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Need a reason to crack open a book tonight? Reading increases your brain power, boosts intelligence, and is generally a better way to spend a few hours than playing Candy Crush or refreshing your Instagram feed. (After all, no one wants to be that person who likes photos 25 seconds after they were posted.)
On the Marketing Cloudcast, the marketing podcast from Salesforce, we think book recommendations from fellow marketers are extremely helpful.
Why? Another person’s recommendation might be something you never would’ve picked on your own — and their confirmation that it’s worthwhile saves you time investing in fifty pages of a dud. That’s why we ask every guest of the podcast for his or her #1 book recommendation for marketers.
So if your 2016 goals include being a better marketer, check out these book suggestions from past Marketing Cloudcast guests that fit the bill perfectly. Ranging from marketing-focused to general professional to the more eccentric, see if any of these titles pique your interest.
Book in a nutshell: Armed with surprising data and endlessly fascinating examples, Adam Alter addresses the subtle but substantial ways in which outside forces influence us — such as color’s influence on mood, our bias in favor of names with which we identify, and how sunny days can induce optimism as well as aggression.
Check out Katie’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: Lencioni reveals the five dysfunctions which go to the very heart of why even the best teams often struggle. He outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome these common hurdles and build a cohesive, effective team.
Check out Chad’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: This book explores how Conley’s company “the second largest boutique hotelier in the world” overcame the storm that hit the travel industry by applying Abraham Maslow’s iconic Hierarchy of Needs to what Conley identifies as the key Relationship Truths in business with Employees, Customers and Investors.
Check out Adrienne’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: It’s time for a change, so Dominic packs his collection of hats and his piccolo and heads out. Dominic encounters members of the Doomsday Gang and foils their attempt to rob him. Legend of his victory spreads, and each new friend tells him a story of their own meeting with the villains, and asks for help. But can one lone dog bring down an entire band of hooligans? Jeanniey says readers of any age can learn something new each time they read this book.
Check out Jeanniey’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: Veteran coach and management consultant David Allen shares the breakthrough methods for stress-free performance that he has introduced to tens of thousands of people across the country. Allen’s premise is simple: our productivity is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized can we achieve effective productivity and unleash our creative potential.
Check out Scott’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: Instead of annoying potential customers by interrupting their most coveted commodity — time — Permission Marketing offers consumers incentives to accept advertising voluntarily, enabling companies to develop long-term relationships with customers, create trust, build brand awareness, and greatly improve the chances of making a sale.
Check out Brett’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: Think and Grow Rich has been used by millions of business leaders around the world to create a concrete plan for success that, when followed, never fails. As a young special investigator for a national business magazine, the author, Napoleon Hill, was sent to interview Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie slyly dropped a hint of a certain master power he used; a magic law of the human mind. Carnegie suggested to Hill that on that principle he could build the philosophy of all personal success.
Check out Joe’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: Emotional Branding explores how effective consumer interaction needs to be about senses and feelings, emotions and sentiments. Unless we focus on humanizing the branding process, we will lose the powerful emotional connection people have with brands.
Check out Kyle’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: In Brain Rules, molecular biologist Dr. John Medina shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule — what scientists know for sure about how our brains work — and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.
Check out Christophe’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: Financial success, the author believed, is due 15% to professional knowledge and 85 percent to “the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people.” He teaches these skills through underlying principles of dealing with people so that they feel important and appreciated.
Check out Brian’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and John Romero. Together, they ruled big business. They transformed popular culture. And they provoked a national controversy.
Check out Chris’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: Had The Blair Witch Project been a book instead of a film, and had it been written by, say, Nabokov at his most playful, revised by Stephen King at his most cerebral, and typeset by the futurist editors of Blastat their most avant-garde, the result might have been something likeHouse of Leaves.
Check out Jeff’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: If there is one strain of conventional wisdom pervading every company in every industry, it’s the absolute importance of “competing like crazy.” Youngme Moon’s message is simply “Get off this treadmill that’s taking you nowhere.” Different provides a highly original perspective on what it means to offer something that is meaningfully different.
Check out Robert’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: Marketing has become a necessary evil for every business, but what if we adopted a different view of it? What if marketing was less about promotion or coercion and more about reaching out to people and helping them to solve problems? What if it was our vantage point for seeing the world through the eyes of our customers? How different would marketing be then?
Check out Susan’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: Here are all the proven selling techniques to remove the guesswork from advertising, making it a science of sure results. From writing the headline to making the offer, Caples shows you how to make all your advertising successful.
Check out Jonathan’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: In this new book, Brian Solis shares why great products are no longer good enough to win with customers and why he future of business is experiential. The idea of a book was re-imagined for a digital meets analog world to be a relevant and sensational experience.
Check out Lee’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: War photographer Lynsey Addario’s memoir is the story of how the relentless pursuit of truth, in virtually every major theater of war in the twenty-first century, has shaped her life, letting her capture the complex lives of others.
Check out Sarah’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception. Rather than always creating the greater good, markets are inherently filled with tricks and traps and will “phish” us as “phools.”
Check out Daniel’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: Most of us assume that other people see us as we see ourselves, and that they see us as we truly are. But neither is true. Our everyday interactions are colored by subtle biases that distort how others see us — and also shape our perceptions of them. Learn to clarify the message you’re sending.
Check out Nick’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Book in a nutshell: The world-renowned psychologist Timothy Wilson shows us how to redirect the stories we tell about ourselves and the world around us, with subtle prompts, in ways that lead to lasting change. Fascinating, groundbreaking, and practical, the book demonstrates the remarkable power small changes can have on the ways we see ourselves and our environment.
Check out Susan’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
For more helpful insights from marketing leaders like these — or to listen to the full episode of any of the marketers listed here — check out the Marketing Cloudcast on iTunes or Stitcher, and read the latest episode recaps.
Originally published at www.exacttarget.com on March 7, 2016.
