What to read to improve your marketing and content skills: the books no one tells you about

5x Inspiration to take your brand where others won’t

These are my uncommon books—the ones not everyone recommends but absolutely should. The best-kept secrets. How to improve your marketing and content skills in 2025 and sharpen your brand, marketing, and content strategy.

Read them in this particular order:

‘No Bullsh*t Strategy’ by Alex M H Smith: to find your strategic advantage
‘They Ask You Answer’ by Marcus Sheridan: to find what kind of questions your audience has about your product category
‘Building a StoryBrand’ by Donald Miller: to create a storyline that resonates with your audience because it’s about them and not about you
‘Writing for Busy Readers’ by Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink: learn to simplify your writing to get busy readers to read
‘Very Good Copy’ by Eddie Shleyner: this book gives you sound, simple copywriting tips

→ Bonus🎙️ ‘How Strava built a global fitness community.’ Listen and learn how Strava focuses on ‘great’ over ‘big,’ prioritizes engagement over (vanity) growth, and keeps inventing themselves while jumping on the fast-paced technology. A textbook example of marketing and building a community.

If you're short on time, start at 12:00 and continue listening until at least 20:00. If it doesn't capture your attention, it's not for you.

All books are available on 📖 Kindl and 🎧 Audible.

Want more? Check out the 60+ best books for strategy, marketing and branding. I add new books and podcasts every month.

1. ‘No Bullsh*t Strategy’ by Alex M H Smith

Mandatory reading for every marketer and (self-proclaimed) strategist. In “No Bullsh*t Strategy,” Alex M H Smith gives you a simple but powerful line to define strategy: ‘You are the only X that does Y.’

This is the unique value your business brings to the market with the strategic philosophy ‘Only is better than best.’

A well-written strategy brings razor-sharp focus by making decisions on what to do and, above all, what not to do.

If Alex doesn’t ignite your mind in the first chapter, this is not a book for you, and you’ll never get it.

For the lazy ones, here’s a 🎙️ great podcast hosting Alex and his ‘No BS Strategy.’

2. ‘They Ask You Answer’ by Marcus Sheridan

This book is mandatory reading for everyone working in marketing and or content. The ‘They Ask, You Answer’ is the way to create content to align with your (potential) customer’s needs.

SEO and AI search ranking
A great way to rank high in SEO and attract organic traffic. It’s also AI search-friendly because it prioritizes your customer. I take it further by writing FAQs based on customer prompts, resulting in ChatGPT and Perplexity frequently appearing in my web traffic analytics.

3. ‘Building a StoryBrand’ by Donald Miller

One of the best books on content and storytelling I have read in recent years. Learn how to build your story with your customer in mind.

→ It’s not about you; it’s about how your brand solves your customers’ problem(s).

Once you know this trick, you will recognize it in every great Hollywood movie. Your message will change for the better.

“The first campaign he released is just two words on billboards all over America: Think Different. When Apple began filtering their communication to make it simple and relevant, they actually stopped featuring computers in most of their advertising. Instead, they understood their customers were all living, breathing heroes, and they tapped into their stories.