Antonia Wade’s book takes you through the journey of the modern internet savvy buyer, just like you and me and, just like any B2B (business to business) buyer today. 

The book is designed to enable companies to build strategies based on this buyer process, rather than seeing marketing as a set of tactics. 

Antonia has created a buyer’s framework and she explains that there are now 5 buyer stages, the “horizon scanner”, the “explorer”, the “hunter”, the “active buyer” and the “client”.  And we need to build our marketing (and sales plans) around these stages.

Antonia, also explains that in the world today, people often think there is a choice as marketers and sellers, we are either digital, or human.  Antonia argues the modern buyer is looking for both experiences, depending on who they are, their role and where they are in the buying process.  

For example, if a buyer is early in the buying process they don’t want to talk to a salesperson as there is a “debt of obligation”. The buyer becomes a line in a CRM.  Businesses need to understand this and Antonia’s book explains the strategy and tactic you need to deploy. 

If you are in marketing and leadership and want to understand the buying process today and work on modern strategies the book is highly recommended. If you are in sales, it’s worth a read so you can get a window into the modern marketing world.  

In a world where all of a sudden, we are managing remote and dispersed teams, leading through screens. Employee disengagement has impacted us, add to that advancement in technology such as AI.

Steven has created a new term which is “humony leadership”, which is the merger of the terms; human, humanity and harmony.

In his book Steven explains; what is it? why is it more particle and relevant?  Does the world of remote work and AI crave for human leadership and values? What should we do as leaders that’s different in this unpredictable world? In a world powered by AI, what are the essential skills of a leader? Steve will also leave us by telling us how he sees the future?  Great book and one all leaders should read to empower us in the modern world. 

The book was defined by Mark Schaefer “Rise” group, which would bring together 35 expert authors and devised, the best marketing book ever. Mark has crowd-sourced experts from various areas of marketing and pulled all that expertise into one place, from strategy to tactics such as video, SEO, etc.  If you’re looking for your first marketing book or even a modern refresher, this book will help you in the modern digital first world.

Many businesses have implemented and invested in ABM, so if you and all your competitors have invested in ABM where is the competitive advantage?

There isn't any

So how can you upgrade your ABM program and gain market share? 

In the book "Total customer growth", Adam Turinas and Ben Person write not just about ABM, but what they call "account based experience (ABX)".  This book isn't all about "theory" like other well known ABM books, Turinas and Person share their experience and case studies.

While studying sales at University, Grant realised that change control methodologies relied on one thing, the assumption that people want to change. Whereas in reality people don’t, change is scary.  Grant has written this book to walk us through his learnings and why he then created a change methodology for people that are going through change.

“Scared so what” has now become a free app and free resource for individuals, I highly recommend the book and the app.

“To Kill a Unicorn”, is a Silicon Valley mystery novel.  While it is fiction, I wondered if there was elements of John Carreyrou’s book “Bad Blood”.  Your best friend goes to work at a startup and then disappears, what lengths would you go to find your friend, even going to work with the start-up.

DC’s book is a page turner based on the start-up community in California, I was left with the feeling that sometimes people will go to any lengths to have a start-up and be a Billionaire.   

Today there is a lot of talk about purpose in work, how can I take my values and insert them into what I do and where I work?  How can I work for an organization where they share the same values as me.

Jay has written a book about values in marketing, how can you first and foremost understand your values and then how can you make sure your business and brand reflect the values you want it to reflect.  Jay provides practical exercises in the book so you can work through the journey to value-based marketing as you read the book. 

Joe’s book is compelling, detailed without being boring and walks you through real world case studies.  The case study detail is pretty wow! He doesn’t skate over the customer stories, he drills down into detail, and you really get inside and understand the strategies.  He has also chosen companies from different verticals, which again brings the strategies to life. 

This is Joe’s 3 book and is structured in 3 parts

1.    The new 3Cs – Convergence, competition and Culture

2.    7 design strategies

a.    Achieve emotional peaks across channels

b.    Create a personalization flywheel to grow customer engagement

c.    Strengthen customer commitment by providing choice and control

d.    Foster ownership through customer community and co-creation

e.    Inspire rituals that create shared meaning

f.    Empower customers through immersive experiences 

g.    Link digital assets to leverage value over cost

3.    The final four chapters are the playbook

a.    How to demonstrate ROI (return on investment) on CX (customer experience)

b.    Solving problems that really matter

c.    Building a business case

d.    How do you look at customers to add value 

Miri has written a book about storytelling, so what? There are lots of books on storytelling and many people will tell you they are experts, but this book is different.

