Digital Marketing is constantly changing, and it can often be a struggle to stay ahead of the competition. With new books coming out weekly, it can be hard to know which ones deserve your precious time. So we’ve done you a favour and picked out our top 9 digital marketing books so you get the most out of your time, with a bonus book at the end.
Digital Marketing Strategy: An Integrated Approach to Online Marketing
By Simon Kingsnorth
Author Simon Kingsnorth demonstrates how to formulate the best strategy for a company, using digital marketing techniques with business strategy and established marketing models. These include the 7 P’s, Porter’s Five Forces, and Customer Lifetime Value.
This book is a second edition of the best-selling guide, Digital Marketing Strategy. Recommended by the Chartered Institute of Marketing. It uses an accessible, step-by-step framework that enables the planning, integration and measurement of each digital platform and technique, which assists the selection, alignment, and management of the digital channels.
Topics covered within this book include SEO, social media, content marketing, user experience, customer loyalty, automation and personalisation, marketing automation, messaging, and email, online and offline integration, AI, data protection and privacy strategies.
In addition to this, there are also downloadable templates and resources. It’s an ideal road map for any marketer to streamline a digital marketing strategy for measurable, optimised results.
“This is a really good book to read for those with experience with digital marketing, or for those who like me don’t have a great deal of experience but need to learn more.”
Reviewed in the United Kingdom
Shoot The HiPPO: How to be a killer Digital Marketing Manager
By Tom Bowden & Tom Jepson
This book will teach you everything you need to know about becoming a better digital marketing manager. It focuses on creating a data-driven decision-making culture in your business.
In today’s marketing world, we can often feel bombarded by data. Yet, many businesses make crucial marketing decisions not based on information and statistics but on the dreaded HiPPO.
In this book, Bowden and Jepson describe how, under harsh conditions, rational and data-based decision-making can often give way to personal opinion and gut feeling. They give us a solution to building a culture based on data-driven decision making, vitally, shooting the HiPPO. Alongside this, the authors cover all the technical skills required for success in today’s digital marketing landscape, such as SEO, email marketing, and Google Analytics.
“I’d recommend the read, if for just the snippets of story intertwined in amongst all the learning. The book’s a fantastic starting or growing point for any digital marketer (especially if they want to know about SEO – phew that section was intense!). “
Cecilia Hoggart
Digital Marketing
By Dave Chaffey & Fiona Ellis-Chadwick
The seventh edition of the Digital Marketing book, written by Dave Chaffey, who is a digital marketing consultant and co-founder of Smart Insights, and Fiona Ellis-Chadwick, a senior lecturer of marketing at Loughborough University School of Business and Economics.
This seventh edition provides guidance on how companies can get the most out of digital media and technology to meet their marketing goals. They offer case studies as well as models that can be used to develop skills needed in the workplace. The book recommends the best practical frameworks and techniques, including, search marketing, conversion optimisation and digital communications using social media.
“The book is a great resource, full of extremely relevant information, tools, and frameworks that can be put in practice straight away to improve your business and marketing strategy.”
Reviewed in the United Kingdom
Marketing Communications: Integrating Online and Offline, Customer Engagement and Digital Technologies
By PR Smith & Ze Zook
World renowned marketers, PR Smith and Ze Zook present marketing communications. This book has the strongest integration of online and offline communication compared to the competition, which is too strict and unwavering.
This book will teach the reader all about communicating with customers and gaining engagement and retention. There are different focus points such as AI in marketing & ethical issues, and trouble with data management, all of which can be a problem for any marketer in a digital field.
This book includes:
- How AI, the Internet of Things, Big Data, AR/VR, and marketing automation can be used successfully in campaigns
- The opportunity and risks of social media
- How to navigate ethical and data management challenges
- How to use the current preferred digital marketing tools and technology
“This is a great book all round – written in plain English, with lots of interesting case studies, well laid out – actually looked forward to finding out what happens next – this is truly unique for me because I don’t really focus well on books, maybe it’s the kindle app..? Highly recommended! “
Reviewed in the United Kingdom
Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers
By Russell Brunson
From Russell Brunson, co-founder, and CEO of ClickFunnels, Traffic Secrets takes a step-by-step approach in teaching you the most effective ways to overcome the obstacle of making your business known to potential customers, and how to drive that quality traffic into your funnel – creating a loyal pool of customers in the process.
Traffic Secrets offers several strategies to assist you in identifying the most effective ways to attract your ideal customer (or your ‘dream’ customer, as referred to in the book) into your funnel – from the initial point of understanding who your ideal customer is and where they exist online.
On top of the multiple new strategies Brunson will share with you regarding how to effectively drive traffic, how to grow your following across a number of platforms – as well as other methods of expanding your online business - a thorough read of Traffic Secrets will alter your perspective of several existing business principles, and will teach you the small, various changes you can make to continually drive traffic over time, and to keep your business on top of its game in the constantly changing world of digital marketing.
The long-term strategies you’ll be taught in this book are enduring and will stand the test of time so as long as there are customers to engage with online.
“If you need to get traffic, this book is the ONLY thing you need to read!”
Katie
Brand Storytelling: Put Customers at the Heart of Your Brand Story
By Miri Rodriguez
One of the most important parts of establishing a successful brand is through storytelling. Credited with multiple awards and reviewed by many, testifying how insightful Miri’s in-depth outlook on customer relationships and loyalty. Throughout she gives inspiring advice and goes into detailed case studies from brands like Expedia, Coca Cola, Adobe, and Google.
