These are some of the books I have found useful in my research into digital marketing.
As I put the list together I realised that most were published in the early years of the century.
I think this is because by then the web was old enough for the best in the business to have perfected their art - at that time - and be able to tell
others about it.
And since then no one has really come up with anything better - though this is mainly because the basics are covered in the books that were published in or
around the early 2000s.
The exception to this rule is, of course, where technology or the environment has moved on - the use of social media as a platform for marketing, for example.
You'll note there are no 'academic' texts.
This is because I find that books that are written for use as learning aids have to, by necessity, cover the same key aspects of the subject. The content of such books only really varies depending on the opinion or viewpoint of the authors.
However, neither are there any books with titles like; 20 Ways to Master Digital Marketing or Become a Digital Marketing Millionaire in only
2 Hours a Week. What I have listed are books from authors who offer reflections on digital marketing that goes beyond that of the ordinary practitioner
or who have offered insights into the role 'digital' has, is and will play in not only marketing, but business in general.
No matter how good a digital marketer you are now [or think you are], if you at least 'scan' these books, you will become a better digital marketer.
Anderson, C. (2006) The Long Tail. For Internet marketing students it is a 'must read' - see my
review.
Battelle, J. (2005) The Search. How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed
Our Culture. See my
review.
Bly, R.W. (2002) The Online Copywriter's Handbook.
The author has moved on to be a recognised expert in this subject area.
Brown, D. and Fiorella, S. (2013) Influence Marketing. The subtitle to this book is
'How to Create, Manage and Measure Brand Influencers in Social Media Marketing', which gives
the suggestion that the book is a how to ... business practice book. However, despite
its title and despite the authors being practitioners and not academics, the research and use
of concepts in the book make it much more than just a how to ... book and closer to an
academic text.
Cialdini, R. B. (1984-2007) Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
Although this is not a 'digital' book per se, much of it has relevance to the digital marketer - particularly with regard to
website and social media content. Cialdini suggested that influence is based on six principles: authority
[the person is a credible expert], likeability [they are a trusted friend], reciprocity [we owe them for the advice they give],
consistency [they are in sync with our beliefs], consensus [choices made based on the advice are popular] and scarcity [the advice gives us
an advantage over others]. The caveat is, of course, that the best conmen and women all know this theory better than the majority of marketers.
Caples, J. (1997) Tested Advertising Methods. A new edition of an old [really
old] book. Don't let that put you off, however, the majority of the content is pertinent to online
marketing. For example, it covers such things as 'selling copy' versus 'style copy' [on page 139] -
which in the book refers to writing adverts. I would suggest that anyone writing content for any online
presence should know the difference between selling and style - and if they don't then the
content is unlikely to be fully meeting the objectives of that web presence.
Eisenberg, B. & Novo, J. (2002) The Marketer's Common Sense Guide to E-Metrics.
An excellent guide that includes a 'Conversion Rate Marketing Calculator' workbook.
Eisenberg, B., Eisenberg, J. & Garcia, A. (2014) Buyer Legends: The Executive Storyteller's Guide.
The concept of 'Buyer Legends' is the use of narratives and storytelling in marketing ... something that is ideally suited to 'online'.
[note that the last time I looked this was available for free on Kindle]
Godin, S. (2001) Unleashing the Ideavirus. This book takes the concept of
viral marketing several stages further - seeking to maximize the spread of information from customer
to customer [rather than the old-fashioned marketing practice of interrupting the potential customer
with a marketing message they do no wish to receive]. Although some of the ideas presented are a little
'off the wall', the content encourages you to think about marketing: what it is and what it is trying to
achieve. A very good read for both budding entrepreneurs and viral marketers.
Godin, S. (2007) Meatball Sundae. Another thought-provoking book from Seth Godin.
Although this text does border on the 'how to ...' style of presentation, and the author does seem to
say some things just to incite a response, it does promote further thought in how contemporary marketers
should practice their art [or is that science?].
Goldman, A. (2010) Everything I know about marketing I learned from Google. An essential read for any contemporary marketer. See my
review.
Hoffman, B. (2017) BadMen: How Advertising Went From A Minor Annoyance To A Major Menace.
The author is out-spoken against many aspects of advertising - this book concentrates on digital advertising.
