Guest Post by Cynthia Young.
Are you dreaming of becoming a successful content marketer? Want to be able to learn and understand the marketing process? Or, prefer to just be inspired by less standardized methods?
Today, there is a lot of materials on the market, but it is worth spending time on books that will help you be more effective in your work. Here is a selection of the top 5 books on content marketing, which will inspire even the most experienced marketer.
1. The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane
Do you know why many content strategies fail? Because many companies believe that it is enough to simply create content, fill it with keywords that correspond to search queries, and refresh the publication on the website, in the blog, and in social media several times a week. Outwardly it may seem that it works. However, the fact is that it is necessary to approach the development of content strategies with the same care as the development of an entire business strategy.
Are you going to enter the market without first analyzing the target audience, without knowing its needs, without adapting your product or service accordingly? That’s right, you will not do so. The same is true for content. Before you create a content strategy, you need to answer the main questions about your business, product, and audience. will help you do it step by step.
2. Writing That Works: How to Communicate Effectively In Business
by Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphaelson
This is a universal guidebook that will be useful for content marketers, PR managers, advertising creators, and copywriters. The authors tried to collect a maximum of useful tips and to cover all possible channels of business communication with the consumer – from the first interaction through the website and ending with instant messengers.
The authors also pay great attention to expressive language means and teach how to choose words in such a way that the marketing message is unambiguous, does not allow hints, and hits exactly the target. In addition, you can get acquainted with real examples and try to create texts for your project, based on them, right in the process of reading.
3. Optimize: How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing by Lee Odden
The main goal of this book is to teach content marketers, novice specialists, and creators of their own projects to extract the most from a profitable combination of all available means of promotion for today. The author offers practical advice on how to put together all the possibilities of SEO promotion, content marketing, and strategy, social networks, mailing lists, basing this approach on proper communication with consumers, and excellent customer service.
4. Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy by Martin Lindstrom
In order to write selling content, you need to have an idea of ​​why people make purchases, and what exactly affects their choice. How to sell in a glut of market goods, information, and advertising? Does the subconscious level play the most important role at the time of the purchase? To get answers to all this, you need to get acquainted with this book!
This book is the result of research by the author and his team. The study lasted about three years and cost more than $7 million.
The author’s team used modern technology to understand what is happening in the human brain when the customer sees an advertisement, hears the slogan, thinks about a certain brand, makes a purchase, and so on.
The results of the work of researchers is an excellent material for reflection to all those professionals whose main goal is to stimulate sales. And it will be useful for content marketers as well!
5. The Storytelling Edge by Joe Lazauskas
Since ancient times, leaders have used stories to promote their ideas. With the development of online technologies, storytelling has become vital to keep afloat. Specialists that ignore it fall into the risk of losing customers and relevance. And those who use storytelling open the door to new consumers and fans of their product.
Successful companies are aware of today’s need to communicate with customers about the things that are important to them through content. However, few people know how to do it right! The ability to tell qualitative stories is the most important skill, without which it will be difficult for modern companies to survive in tomorrow’s business. Feel free to read this book in order to upgrade your storytelling skills.
Educational Courses or Specialized Literature?
The professional growth of a specialist is a must-have condition due to the modern market conditions. The competition is growing, specialists need to have the latest knowledge. After all, this is the main factor that contributes to the improvement of qualifications, income, and affects the success of the started projects.
Many people think that it is better to go through educational courses than to engage in self-study. As for educational courses, they certainly make sense. However, not everyone can afford to pay for them too often.
To be in demand, you have to be able to do practically everything that relates to content marketing. If you cannot write without mistakes, you can seek help from the professional The Word Point. But if you do not know how to get knowledge independently, then it will be difficult for you to succeed in your specialty.
Books are much cheaper and more accessible than regular educational courses. They contain the experience of other people in a concentrated and systemic form. And it is enough to spend on reading at least half an hour a day to learn a lot. So, every, content marketing specialist should constantly develop the competencies not only with the help of professional mentors but also through self-study!
We hope that the knowledge that you get after reading these books will bring you a lot of benefits. The main key to success is to apply knowledge in practice as soon as possible. After all, theory alone is worth a little, but practical use is priceless.
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Cynthia Young
Cynthia Young loves taking every opportunity to share her knowledge with others. Along with digital marketing, Cynthia is also passionate about personal growth and wellness. When she isn’t writing, she can be found hiking with her dog, cooking Thai cuisine, and enjoying hi-tech thrillers.
