The 10 Books Every CMO Should Read to Lead in Marketing

I understand reading as a powerful weapon for anyone to improve in the field they propose.

CMOs or marketing directors must become excellent businessmen, but also good leaders.

A good marketing leader guides their team towards a vision or achievement of common goals through trust and commitment.

Do you want to be like that? So commit yourself day by day, build knowledge, and let each member mark their path within the company, of course, always within the framework of a common consensus and continuous two-way communication.

Whether you already apply a successful leadership style, or if you are on your way to doing so, I invite you to read these 10 books, and also the rest of your team.

The 10 books for the marketing director

Constant learning is the best tool to improve oneself, become a good leader, improve as a person, and keep the mind young throughout life.

This way, your marketing team will be able to meet the goals set, that the KPIs are positive, that the professionals who work with you are motivated to see that they are on the right path, and that the customer experience and results are the best.

Here are the 10 books I recommend any CMO read to lead in marketing successfully.

1# Uncommon Service, by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss

This book teaches you how to win, understanding that the customer must be at the core of the company.

Why? Many organizations today still treat the way of providing a service as a lower priority within their operations, and only become important when a customer complains and the “customer service” department comes into action.

In Uncommon Service, Anne Morriss and Frances Frei show how, within a volatile economy where many rules have become obsolete, service must become a competitive weapon, not a damage control function.

Questions like this should be essential:

• How do our customers define “excellence” in an offer? Amiability? Flexible options? Price?
• How do you empower the professionals in the team to achieve that excellence?
• What will the selection and training process be like? What is your business culture?
• What is the way to get your customers to behave the way you want? Are new technologies essential in this process?

This practical and engaging book will help you, with a fresh approach, increase your productivity, profitability, and competitive advantage.

2# Exponential Organizations, Salim Ismail

In business, performance is key. For this reason, 3 great business ideologues have captured in this book the 10 keys to the phenomenon of Exponential Organizations. They are Salim Ismail, Yuri van Gees, and Mike Malone.

This new type of company, ExO or exponential organizations, can accelerate their growth through the use of technology. They leverage assets as a community, big data, algorithms, and new technologies to achieve performance indicators 10 times higher than those of a previous generation.

The reader, through this reading, will be able to see how any company, from a startup to a multinational, can become an ExO, streamline its performance, and reach the next level.

3# The New Rules of Marketing & PR, by David Meerman Scott

Updated edition of the reference guide for marketing and PR professionals. In this post, you’ll find the latest social media, marketing, and sales trends, tools, and real-world examples of success.

David Meerman Scott’s book is now in its fifth edition, having sold more than 350,000 copies worldwide in more than 25 languages.

It offers a step-by-step action plan to harness the power of modern marketing and PR to communicate directly with buyers, increase visibility, and sales.

Get a copy now! And read every last page. Your view of marketing will change.

4# Inbound Marketing, by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah

Attract, seduce, and delight digital customers thanks to Inbound Marketing. A technique that has been in our marketing lives for some time and generates a lot of traction.

Why? It avoids “forcing” the consumer to come to our product or service and seeks to “seduce” the customer to come on their initiative.

Inbound Marketing: Attract, Engage, and Delight Customers Online seeks to increase our brand’s online visibility and engagement.

The book is written by leading marketing bloggers and contains recent information on consumer behavior and the digital experiences consumers prefer.

5# Contagious, by Jonah Berger

Why are some products and ideas talked about more than others? Why do certain YouTube videos go viral? It’s all thanks to word of mouth.

Whether in face-to-face conversations, via email or instant messaging between friends, or thanks to online reviews left by other consumers and which have a strong impact on our behavior.Word of mouth generates twice as many sales as paid advertising and is the main factor behind 20-50% of all purchase decisions.

The book Contagious is used for any type of company, large or small, to get on the lips of customers and for them to spread “the word” about your wonderful products or services.

You don’t need to have large marketing budgets. The challenge, however, is knowing how. And this book will show you how.

6# How companies win, by Rick Kash and David Calhoun

How companies win talks about The Cambridge Group’s proprietary demand model – a strategy that until now was only accessible to organisations on a paid basis, but is now available for the first time to the general public.

Rick Kash, the founder of The Cambridge Group, and David Calhoun, CEO of the Nielsen Company, show you how companies can find new customers and make bigger profits.

7# The Inside Advantage: The strategy that unlocks the hidden growth in your business, by Robert H. Bloom

This book presents a specific method for each company to discover what its advantage is over the other companies in the competition.

Bloom believes that every organization has a strategic asset, a hidden strength that can lay the foundation for future growth, which he calls competitive advantage.

Usually, this strength is often not recognized, and the author’s intention is for each company to find its potential and use it for further growth.

8# The Ultimate Question 2.0, Fred Reichheld

Guru Fred Reichheld has published a new edition of this best-seller, revised and expanded, with the help of his colleague Rob Markey. The Decisive Question 2.0: How Companies with an NPS System Thrive in a Customer-Oriented World is intended to be an inspiring and practical guide, and for all readers to develop a plan for growing their business through “good profits” (those that companies obtain by enriching the lives of their customers).

9# Buyer Persona, by Adele Revella

Buyer Persona: How to gain Insights into your customer’s expectations and align your marketing strategies is a practical publication for any marketer to learn how to understand what their buyer wants and how they make their decisions.
This book is written by one of the most important authorities on Buyer Persona, Adele Revella, and provides a broad understanding of this topic, practical advice on how to approach our ideal Buyer Persona, and measure marketing results.

Readers will learn how to segment their customer base, research each type of consumer, and apply a radically more relevant process in message selection, content creation, and distribution through channels that build trust among customers.

10# Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert B. Cialdini

This is the classic book on persuasion, where the psychology of why people say “yes” is explained, and how to apply this knowledge.

Dr. Robert Cialdini is a great expert in the field of rapid expansion of influence and persuasion.

Their expertise is based on 35 years of rigorous, evidence-based research, along with a 3-year program of study on what moves people to change their behavior.

Here you will learn the 6 universal rules of persuasion, how to use them to become a skilled persuader, and how to defend yourself against them.