Hopkins, C. (1923) Scientific Advertising. Although this book is getting on for being a hundred years old, don't let that put you off. Similarly, get past the language used at that time [it could be used as a example of the sexism of that age] and read the marketing content. Times move on but sound ideas are still sound. Much of the book refers to direct or catalogue marketing - effectively exactly what Internet marketing is today. Many young whippersnappers who think they invented it all in the dot com boom should be forced to digest this book [in both senses of the term]. The book is out of copyright and so available to download free from a number of websites - including
this one.
Keen, A. (2008) The Cult of the Amateur . An enjoyable and interesting read, this book is a useful text for budding Internet marketers - see my
review.
Keen, A (2015) The Internet Is Not the Answer. If
not a follow-up to The Cult of the Amateur , this is certainly a
continuation of Keen's examination of how the Internet has changed things -
for both good and bad. Another book you should read if you want to do
business in the digital age.
Krug, S. (2000) Don't make me think - a common sense approach to web usability. The title of
this book says it all for this practical text.
Levine, R., Locke, C., Searls, D., & Weinberger, D. (2000) The Cluetrain Manifesto.
This was a significant, and somewhat controversial, book when it came out. Although you can still buy copies on Amazon, the whole thing is available to download free from the book's
website. The 95 theses [#1 is 'markets are conversations'] set the tone for the book,
which is as much about business and marketing in general as it is about e-marketing - there is even a potted
history of the development of marketing. However, much of the content sets the ground for [amongst other things]
the 'social marketing' concept that is so popular today - and so makes it an essential read for e-marketing
students and practitioners.
McAlpine, R. (2001) Web Word Wizard. The sub title is 'a guide to writing for the web' ... and it is.
McGovern, G. (2010) The Stranger's Long Neck. A must-read for effective website development, see my
review.
McGovern, G. (2016) Transform: A rebel's guide for digital transformation. The sales blurb for this book includes:
'Being customer-centric is the new motto. It's where every organization knows it must get to.
But those who champion the customer are often seen as troublemakers. Why? Because if you're customer centric ... you're making it harder for
your management and your colleagues. It's more work, more effort.'
That sets the tone for the rest of the content.
McGovern, G. and Norton, R. (2002) Content Critical. The sub-title to this text is:
'Gaining competitive advantage through high-quality web content', my advice would be to prefix this with 'if you are
serious about ...' and add '... read this book' at the end.
McGovern, G., Norton, R. and O'Dowd, C. (2002) The Web Content Style Guide, The text's
sub-title says it all: 'An essential reference for online writers, editors and manager'.
McConnell, B. & Huba, J. (2007) Citizen Marketers. Another book
that was ahead of its time [neither Facebook or Twitter appear in the index], but reading it
now gives us an excellent perspective of how social media developed before it was the 'flavour
of the month'. Although it is well researched, I was left with the impression that most of the
content comes from the experience of the authors rather than from pure research.
Mintz, A.P. (2002) Web of Deception.
For those of you who think this subject is new ... it isn't. This book will give readers a good background on
privacy, scams and what we now know as 'fake news'.
Neilsen, J. (2000) Designing Web Usability. Considered overly simplistic by those designers who tend to design for
themselves (and not their clients, or more importantly, the website users), this book should be
compulsory reading on all web design courses. Many - including me - would consider the author to be the Godfather of online usability.
His opinions are a text-book example of how research and practice are combined in mastering a subject.
UPDATE November 2018: For reasons I won't go into, I had cause to scan through this book today. There was a certain amount of nostalgia in
seeing many of the websites used as examples - but what is striking is that the message on the importance of usability is perhaps more important
now than it was back in 2000. It shoud still be a compulsory text on all web design courses ... sadly, it isn't.
Packard, V. (1957) The Hidden Pursuaders. A seminal work on advertising - much of which is
relevant to digital marketing.
Schmidt, E. and Cohen, J. (2013) The New Digital Age. Written by two of
the key players at Google, this book could not have been better marketed ... or is that hyped? The
book is not about digital marketing, it is about how 'digital' [whatever that is] has, is and
will impact on the world. I found it to be pretty heavy going, with some of the subjects passing
over my head. But if you are going to work in the digital world - as well as live in it - you
should make the effort to give it a read.