Rodriguez constructs a step by step guide to position the customer as the key to motivate the audience. At the heart, a good business strategy revolves around brand loyalty, customer behaviour and engagement. By incorporating storytelling into your strategy, it will trigger the emotions of thousands. She discusses how to measure your success and guarantee a heart-felt brand voice in all departments and shows how to align an emotive connection between a brand and a customer, their personal values, experience, and aspirations.
An engaging must-read for all marketers and storytellers, Rodriguez inspires brand storytellers to utilise communication strategies and tactics with the help of empathy to resonate customers in the most authentic, influential, and immersive ways. Not only to strengthen brand engagement but also to celebrate customers in the long term. This book will truly help you understand how to put customers at the heard of your brand story.
“This book is a gem – one of the best books I have read on personal branding and storytelling!”
Denise Pyles
Marketing 5.0: Technology for Humanity
By Philip Kotler
This book covers the mass changes facing marketers today, the significant advances made in technology along with the ever-changing behaviors of customers, and the shifts in accepted business models.
In an increasingly automated and digitised world, Philip Kotler lays out a guide for marketers and non-marketers alike to make their businesses more disruptive and digitally focused. He describes how marketers can achieve this by combining the best of human common sense and creativity with the growing power of digital marketing tools.
Kotler starts by analysing how changes have created a different type of customer behaviour and the challenges marketers have faced to reach their whole market. The next section outlines new strategic directions that are being followed by businesses worldwide and how to address the business models present in the current business environment. The final part explores the ever-developing technology relating to digital marketing, including artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
“This is a useful and readable summary on the future of marketing, highlighting the challenges coming downstream and the considerations for the role and activities of marketers now and in the future. “
Reviewed in the United Kingdom
Digital Marketing Analytics: In Theory And In Practice
By Kevin Hartman
This book is an essential guide for collecting, analysing, and visualising data from the digital world. It breaks down analytics into 5 digestible parts split into multiple lessons. Author Kevin Hartman is the Director of Analytics for Google and has taught analytics for over 10 years at graduate level. This book explains his insight into the theory and application of analytics in digital marketing.
This book is broken down into 5 major parts which include:
The Day the Geeks Took Over – Part 1 explains the current state of digital marketing analytics and modern analysts in the context of its history. It describes where data analysis is and where it will be in the future, within the next 5, 10 or 50 years.
Consumer/Brand Relationships – Part 2 provides an in-depth exploration of each digital channel providing the relevant metrics and measurements for each. Also discussing how consumers interact with brands and ways of organising consumer data for actionable insights.
The Science of Analytics – Part 3 provides a technical understanding of digital creation, measuring the effectiveness of digital marketing as well as the tools and skill set needed to work with data. It also provides an effective framework for evaluating data analysis and data visualisation tools.
The Art of Analytics – Part 4 explains the role of an analyst, the six mutually exclusive and collectively exhausting (MECE) marketing objectives, how to find context and patterns within data and avoiding bias.
Storytelling with Data – Part 5 develops an understanding of how to transform analysed data into a comprehensive, coherent, and meaningful report. Hartman explains the key characteristics of good visuals and his 5 tips on how to present a report.
“This book is, by far, one of the best digital marketing analytics books that I have read. The author does a great job of linking the theory to the practice of digital marketing analytics.”
Michael Diarra
Digital Branding
By Daniel Rowles
A straightforward look into the digital marketing field. This book Is great for beginners and experts alike and will help you to plan and optimise your marketing strategy. Written by Target Internet CEO – Daniel Rowles.
This book will take you through the digital marketing journey step by step, helping to build your knowledge and skills to improve your website optimisation and marketing strategies. The wording is straightforward and will help anyone from beginner to head marketer level. An easy read with informative content, educating the reader on different tools and techniques and providing real life examples.
The book is up to date on recent technological developments including:
- Social media guidelines and policies
- How to tackle advancements in mobile marketing and mobile payments
- Augmented and virtual reality
“It was an enjoyable, accessible and informative read, being capable even of ‘teaching old dogs’ new tricks. It can either be a book of revelations, an aide memoire, or a refresher course – depending on your knowledge – whilst serving all audiences with equal aplomb. A heady mix of theory, real-world experience and deployed case studies help draw the reader’s focus. It is a book for doing and do-ers, rather than a drier academic read, although certainly it can guide the academic reader at the same time.”
Darren Ingram
Bonus Book
The Whole Marketer: How to become a successful and fulfilled marketer
By Abigail Dixon
This book provides a great understanding of the increasing pressures that marketers need to face in the modern industry. It gives an in-depth explanation of the soft and leadership skills that are necessary for you to lead your teams and businesses.
This book is a look through the lens of professional and personal development. It is a practical guide that allows you to understand and comprehend any capability gaps that you may have and review them with real time input. Abigail shares advice, tools, and techniques to start you on the path to attaining success as a marketer. She has gained a wealth of knowledge through extensive experience from leading teams, consulting, and training hundreds of marketers at various stages to achieve formal marketing qualifications.
“The Whole Marketer is a truly holistic, practical guide for all marketers who care to make a difference.”
Gemma Butler