It’s a new year, which means some of you are beginning to read to accomplish your New Year’s Resolutions. That is why we decided to compile a list of some of our favorites to read in 2022!
As market researchers, we constantly strive to seek out new insights to help others, and reading books is no exception. We’ve selected books that have not only helped us with our marketing and market research efforts, but have also helped us in our personal lives. Some of these books have even inspired Matt to write his book, The Creative Catalyst. So if you read that book, you’ll definitely dig our Top 8 picks for books to read in 2022.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
We’d like to start off with the book that is crucial for anyone wanting to improve their lives. Accomplishing your New Year’s Resolutions requires you to form new habits, and that may be difficult depending on what your goals are. But Atomic Habits breaks down how to create good habits and eliminate bad habits in an efficient and a relatable way!
This book provides evidence-based strategies on how habits are developed, and how you can turn your habits into your advantage. To make it short, a habit is formed by:
making it obvious
making it attractive
making it easy to do
making it satisfying
And there are several tactics that can help you do each! For example, one way to make a habit easier is by using the “2 minute rule”: simply do a task you want to make a habit for only two minutes then stop. This allows you to build consistency faster, as you’re only devoting two minutes of your time. The more you keep doing it, the more you’ll realize that starting the task is no longer a barrier, and you can continue doing the task much longer.
Habits may be hard to develop, but if you slowly work on them day by day, you’ll be able to develop a consistency that will be hard to break. If you want to make reading a habit to continue this list, make sure to pick this up!
The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
As a marketer, it is important to understand that we are in an infinite game; that is, we are essentially competing to succeed in the business world with no finish line in sight. Businesses and other “infinite games” have no predetermined lifespan, and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek dives into the concept of having an infinite mindset when running a business with his book, The Infinite Game. It’s not just about meeting a sales goal; it’s about building something week after week with a vision for the future.
In order for your business to succeed, it is important to have this infinite mindset, as it allows you to build for the long term rather than the short term. To do this, one must create a sense of purpose, and advance a just cause. This allows you to build a team that you trust, as they will feel connected to your purpose. Analyzing your competitors is also crucial for long term success, along with preparing for any sudden changes in the market. Finally, accomplishing these tasks requires you to have the courage to lead the time.
This is an incredibly motivational book with great insights that is a must read for any entrepreneurs and team leaders. As an entrepreneur, Matt can attest to this!
This is Marketing by Seth Godin
As the name suggests, This is Marketing is a book about the fundamentals of marketing! This is one of the books that inspired Matt to write The Creative Catalyst! Marketing Guru Seth Godin provides his thoughts on marketing in general. He has a different approach to marketing, defining it as “generous act of helping others become who they seek to become”.
Godin dives into the foundation of marketing, breaking it down into simple steps. He also stresses the importance of understanding dramatic market changes due to technology, and helps you understand and adapt to these new changes. This book also discusses various strategies on how to build trust within your target audience, how to position yourself as a brand, and how at its core, marketing is all about storytelling.
This book is a great refresher for the fundamentals of marketing, and will provide you with a fresh new perspective to help you in your marketing efforts. You don’t want to miss out on this book!
“The heart and soul of a thriving enterprise is the irrational pursuit of becoming irresistible.” - Seth Godin
Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles
This is an odd pick and quite different from the bunch. Unlike the other books in this list, Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles is told through a fictional story diving into the concept of customer service! This is a classic business book that still stands the test of time.
A newly hired manager feels pressured to provide exceptional customer service for his company. He feels stressed to live up to his expectations, until suddenly, a “fairy godmother” comes to his aid, providing him with insights on how to create “raving fans”, or repeat customers who create a sense of loyalty toward a company. This is done by deciding what you want, deciding what the customer wants, and giving them something that exceeds their expectations.
Throughout the book, several fictional examples are discussed that can be applied to real life businesses. Read the book and see if you can determine which real-life business inspired these examples.
For those of you who are busy like us, this is one of the shorter reads off this list; you can finish this book in one night! While silly, this book is a great read and will truly help you stand out through your customer service.
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
An economics book for marketers? You bet!
