Looking for books that can help you master the skill of B2B marketing? As you can see from this list, there’s certainly no shortage of selections available. And although SEO tactics and marketing strategies tend to evolve every few months, it’s pretty clear that the most insightful marketing advice stands the test of time; numerous older books on B2B marketing remain popular because their sage advice—on everything from how to promote a startup to understanding the psychology of people—still applies.
Pick and choose the books you’d like to read from our list of the best B2B marketing books out there, and get started learning. Happy reading!
For more eye-opening reading, check out our free book, How To Build Your Own Lead Machine. It offers a new way to think about B2B marketing and tactics you can use to generate more leads.
Best B2B Marketing Books In Publication
ABM is B2B. Why B2B Marketing and Sales is Broken and How to Fix it
Authors: Sangram Vajre, Eric Spett
Is account-based marketing (ABM) the new B2B? The authors of “ABM is B2B” think so. They say it‘s time to challenge the status quo of B2B marketing and sales, and transition to what the business arena already expects as the updated B2B model.
- Publish year: 2019
- Book length: 200 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.44/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 15
Account-Based Marketing For Dummies
Author: Sangram Vajre
“Account-Based Marketing For Dummies” explains the idea behind account-based marketing in simple terms, and offers step-by-step directions and tips on how to practice it effectively.
- Publish year: 2016
- Book length: 384 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.37/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 4
B2B Marketing Strategy: Differentiate, Develop and Deliver Lasting Customer Engagement
Author: Heidi Taylor
“B2B Marketing Strategy” provides fresh insight into the challenges marketers are facing today, and offers a new framework for developing B2B marketing strategy and plans.
- Publish year: 2017
- Book length: 216 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.96/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 5
Content-Based Networking: How to Instantly Connect with Anyone You Want to Know
Author: James Carbary
“Content-Based Networking” shares a proven three-part framework that will help you to consistently connect with potential customers, investors, referral partners, industry influencers—and anyone else who may be able to help you reach your goals and dreams.
- Publish year: 2019
- Book length: 194 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.14/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 12
Crossing the Chasm
Author: Geoffrey A. Moore
In “Crossing the Chasm,” Geoffrey A. Moore talks about the realities of high-tech marketing, where there is a gap between early adopters of technology and the mainstream. This book is sometimes referred to as the “bible” for bringing cutting-edge products to progressively larger markets.
- Publish year: 2014
- Book length: 288 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.00/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 759
Customer Success: How Innovative Companies Are Reducing Churn and Growing Recurring Revenue
Authors: Nick Mehta, Dan Steinman, Lincoln Murphy
Based on the premise that business relationships are fundamentally changing, this book serves as a guide to an exciting new model of customer management, one in which companies must focus on the “post-sale” experience in order to help customers succeed.
- Publish year: 2016
- Book length: 256 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.02/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 88
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Author: Daniel H. Pink
Pink asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction at work, at school, and at home is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world. Here he exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life.
- Publish year: 2011
- Book length: 288 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.95/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 5,029
Driving Demand: Transforming B2B Marketing to Meet the Needs of the Modern Buyer
Author: Carlos Hidalgo
Customers today are better informed than ever before. Acknowledging this reality, Hidalgo asserts that B2B organizations must learn how to become more customer-focused in order to survive. He offers a framework for implementing a new demand generation process, and provides case studies and excerpts from B2B marketing practitioners who have transformed their organizations.
- Publish year: 2015
- Book length: 220 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.81/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 4
Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content
Author: Ann Handley
In Handley’s view, being able to communicate well is a necessity. In this book, she offers expert guidance and insight into the process and strategy of content creation, production and publishing. Her advice applies to all your assets, from blogs and landing pages to email and social media.
- Publish year: 2014
- Book length: 320 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.96/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 471
Fanatical Prospecting: The Ultimate Guide to Opening Sales Conversations and Filling the Pipeline by Leveraging Social Selling, Telephone, Email, Text, and Cold Calling
Author: Jeb Blount
“Fanatical Prospecting” gives salespeople, sales leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives a practical, eye-opening guide that clearly explains the why and how behind the most important activity in sales and business development—prospecting. It includes the secrets, tips, and techniques of top earners.