Scott, M.D. (2007) The New Rules of Marketing and PR. The sub-title for this book is
: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly,
which pretty much sums up the content. I think this book offers a great deal to the would-be social media
marketer, and could be the future of marketing for some - but by no means all - organizations.
Seda, C. (2004) Search Engine Advertising. The development of
technology, the rise of Google and the acceptance of 'online' as an effective
medium for advertising since it was published means that some of the content
of this book is now out-dated. However, it does include all of the basics that
any digital advertiser must know if they are to use all of the newer
technology or platforms.
Seybold, P. (1998) Customers.com. An excellent text on how e-technology can be used to meet
customer needs. The section on how American Airlines adopted the web is a case study of how it should be done.
Remember - this book was written when few people in the USA knew what the Internet was and
most people in Europe had never even heard of it. Less than 20 years later the web is ubiquitous and
many folk could not imagine living their lives without it.
Shotton, R. (2018) The Choice Factory: How 25 behavioural biases influence the products we decide to buy.
Another book that is not a 'digital' book per se, but has relevance to the digital marketer. Many of the examples used are of online advertising.
Standage, T. (2013) Writing on the Wall : Social Media the First 2,000 Years. This is
not a book on marketing, it is a book on social media. However, if you want to be effective at
marketing on social media you need to understand social media. This book will help you
do that by looking at the history of social media from the Romans to the Arab Spring via
seventeenth century coffeehouses.
Sterne, J. (2001) World Wide Web Marketing. Readers should take particular note of anything Jim
Sterne says; he walks the walk as well as talking the talk.
Sterne, J. (2002) Web Metrics - proven methods for measuring website success. See above.
Sterne, J. (2017) Artificial Intelligence for Marketing: Practical Applications.
Digital marketers need to know at least a bit about AI - and this is the book to read to find out about it.
Tapscott, D. (1994 - 2014) The Digital Economy. I seem to recall that back in 1996 this was the
first book I bought on the virtually unknown Amazon [whatever happened to it?]. A best selling book over
the last 20 years or so, you should try to get hold of an early edition. Read it and you will be
amazed at Tapscott's insights into the future. Later editions, however, include examples of
how the Digital Economy has impacted on business and businesses. Another book that is a
must-read for any business student or practitioner who wants to be effective in that practice.
Tapscott, D., Ticoll, D., & Lowy, A. (2000) Digital Capital: Harnessing the Power of Business Webs.
This book concentrates more on 'corporate' issues, but is no less relevant for that. Anyone new to anything
related to [what is now called] the digital transformation should read this to see how the business world was adjusting to
'digital' back when they were still at school.
Tapscott, D. & Williams, A. D. (2006) Wikinomics. I think this book was overhyped at its launch [or just well marketed?].
It is OK and a worthwhile read, I just disagree with its core concept of mass collaboration for everything. For more, see my
review.
Tillinghast, T. (2001) Tactical Guide to Online Marketing. Although the title
suggests that the book addresses all aspects of online marketing, it actually concentrates on online advertising. It
does provide, however, a very 'hands-on' account of using the world wide web as a medium for advertising.
Tobin, J. (2013) Earn it - Don't Buy It. A critical examination
of the role of social media in marketing.
Usborne, N. (2002) Net Words - creating high-impact online copy. If there is a web writer's
writer - Nick Usborne is it.
Weber, L. (2007) Marketing to the Social Web. Excellent book that I would recommend as a 'how to' in this aspect of online marketing. My only complaint is one on which I make comment elsewhere
[not least in my own book on the subject, An Introduction to Social Media Marketing].
And that is that although Weber purports that social marketing is feasible for all organizations / brands, he gives
few examples - the majority of case studies being global brand names. Whilst there are some exceptional cases of
how the 'small guy' has been successful in social media marketing, there are millions of 'small guys' - and I still
question the validity of social marketing for the majority of them.
And finally ...
Whether you are a marketer, or just a digital marketer, you should take the time to read:
Blythe, J. (2006). A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about studying marketing.
The best book on marketing that I have ever read. Its title tells you the tone of the content's presentation.
How to cite this article:
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