The Best Non-Marketing Books for Marketers
Let’s be clear: there is no shortage of books for marketers looking to upskill. Whatever you’re looking for, from brand strategy to product marketing to paid ads to SEO, there is likely a great printed resource to get you a little further along the path. Even in my little niche, I won’t have the capacity to read all the content marketing books on the market.
But I’ve also found that it’s helpful to look outside my industry for inspiration.
Insight and a fresh perspective turn up all the time for me in fiction. Brilliant little nuggets of learning hide in memoirs and in biographies. And nonfiction books that research social sciences or psychology are a gold mine for understanding human behavior.
And you know what? I’m not alone.
I asked some fellow marketing leaders what non-marketing books have shaped their practice over the years, and the results are in. The recommendations come from all genres and industries: fiction, manufacturing, psychology, philosophy, and UX.
Here are the top non-marketing books for marketers (as recommended by marketers themselves).
7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy by Hamilton Helmer
From Amazon:
"What are the secrets to making a company enduringly valuable?
7 Powers breaks fresh ground by constructing a comprehensive strategy toolset that is easy for you to learn, communicate and quickly apply.Using rich real-world examples, Helmer rigorously characterizes exactly what your business must achieve to create Power. And create Power it must, for without it your business is at risk. He explains why invention always comes first and then develops the Power Progression to enable you to target when your Power must be established: in the Origination, Take-Off or Stability phases of your business."
“This is a useful and concise book that every marketer should read to better align themselves with overarching business strategy. It’s easy to accept maxims in business, we do it often. Helmer’s approach takes the maxims and breaks down the algorithms that truly define how businesses win – with real life examples. For 200 pages, it packs a punch and will leave you plenty to think about.” — Chris Brunelli, CEO, ZeroOne eCommerce
2. Design for How People Think: Using Brain Science to Build Better Products by John Whalen
From Amazon:
“User experience doesn’t happen on a screen; it happens in the mind, and the experience is multidimensional and multisensory. This practical book will help you uncover critical insights about how your customers think so you can create products or services with an exceptional experience.
Corporate leaders, marketers, product owners, and designers will learn how cognitive processes from different brain regions form what we perceive as a singular experience. Author John Whalen shows you how anyone on your team can conduct "contextual interviews" to unlock insights. You’ll then learn how to apply that knowledge to design brilliant experiences for your customers.”
“Design for How People Think takes a deep dive into what experiences are. I love the ‘going out to eat’ example. The pre, during, and post experience breakdowns were a light bulb moment for me. I understood the customer journey on an intuitive level. All of the decisions that go into the restaurant selection, interactions with the hostess, the in-person ambiance, the post-dining experience. Our jobs are to set the stage for experiences.” — Lia Parisyan Schmidt, VP of Content Marketing, Insider
3. Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life by Albert-László Barabási
From Amazon:
"A cocktail party. A terrorist cell. Ancient bacteria. An international conglomerate. All are networks, and all are a part of a surprising scientific revolution. In Linked, Albert-László Barabási, the nation's foremost expert in the new science of networks, takes us on an intellectual adventure to prove that social networks, corporations, and living organisms are more similar than previously thought. Linked tells the story of the true science of the future and of experiments in statistical mechanics on the internet, all vital parts of what would eventually be called the Barabási model."
"If you like Malcolm Gladwell, read this book. It’s a network science book (so totally non-marketing) but it shows how ideas move between people. It’s very applicable to anyone wanting their message to travel further for free!" — Tom Ridges, CEO & Founder, Geo Data Labs
4. Million Dollar Consulting by Alan Weiss
From Amazon:
"This classic guide covers the ins and outs for competing and winning in this ultracompetitive field. You’ll find step-by-step advice on how to raise capital, attract clients, create a marketing plan, and grow your business into a $1 million-per-year firm, plus brand-new material on:
Blogging and social networking
Global consulting
Delegating labor
Profiting in a troubled market
Retainer business
Internet marketing"
"In my career, I have always focused on offering a high-touch, premium priced service. Alan Weiss's Million Dollar Consulting is the ideal bible for how to achieve this. The key lesson for me was that I had to establish myself as a peer (and partner) to the CEO of the client company. Most other sales problems fall into line when this is achieved." — Jochen Daum, Solutions Architect, Managed Hosting Partners
5. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss
From Amazon:
"After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a hostage negotiator brought him face-to-face with a range of criminals, including bank robbers and terrorists. Reaching the pinnacle of his profession, he became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. Never Split the Difference takes you inside the world of high-stakes negotiations and into Voss’s head, revealing the skills that helped him and his colleagues succeed where it mattered most: saving lives. In this practical guide, he shares the nine effective principles—counterintuitive tactics and strategies—you too can use to become more persuasive in both your professional and personal life."
"I recommend this book every chance I get. It’s all about the art of negotiation and fits into marketing strategies brilliantly!" — Elle R., Owner, ClearCopyworks
6. On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft by Stephen King
From Amazon:
"Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work.
Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery."
"Stephen King's knowledge of his craft is immense and the book is filled with helpful tips to improve content. It's become a copywriting standard for many. Insightful and entertaining." — Warren Potter, Content Strategist, ContentBot.ai
7. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
From Amazon:
"Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery.
Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams."
