of the questions I was asked was good books and other resources about marketing. Here’s the list I sent over, with some later additions:

  • Viral Loop by Adam Penenberg gives a good overview of evolution of viral marketing concepts from Tupperware parties to just before the time companies like Zynga took viral concepts onto a completely new level. Apparently every new employee in the Facebook marketing teams gets to read it.
  • Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug. If you’re building anything on the web, you’ll want to read this. Perhaps not the latest thinking in UX and web design, but author makes some points that were just as valid 7 years ago than they are now.
  • Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini. Not really a marketing book, rather a book about the applications of psychology into marketing and selling. A useful read nevertheless.
  • The Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steven Gary Blank. Not one for a beach holiday – and I’m speaking from the experience. A bit textbooky, but the good news is that it covers the process of customer development so thoroughly it’ll probably stick with you forever. Must read for tech startup builders/marketers.
  • Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah. Dharmesh is the king of inbound marketing but he only shares the very basics in this book. Great if you’re new to content marketing, a little light if you’re intermediate to advanced.
  • Clockwork Pirate (free ebook) by Kelvin Newman. The guy behing The Internet Marketing podcast has put together this short and very practical book on link building.
  • …and don’t forget the classic Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout.
  • All these were Amazon affiliate links by the way. If you choose to buy any of these books, I’ll use the proceeds on liquor, women and gambling, so don’t worry, this won’t result in more reading lists.

    When it comes to blogs then there are more good ones than a mortal could ever read. I try to stay on top of Conversation Marketing, SEOMOZ blog and Startup Marketing blog and count on twittersphere to bring me the rest of marketing news and trends.

    Also, I’m a big fan of podcasts because I can use my commute or otherwise “empty” time slots for consuming them. I regularly listen to Internet Marketing podcast which is practical and SEO-focused, and Six Pixels of Separation, which is a collection of interviews with authors and thinkers in the field of communication.

    Any good ones I’ve left out?

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