Miri knows about storytelling; he has come from the storytelling school of hard-knocks having worked with IT technical people who must be the hardest people to work with when it comes to storytelling.  My apologies, not trying to offend people, setting the scene and metaphor. 

This book is a masterclass on storytelling and in it Miri weaves her own story. The book is full of examples and there is also a workbook to get you started.  If you are in marketing, you should really read this book, understand real storytelling, because I know for sure you are not doing it right currently and this book will set you on the right path. 

"Brand Love - Building Strong Consumer Brand Connections" by the author provides a comprehensive and insightful exploration of the fascinating world of branding and its profound impact on consumer behavior. This book delves into the core concept that consumers often make decisions driven by emotions and then rationalize them with logic, offering valuable real-world examples to illustrate this phenomenon.

One of the most compelling aspects of this book is its relevance in the age of AI and technology integration. The author adeptly addresses how brands can maintain and enhance their emotional connections with consumers in an increasingly automated world. The strategies recommended for brands to stay 'human' in this tech-driven era are both practical and thought-provoking.

The book introduces the concept of "brand love" and goes on to explain the eight stages of this emotional journey. The author demonstrates how understanding emotional triggers behind consumer decisions can help brands tailor their marketing and messaging more effectively, making it a must-read for marketers and business leaders.

In a data-driven world where AI plays a significant role in personalizing marketing efforts, the book explores the delicate balance between data-driven personalization and maintaining the human touch in customer interactions. It offers valuable insights into achieving this balance successfully.

The book further highlights success stories of brands that have transitioned from purely transactional relationships to building deep emotional connections with their customers. The strategies employed by these brands serve as inspiring examples for others seeking a similar transformation.

"Brand Love" also delves into the art of storytelling in branding and explains how brands can craft compelling narratives that resonate emotionally with consumers. It breaks down the key elements of a compelling brand story, offering practical guidance for brand managers.

Addressing the crucial component of consumer trust in brand-consumer relationships, the book provides insights on how brands can build and maintain trust, especially in an era where data privacy and transparency are paramount concerns for consumers.

The importance of customer feedback and engagement in the development and maintenance of brand love is another vital topic covered in the book. It offers practical strategies for brands to incorporate feedback effectively into their strategies to improve their emotional connection with customers.

Lastly, the book takes a forward-looking approach by discussing the future of brand-consumer relationships in an ever-evolving technological landscape. It offers valuable insights into how brands can stay ahead of the curve and continue to foster emotional connections with consumers.

In conclusion, "Brand Love - Building Strong Consumer Brand Connections" is a must-read for anyone interested in marketing, branding, and consumer behavior. It's an exceptionally well-researched and practical guide that provides valuable insights and strategies for brands to create lasting emotional connections with their customers in today's dynamic business environment. Highly recommended!

I wrote the first edition of "social selling - techniques to influence buyers and changemakers - 1st edition" (the one with the white cover) back in 2015 and it was published in 2016. It was the first book on social selling to be published. With so many changes that have taken place in social media over time, when Kogan Page, my publisher, approached me and asked for a second edition (the one with the yellow cover), I agreed.  

This second edition, has been totally updated from 187 pages to 306. I explain how the world of business has changed with digital and how that impacts the modern buyer and it's a business imperative that we change our sales and marketing.

Many people often think that social selling is some sort of future state. It's not, it's the here and now. DLA Ignite, my company, for example, has clients doing $multi-million deals using social media. If your not doing $multi-million deals on social, your competition are and you are losing market share and revenue.

With this book, I contacted people I knew that were using social media to drive revenue and got them to tell their story.  Chris Fleming the CEO of Cyberhawk, shares how he transformed his business to social and digital 3 years ago. Putting that another way, if you haven't transformed to a social selling methodology by now, you are 3 years behind the market. 

If you want to understand how social media can make money for your organization then this is the book for you. 

In my second book, "Smarketing - How to achieve competitive advantage through blended sales and marketing" published through Kogan Page, we looked at the age old problem of marketing and sales working together.  At the time there was a lot of conversations on social media about how on earth do we get sales and marketing to be one team?

The book, takes a case study, which we cannot mention, it works through the strategy, how to implement a program to implement sales and marketing, the political risks and measures and governance. The book finishes with a look into the future of sales and marketing.

I would admit that if we wrote the book today, we would probably call it Rev-ops (revenue operations).