- Publish year: 2015
- Book length: 304 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.29/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 325
From Impossible to Inevitable: How Saas & Other Hyper-Growth Companies Create Predictable Revenue
Authors: Aaron Ross and Jason Lemkin
“From Impossible to Inevitable” details the hypergrowth playbook of companies like HubSpot, Salesforce.com (the fastest growing multibillion dollar software company), and EchoSign (aka Adobe Document Services, which catapulted from $0 to $144 million in seven years). Whether you have a $1 billion or a $100,000 business, you can use the same insights as these notable companies to learn what it really takes to break your own revenue records.
- Publish year: 2019
- Book length: 336 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.21/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 74
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't
Author: Jim Collins
To find the keys to greatness, Collins's 21-person research team read and coded 6,000 articles, generated more than 2,000 pages of interview transcripts and created 384 megabytes of computer data in a five-year project. The findings will surprise many readers and, quite frankly, upset others.
- Publish year: 2001
- Book length: 400 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.13/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 5,256
Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising
Author: Ryan Holiday
Companies like Dropbox and Airbnb spent little on traditional marketing yet grew in spite of it—thanks to growth hacking. “Growth Hacker Marketing” is a thorough explanation of the rules of growth hacking; it’s considered the go-to playbook for any company or entrepreneur looking to build and grow.
- Publish year: 2014
- Book length: 176 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.76/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 729
How to Win Friends & Influence People
Author: Dale Carnegie
Learn the six ways to make people like you, the twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking, and the nine ways to change people without arousing resentment.
- Publish year: 1998
- Book length: 288 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.21/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 20,421
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Author: Robert B. Cialdini
An expert in the fields of influence and persuasion, Cialdini explains the psychology behind why people say yes, and how you can apply those insights to business and daily life. You’ll also learn how to defend yourself against unethical influence attempts.
- Publish year: 2006
- Book length: 336 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.20/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 4,779
Innovative B2B Marketing: New Models, Processes and Theory
Author: Simon Hall
“Innovative B2B Marketing” is an essential guide for marketers looking for the latest approaches, models, and solutions for B2B marketing.
- Publish year: 2022
- Book length: 376 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.44/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 6
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World
Author: Gary Vaynerchuk
“Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook” is a blueprint to social media marketing strategies that really work, helping you connect with customers and beat the competition. (In case you’re wondering about the boxing metaphors, a “jab” refers to regularly engaging with customers to build the relationships crucial to successful social media campaigns, and a “right hook” refers to the sale or campaign that’s going to knock out the competition.)
- Publish year: 2013
- Book length: 224 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.98/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 614
Likeable Social Media, Third Edition: How To Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, & Be Generally Amazing On All Social Networks That Matter
Author: Dave Kerpen
“Likeable Social Media” shows you how to master the social media marketing game—essentially, how to truly engage with customers on Facebook, Twitter, and many other social media platforms. He includes case studies that demonstrate best practices.
- Publish year: 2019
- Book length: 320 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.86/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 193
LinkedIn Unlocked: Unlock the Mystery of LinkedIn to Drive More Sales Through Social Selling
Author: Melonie Dodaro
In Dodaro’s view, LinkedIn is a gold mine of leads that few companies understand how to convert to clients. “LinkedIn Unlocked” is a social selling roadmap that will help you generate a consistent flow of quality leads from the platform..
- Publish year: 2018
- Book length: 236 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.10/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 18
Marketing to Women: How to Increase Your Share of the World's Largest Market
Author: Marti Barletta
With humor and dead-on observations, readers will learn how some of the world’s top companies have become more gender-savvy, revamped their marketing plans, and generated dynamic sales and profits by courting women.
- Publish year: 2014
- Book length: 360 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.66/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 12
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It
Author: Chris Voss
“Never Split the Difference” takes you inside the world of high-stakes negotiations and into Voss’s head, revealing the skills that helped him and his colleagues succeed where it mattered most: saving lives. The same strategies he used can also be used to help you become more persuasive in both your professional and personal lives.
