The 454 Marketing Library Explained

These last few months our CEO Paul Bresenden, along with our Brand Strategy Team, have picked up a few marketing books that have offered fresh perspectives, new tactics and deep expertise. We know that there is so much content out there, and if you value learning like we do, we narrowed down our top four books that we would recommend adding to your marketing library this year. 

They Ask You Answer – Marcus Sheridan

Unlock the foundational principles of content marketing, functional SEO, and build a customer-centric marketing strategy.

PB Says: Many business leaders overthink their website strategy and assume SEO is some technical magic that you need to pay lots of money for some agency to do for you.  When people have questions, they ask a search engine. If you have answers, the right content strategy will get you to the top of those search results and seen by customers every day. Drop the fluffy marketing language, stop "selling," and start answering. This is a must read for every business leader and marketer.

Obviously Awesome – April Dunford

How to nail your company positioning so customers quickly get it, buy it, and love it.

PB Says: Learning how to position your organization or product so that it cuts through the noise of the crowded marketplace is what separates successful companies from the rest. This is a powerful book to reshape how you think about brand messaging, competitive environments, and defining your ideal customer base.  

Measure What Matters – John Doeer

How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation rock the world with OKRs.

PB Says: Great ideas are a dime-a-dozen.  Execution is what matters.  So many organizations lack a culture of discipline execution and it’s holding the entire organization back from achieving success.  Learn to align your team, inspire and delight your customers, and turbocharge your productivity and innovation by implementing OKRs into your organization and personal life.

Building A Story Brand – Donald Miller

Clarify your Brand Messaging so customers will listen.

PB Says: This book is one of the must-reads for any marketing professional.  Learning how to clarify your organization’s brand messaging to be differentiated, clear, compelling, and customer-centric (what 454 calls the DC3 model) is powerfully explained in this book.  It’s important that you position your customer (not your company) as the hero of the story if you want emotional connection and buy-in.

Let us know in the comments below what marketing books you are loving right now and we’ll add them to our reading list for the future! And, If you would like to hear from our team about how we can offer our expertise to your credit union, university, or company, let us know and we’d love to connect with you.