This New York Times bestseller explores a new perspective on the world around you, blending economics into real-life. Throughout the chapters in the book, authors Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner pose a series of odd yet intriguing questions that challenge you to think differently about the world around you. They may sound like ridiculous claims at first, but the book provides strong evidence backed up by economic statistics, revealing unique insights not found in any other book.
While this book is more economics-focused, it changes the way you see how the world and people function. What you think affects an outcome may be completely different from what truly does, and as a marketer, understanding this can influence your efforts for the better.
This is a great thought-provoking book that will help you see the world from a different angle. Matt definitely recommends this book!
Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
This book is a personal favorite of both Matt and Eric. Everyone loves a great idea that sticks with them, whether it comes from a commercial, a marketing campaign, a book, etc. Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath, helps you develop such sticky ideas for any of your messages.
A sticky idea is composed of six elements, which includes
Simplicity: This isn’t in the sense of “dumbed down” it’s more of a concise idea that anyone can easily understand and process in a short amount of time.
Unexpectedness: People are more likely to remember something that catches them off guard because it’s different from what they’re used to.
Concreteness: Ideas and messages that are concrete are more memorable than abstract ideas, as it allows people to recall the idea and picture it in their minds better.
Emotion: Tapping into the emotions of others with your message allows them to connect with it on a deeper level.
Stories: Stories are the last piece to make your idea sticky, as they get your audience to act.
This book provides great examples of how other businesses have utilized these various elements to communicate their ideas. From Southwest Airlines to Nordstrom, many organizations big and small have succeeded with sticky ideas.
As marketers, we are constantly tasked with creating messages for others, and having a sticky message helps increase brand awareness for businesses. We strongly recommend this book to you. This is especially a great book to read right after The Creative Catalyst!
Indistractable by Nir Eyal
This next book on our list will hit home for many office and at-home workers. In this day and age, we are filled with distractions that sway us from completing our work as efficiently as possible. With the amount of distractions that arise from our smartphones and computers, working may be a disaster for some. Because many of us work from home now, these distractions only get worse! To combat these distractions, we’d like to recommend popular author Nir Eyal’s book, Indistractable!
This book dives into the in’s and outs’ of how to manage your distractions and work more efficiently. The keyword here is manage, because you don’t want to get rid of your distractions; others would simply take its place. Instead, you want to master your internal triggers, looking deep down as to why you’re getting distracted. Once you acknowledge this, that is when you deal with your distractions in a healthier way. For example, do you find yourself using your phone to distract yourself from work often? Change how you use it; instead of using it in bursts, use it as a reward for doing a full-hour of uninterrupted work!
There are several tactics presented in this book and even have sections tailored to other portions of our lives. From the office space to relationships, this book empowers you to focus on the present moment (for those with kids, there’s even a section on how to raise your kids to be indistractable). As office (and home) workers ourselves, we definitely recommend this book!
Marketing Outrageously by Jon Spoelstra
For our last pick, we wanted to add a bizarre book full of ideas for you to explore this year. Marketing is all about attracting the audience to your business, and the best way to do that is to be outrageous with your efforts. Doing things that are against the norm are more than likely to attract your audience and even create interest, and the following book does just that.
Marketing Outrageously by Jon Spoelstra goes over 17 rules to make your marketing efforts more ‘outrageous’ and interesting. These rules involve taking the extra step to stand out from the competition, helping you develop ideas and executing them no matter how ridiculous they may actually be. One of the things this book teaches you is to do the thing that you’re good at and that you’re passionate about. Letting yourself and other employees do things that they are more passionate about leads to a significant increase in idea generation, leading you and your company to becoming ‘Idea Champions’.
We love wacky ideas, which is why we love this book. It pushes us to do more market research because we discover insights that give us the boost to be creative with our work. This is definitely worth the pick-up.
Of course, there’s one more book we have to mention on this list! 2021 saw the publication of Matt’s first book on marketing research, The Creative Catalyst! If you haven’t had a chance to read it, be sure to check it out!
There you have it! Our 8 must-read books for marketers in 2022! We hope you gather new insights and grow your arsenal of marketing potential.
We are also open to reading new books, so if you have any recommendations yourself, be sure to drop them in the comments! Who knows, maybe we’ll include your book in the next list!