- Publish year: 2016
- Book length: 288 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.37/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 7,342
No Forms. No Spam. No Cold Calls. The Next Generation of Account-Based Sales and Marketing
Author: Latane Conant
“No Forms. No Spam. No Cold Calls” is a rallying cry for a new generation of sales and marketing leaders who are ready to ditch the traditional strategies, tactics, and technologies that are no longer working to deliver breakthrough results. This guide explains how to build a new tech stack that effectively identifies prospects and prioritizes customers.
- Publish year: 2022
- Book length: 272 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.95/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 6
Secrets of Closing the Sale
Author: Zig Ziglar
Whether presenting a product, principle, service or idea, we all engage in sales. Zig Ziglar presents winning techniques for getting a positive response and establishing dynamic relationships. Readers will learn more than 100 creative closes and discover how to project warmth, enthusiasm, and integrity while using them.
- Publish year: 2004
- Book length: 432 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.23/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 7
Social Marketing to the Business Customer: Listen to Your B2B Market, Generate Major Account Leads, and Build Client Relationships
Authors: Paul Gillin, Eric Schwartzman
B2B markets are fundamentally different from consumer markets. In this book, you’ll learn how to leverage the vast business-to-business potential of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and many other social media platforms.
- Publish year: 2011
- Book length: 272 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.50/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 8
Solution Selling: Creating Buyers in Difficult Selling Markets
Author: Michael T. Bosworth
Bosworth asserts that conventional sales techniques don’t work for products or services that are hard to describe, intangible, have long sell cycles, or are expensive. “Solution Selling” presents a sales methodology that places emphasis on business issues rather than product, which results in a higher degree of success..
- Publish year: s4
- Book length: 272 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.93/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 17
SPIN selling
Author: Neil Rackham
For people involved in selling or managing a sales force, this book details the SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff) strategy, developed as the result of one corporation's massive 12-year, one-million-dollar research into effective sales performance. It specifically applies to selling high-value products and services.
- Publish year: 2017
- Book length: 256 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.98/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 358
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Author: Simon Sinek
“Start With Why” asks (and answers) the questions: Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?
- Publish year: 2009
- Book length: 256 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.10/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 8,381
The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure
Author: Grant Cardone
For people looking for extreme success, the 10 X Rule unveils the principle of "Massive Action," which consists of concrete steps in the pursuit of dreams. It teaches you to aim ten times higher than you are right now.
- Publish year: 2011
- Book length: 240 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.94/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 1806
The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email, and More
Authors: Kipp Bodnar, Jeffrey L. Cohen
This book serves as the definitive reference for B2B marketers looking to master social media and take their career to the next level. It includes information on how to create content offers that increase conversion rates and practical advice for incorporating mobile strategies into the marketing mix.
- Publish year: 2011
- Book length: 240 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.60/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 9
The Big Data-Driven Business: How to Use Big Data to Win Customers, Beat Competitors, and Boost Profits
Authors: Russell Glass, Sean Callahan
“The Big Data-Driven Business” is a complete guide to the future of business as seen through the lens of big data, with expert advice on real-world applications.
- Publish year: 2014
- Book length: 226 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.32/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 8
The Challenger Customer: Selling to the Hidden Influencer Who Can Multiply Your Results
Authors: Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon, Pat Spenner, Nick Toman
Recognizing the reality that making a B2B sale rarely involves just one person at an organization, this book focuses on how to sell to “challenger customers”—skeptical parties who are also most effective at persuading fellow internal stakeholders to buy. It provides a blueprint for finding them, engaging them with disruptive insight, and equipping them to effectively challenge their own organization.
- Publish year: 2015
- Book length: 288 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.97/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 41
The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation
Authors: Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon
Based on an exhaustive study of thousands of sales reps across multiple industries and geographies, “The Challenger Sale” argues that classic relationship-building is a losing approach, especially when it comes to selling complex, large-scale, business-to-business solutions.
- Publish year: 2011
- Book length: 240 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.91/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 487
The Content Formula: Calculate the ROI of Content Marketing & Never Waste Money Again
Authors: Michael Brenner, Liz Bedor
“The Content Formula” answers the biggest question currently on most marketer’s minds: What is the ROI of content marketing? This book provides a step-by-step guide for marketers and is divided into three parts: how to build a business case for content marketing, how to find the budget to establish a new content marketing program, and how to measure content marketing success in business terms.
