5 Books I Read in 2017 That Made Me a Better Cause Marketer
Photo via Austin Kirk on Flickr
I read a ton of books this past year! I read everything: fiction, history, biography, marketing, technology, memoir, old books, new books etc. I'll tell you about them sometime. 😁 For now, here are five books I read that helped me improve as a cause marketer.
1. Reengineering Retail: The Future of Selling in a Post-Digital World. This is a great book all about the changing landscape of retail, which is by far the #1 industry for us cause marketers. I love how this book is laid out with an emphasis on a different disruption or technology and how it's impacting retail. Must read!
2. The Fourth Transformation: How Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence Change Everything. While Reengineering Retail showed me where retail is headed, this book showed me how technology, specifically AR and AI, will disrupt everything. A fascinating read.
3. Killing Marketing: How Innovative Businesses Are Turning Marketing Cost Into Profit. Content marketing will be a key area for nonprofits and businesses that want to build assets that both enhance their brands and generate revenue. I'll say it again: the future of cause marketing is content marketing.
4. They Ask You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today's Digital Consumer. This book is a great follow-up read to Killing Marketing as it's a practical guide on how to structure an effective content marketing strategy from a man who did it for his pool business.
5. The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal. Ultimately, we are all in sales, right? But instead of taking an anecdotal approach to selling (i.e. "This is what has worked for me..."), this author takes an evidence-based approach that connects the dots between science and situations we face every day.
During 2017, I also reviewed two new books on cause marketing that I recommend:
Give to Profit: How to Grow Your Business by Supporting Charities and Social Causes
Path to Purpose: How to Use Cause Marketing to Build a More Meaningful and Profitable Brand
What books would you add to this list? I want to read them in 2018!
