Best Business Marketing Books of 2025

Storytelling with Data is a must-read for business professionals who want to communicate effectively with data. The author, Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, teaches the fundamentals of data visualization, emphasizing the importance of storytelling and context. She provides real-world examples and practical advice on how to turn data into engaging visual stories. This book is unique in its approach to data visualization, encouraging readers to think like designers and use the power of storytelling to engage their audience. Overall, Storytelling with Data is an illuminating and essential guide for anyone who wants to communicate data effectively.

The User Experience Team of One: A Research and Design Survival Guide is a must-read for anyone in the UX field, especially those working in understaffed organizations. Leah Buley provides practical approaches and tools that allow for big impact while using fewer resources than traditional UX methods. This book is not only useful for seasoned practitioners but also for those looking to break into the field. The author's collaborative approach to UX design is both effective and engaging, making it easier to educate colleagues who may not be familiar with UX. Overall, this book is a godsend for lone UX wolves in startups everywhere.

Everybody Writes by Ann Handley is a newly revised and updated guide to creating exceptional content that engages and retains customers. The book provides practical and how-to advice on content creation, production, and publishing. It also includes new examples, tools, resources, and expanded chapters that reflect the evolution of content marketing. Handley's witty and practical approach makes the book an enjoyable read. The book is a must-read for anyone looking to refine and upgrade their content marketing skills.

Kellogg on Marketing: The Marketing Faculty of the Kellogg School of Management is an ultimate marketing resource, featuring hundreds of pages of brand-new material on timely topics. The book explores foundational and advanced topics in marketing management, including digital transformation, data analytics, and effective marketing strategies. Expert contributors provide unique insights into their respective competencies, making this an indispensable resource for any professional expected to contribute to their organization’s marketing efforts or business growth. Overall, this book is a must-read for marketing professionals and business leaders alike.

Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products by Marty Cagan and Chris Jones is a must-read for leaders in product management, design, or engineering. The book provides insights into how top tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Netflix, and Tesla consistently innovate. Unlike most companies that focus on hiring top talents, these companies create an environment where everyone's greatness can emerge. The authors reveal the best practices of these companies and provide practical steps to create an empowered product team. This book is an inspiring read for anyone looking to unleash their team's potential and transform their organization.

The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands, written by Jean-Noël Kapferer and Vincent Bastien, is a must-read for anyone involved in luxury brand management. This book provides a comprehensive blueprint for the effective management of luxury brands and companies at the highest level. It defines the differences between premium and luxury brands and products, analyzing the nature of true luxury brands and turning established marketing 'rules' upside-down. The book explores the diversity of meanings of 'luxury' across different markets and rationalizes business models that have achieved profitability. This revised edition includes a new section on marketing and selling luxury goods online and the impact of social networks and digital developments. Overall, this book is an original and competent point of view on luxury marketing that can generate passionate discussions.

The book "Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want" provides practical solutions to create products and services that customers can't resist. It uses a visual format to explain the "Value Proposition Canvas" and teaches readers how to design, test, create, and manage products and services that customers actually want. With exclusive access to an online companion on Strategyzer.com, readers can assess their work, learn from peers, and download checklists and more. The book is an essential companion to the "Business Model Canvas" and provides a proven methodology for success. Overall, this book is a valuable resource for anyone looking to create compelling products and services that sell.

The Lean Product Playbook is a practical guide for building successful products through clear, step-by-step guidance and advice. Dan Olsen, an entrepreneur and Lean product expert, provides a repeatable, easy-to-follow methodology for iterating your way to product-market fit. This book is an indispensable, hands-on resource for entrepreneurs, executives, product managers, designers, developers, marketers, analysts, and anyone who is passionate about building great products. The unique aspect of this book is its focus on providing specific guidance on what exactly teams should be doing to adopt Lean principles.

The YouTube Formula by Derral Eves is a must-read for any creator, entrepreneur, social media strategist, or brand manager looking to achieve success on YouTube. With over 60 billion views on YouTube and 24 channels grown to one million subscribers, Eves knows what it takes to succeed on the platform. In this book, he provides readers with insider knowledge of the YouTube algorithm and actionable advice on how to launch a channel, create life-changing content, drive rapid view and subscriber growth, build a brand, improve searchability, and monetize content and audience. The YouTube Formula is a comprehensive guide to unlocking the algorithm and achieving real commercial results on YouTube.

Time's Up! is a guide for professional firms to build a more valuable business model centered on customer lifetime value. The book offers a revolutionary new subscription-based pricing model that transforms firms, teams, and results with the customer at the center of the process. The authors demonstrate that the differences between value-based pricing and subscription-based pricing are greater than the similarities, and it requires professionals to think differently. If you are looking for a book that challenges traditional business models and puts relationships and value over volume, Time's Up! is a must-read.