- Publish year: 2015
- Book length: 104 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.11/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 5
The Fundamentals of Business-to-Business Sales & Marketing
Author: John Coe
This book shows how today's B2B leaders are integrating new approaches and technologies with proven techniques to find, get, and keep customers.
- Publish year: 2003
- Book length: 208 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.55/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 4
The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue
Author: Robbie Kellman Baxter
Many of today’s top companies have stayed competitive by creating radical new membership models, subscription-based formats, and freemium pricing structures. Written by an expert consultant, “The Membership Economy” explains how to grow your customer base by turning ordinary customers into members for life.
- Publish year: 2015
- Book length: 272 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.77/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 74
The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly
Author: David Meerman Scott
Written for marketing professionals, PR professionals, and entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses, “The New Rules of Marketing & PR” is a practical guide on how to communicate with buyers, raise visibility, and increase sales—and spend less doing it.
- Publish year: 2007
- Book length: 439 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.84/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 310
The New Solution Selling
Author: Keith Eades
This book presents the powerful and proven sales philosophy called Solution Selling, updated for today's high-speed, higher-pressure sales challenges.
- Publish year: 2003
- Book length: 320 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.88/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 20
The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million
Author: Mark Roberge
“The Sales Acceleration Formula” provides a scalable, predictable approach to growing revenue and building a winning sales team. Learn how author Roberge built his $100 million business using data, technology, and inbound selling techniques.
- Publish year: 2015
- Book length: 224 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.28/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 132
There Is No B2B Or B2c: It's Human to Human #H2h
Author: Bryan Kramer
If you're looking to bring back the human side of communication, in all its imperfection, empathy, and simplicity, “Human to Human: #H2H” is for you. Author Bryan Kramer uses anecdotes from his own experiences as president of a Silicon Valley marketing firm to explore new ways of finding commonality in our humanity as well as practical tools to think like a human marketer.
- Publish year: 2017
- Book length: 68 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.80/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 10
Think and Grow Rich
Author: Napoleon Hill
“Think and Grow Rich” isn’t just about getting rich; the philosophy it teaches can help you succeed in all facets of life. It was originally written in 1937.
- Publish year: 2016
- Book length: 170 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.18/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 8808
To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others
Author: Daniel H. Pink
“To Sell Is Human” offers a fresh look at the art and science of selling.
- Publish year: 2013
- Book length: 272 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.88/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 1,477
Unleash Possible: A Marketing Playbook that Drives Sales
Author: Samantha Stone
“Unleash Possible” is a how-to guide for high-growth marketing in complex selling environments. Author Samantha Stone, the revenue catalyst, doesn't just tell you what to do, she shows you how to do it, and how to partner with sales to get the right results.
- Publish year: 2016
- Book length: 244 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.85/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 66
UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging
Author: Scott Stratten
No one likes cold calls at dinnertime, junk mail overflowing your mailbox, and advertisements that interrupt your favorite shows. If this is "marketing," then the world would probably prefer whatever is the opposite of that. “UnMarketing” shows you how to unlearn the old ways and consistently attract and engage the right customers.
- Publish year: 2012
- Book length: 272 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.97/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 158
Welcome to the Funnel: Proven Tactics to Turn Your Social Media and Content Marketing Up to 11
Author: Jason A. Miller
Based on research, trial and error, expert input, and real-world applications, “Welcome to the Funnel” is all about how to use social media and content marketing in concert to grow your business.
- Publish year: 2014
- Book length: 168 pages
- Goodreads rating: 3.84/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 11
Wonder Leads: Remarkable Lead Generation for Positive Small Businesses
Author: Dave Holloway
Wonder Leads is a lead generation framework that centers on individually personalized sales videos delivered through LinkedIn, where it’s proved to be almost 20x more effective than cold calling at generating warm leads. This is a step-by-step guide to implementing and using the framework.
- Publish year: 2020
- Book length: 254 pages
- Goodreads rating: 4.27/5
- Number of Goodreads reviews: 5
Did we miss your favorite B2B marketing book? Tweet us @nectafy and let us know!
