5 Audiobooks Every Marketer Needs to Download

If you’re anything like me, you’re motivated to read and keep learning. If you can’t get a coffee with someone that you look up to in order to “pick their brain,” how better to learn from them than to soak up the knowledge that they’ve elected to meticulously refine and sell for profit?

That’s all well and good, but many of us don’t have time to sit down and read any more- as

the father of a five month old, I know I don’t! Luckily, audiobooks are another story. Audible has been a godsend for me, allowing me to maximize my time in the car, on the plane, or even walking our Chief Companion Officer, Samson.

So, in the spirit of efficiency, here are my top five audiobooks that every marketer needs to download (and actually listen to) at least once:

The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell

This book is a classic and changed my perspective on marketing when I was just getting started in building my first business. Gladwell masterfully lays out the three types of people that matter most to marketers- Connectors, Mavens, and Informants- and how to engage them. The Tipping Point is an excellent opportunity for marketers to re-examine who they’re targeting and why.

 

Ask: The Counterintuitive Online Formula to Discover Exactly What Your Customers Want to Buy…Create a Mass of Raving Fans…and Take Any Business to the Next Level, by Ryan Levesque

Levesque cleverly lays out his system for enabling audiences to self-qualify themselves into “buckets” for superior audience segmentation. In “Ask.”, Levesque shows marketers how to stop guessing what their customers want and start gathering useful data that can be leveraged into more intelligent product offerings, customer incentives, and brand messaging- all leading to an improved ROI for readers that are able to implement Levesque’s Ask-based system.

 

5 Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni

Patrick Lencioni has produced content as powerful as anyone when it comes to teams and corporate culture. Lencioni’s “5 Dysfunctions of a Team” is an easy listen, especially since Lencioni teaches through fables and then provides key take-aways at the end of his books.

While this book isn’t directly related to marketing, marketing pros know that they’re only as strong as their counterparts throughout their organization and the organizations that they partner with. Marketing leaders on both the brand side and agency side would be wise to take Lencioni’s words to heart and work to improve their corporate cultures after listening to this book.

Pitch Anything, by Oren Klaff

I must admit that I’m hesitant to include this book here. Not because it’s not worth the listen, but because I kind of view it as a secret weapon- that’s how powerful this book has been for me.

Klaff, a master dealmaker and negotiator, walks listeners through the art of framing meetings and conversations in order to obtain their desired results. Klaff explains how different frames work and they can be stacked on top of each other to close the biggest deals with the toughest negotiators. Marketers can leverage these strategies when negotiating media buys, agency service contracts, or even when constructing brand messaging- Klaff’s frames work in just about any format.

 

All Marketers are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World, by Seth Godin

“All Marketers are Liars” is a great listen for marketers looking to improve their ability to craft stories that ring true with their target audiences. More than a decade old, this nugget from Seth Godin, which features case studies from Fox News and Sirius XM Radio, among others, rings truer than ever. Godin explains the fine line that marketers must walk in order to use storytelling to paint the bright pictures that customers want and cast aside the inauthentic tactics that result in customer resentment.

Every marketer should know how to tell a great story- we’re asked to do it every day across social channels, in our email marketing, and in traditional ads- not to mention the customer experience. Godin does an excellent job explaining how to craft an incredible story that rings true, if for no other reason than because customers believe it to be.

 

What books are you listening to? Drop us a line and let us know of any great ones that we should add to our list!