"Marketers tend to have a herd mentality and the book's message is that Fear is a bigger obstacle than fear itself. Marketers also tend to ignore the fundamentals, and the book conveys that what is true will endure." — Neil Verma, Author of Checkout: The Step-by-Step, 7C Method to Build a Dominant Ecommerce Brand
8. The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas by G. Richard Shell & Mario Moussa
From Amazon:
"G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa know what it takes to drive new ideas through complex organizations. They have advised thousands of executives from companies such as Google, Microsoft, and General Electric to organizations like the World Bank and even the FBI's hostage rescue training program. In The Art of Woo, they present their systematic, four-step process for winning over even the toughest bosses and most skeptical colleagues. Beginning with two powerful self-assessments to help readers find their "Woo IQ," they show how relationship-based persuasion works to open hearts and minds."
"This book can help anyone become more persuasive in everyday conversations, but also lends itself to becoming a better marketer." — Terry Rice, Business Development Consultant
9. The Experience Economy by B. Joseph Pine II & James H. Gilmore
From Amazon:
"Apple Stores, Disney, LEGO, Starbucks. Do these names conjure up images of mere goods and services, or do they evoke something more—something visceral?
Welcome to the Experience Economy, where businesses must form unique connections in order to secure their customers' affections—and ensure their own economic vitality.
This seminal book on experience innovation by Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore explores how savvy companies excel by offering compelling experiences for their customers, resulting not only in increased customer allegiance but also in a more profitable bottom line."
"This book gives organizations a roadmap to becoming experience-centric. It is prescriptive and has different stages of experience maturity and what organizations need to do to evolve." — Lia Parisyan Schmidt, VP of Content Marketing, Insider
10. The Goal: A Business Graphic Novel by Eliyahu Goldratt
From Amazon:
"Alex Rogo is a harried plant manager who has been given 90 days to save his failing factory. If he doesn't improve the plant's performance, corporate headquarters will close it down and hundreds of workers will lose their jobs. It takes a chance meeting with Jonah, a former professor, to help him break out of his conventional thinking and figure out what needs to be done. As Alex identifies the plant's problems and works with his team to find solutions, the reader gains an understanding of the fundamental concepts behind the Theory of Constraints."
“Concepts presented in this book and Theory of Constraints (also by Goldratt) are widely applied in a manufacturing context, but I've found them to be excellent resources for anyone concerned with objectives, strategy, process, improvement, and results. I find so many marketing programs get mired down in tactical execution and a focus on leveraging the "market-engagement-trend-du-jour" that too often a disconnect between the ultimate goal and the implementation occurs. The concepts presented in these books are great resources to help one remain grounded in why we employ certain marketing strategies and techniques and in helping to identify and diagnose areas in need of improvement." — Joe Fromandi, Business Strategy and Innovation Consultant, THINKBOULD
11. The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
From Amazon:
“How do we win a game that has no end? Finite games, like football or chess, have known players, fixed rules and a clear endpoint. The winners and losers are easily identified. Infinite games, games with no finish line, like business or politics, or life itself, have players who come and go. The rules of an infinite game are changeable while infinite games have no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers—only ahead and behind.
The question is, how do we play to succeed in the game we’re in?
In this revelatory new book, Simon Sinek offers a framework for leading with an infinite mindset.”
“Incredible insights on making decisions and building businesses for long-term impact and growth rather than short-term ‘wins.’': — Tanya Stanfield, Founder and CEO, True Believer Brands
12. The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible by Charles Eisenstein
From Amazon:
“In a time of social and ecological crisis, what can we as individuals do to make the world a better place? This inspirational and thought-provoking book serves as an empowering antidote to the cynicism, frustration, paralysis, and overwhelm so many of us are feeling, replacing it with a grounding reminder of what’s true: we are all connected, and our small, personal choices bear unsuspected transformational power. By fully embracing and practicing this principle of interconnectedness—called interbeing—we become more effective agents of change and have a stronger positive influence on the world.
Eisenstein invites us to embrace a radically different understanding of cause and effect, sounding a clarion call to surrender our old worldview of separation, so that we can finally create the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.”
Recommended by Nick Richtsmeier, Principal, CultureCraft
13. The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz
From Amazon:
“Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions—both big and small—have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented.
In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice—the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish—becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counterintuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.”
“Understanding how more choice can flummox people helps me market my services better and advise clients on number and design of offerings.” — Evelyn Starr, Chief Brand Strategist, E. Starr Associates
14. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
From Amazon:
“In The Power of Habit, award-winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Distilling vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives that take us from the boardrooms of Procter & Gamble to the sidelines of the NFL to the front lines of the civil rights movement, Duhigg presents a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential. At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. As Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.”
“This book puts our behavior into a wild perspective: most of the things we do we don’t really think about. Our brains ‘automate’ most tasks to free our brain power up to think about higher-order, more important things.
When we realize people do things out of habit, our whole perspective changes on how to market product and how important the “aha” moment becomes to form a habit with your product." — Brooks Lockett, B2B Saas Copywriter, GoCopyTech
15. The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
From Amazon:
“Many of the defining moments in our lives are the result of accident or luck - but why leave our most meaningful, memorable moments to chance when we can create them?
In The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath explore the stories of people who have created standout moments, from the owners who transformed an utterly mediocre hotel into one of the best-loved properties in Los Angeles by conjuring moments of magic for guests, to the scrappy team that turned around one of the worst elementary schools in the country by embracing an intervention that lasts less than an hour.”
“Because marketing shouldn't be about stuff as much as experiences." — Anne Janzer, Author, Cuesta Park Consulting
I'm a brand content strategist helping B2B SaaS companies leverage empathy to communicate value, empower customers, and drive revenue. You can learn more about my content strategy process, 1-on-1 consulting calls, and group training workshops, and I’d love to connect with you on LinkedIn!
