In the digital era, where every piece of information is given through videos, gifs and quick messages on social media, it's important to keep something in mind: Leaders are Readers.

People who excel in their field, whether they are entrepreneurs, real estate agents or top executives, are people who care about education. Learning everyday about their field. Digging deeper than the competition, because that's how you find the edge, that's how you stay on top of the game.

We've decided to select a few books that we strongly believe can help you make a significant difference. So without further ado, here is a list of books every agent serious about marketing should read:

1) Contagious by Jonah Berger

Let me tell you a story about a place in Philly called Barclay Prime. Believe it or not, their cheesesteak costs $100, which is mindbogglingly expensive compared to the average $5 you'd pay at another restaurant.

The owner had to come up with an idea to make his business successful and stand out from the impressive amount of cheesestake restaurants in Philadelphia. By putting a $100 price tag on his main dish, he leveraged a very old marketing concept called Social Currency

I could probably write a whole article dedicated to this masterpiece. It answers an important question: Why do things catch on?

In real estate, word of mouth is extremely important. Nothing beats a great review from a neighbour, friend or family member. By using great examples and actually showing us how and why things catch on, the author gives us a great insight into the minds of people. After reading this great marketing book, you might find the brilliant idea to put your name, brand or brokerage firm on the map and turn pages into leads.

More information about the book

2) Welcome to the funnel by Jason Miller

You've probably heard of content marketing more than once. It seems to be mentioned in every article out there. But what is it really all about? How do you leverage content marketing to drive revenue?

What's great about this marketing book is that the author has a proven track record. As one of the top marketing executives at LinkedIn, he was able, more than once, to drive millions of dollars from carefully orchestrated marketing campaigns.

But the best part is that this book is not just another theoretical manuscript with unrealistic examples. You quickly realize that it is in fact a guide, giving you easy and proven marketing recipes. When you finish it and turn the last page, you will be left with a comforting thought: "I can also do that".

Finally, as a cherry on top of this marketing cake, the author is easily reachable to answer your questions about the book (I personally recommend using Twitter or Linkedin). Which is not as common as one might think.

More information about this book

3) Brains on Fire by Geno Church, Greg Cordell, Robbin Phillips and Spike Jones

Word of mouth, the holly grail of local marketing. That elusive concept that everyone is running after, yet don't really know how to trigger...

Brains on fire is one of New York's top creative agencies. They are famous for their unorthodox, local and artisanal approach to marketing. They strongly believe in the power of relationships with clients. As the authors of this marketing book so brilliantly said:

"The passion conversation isn’t about getting people to talk about YOU, the brand. It’s about getting people to talk about themselves".

That quote perfectly encapsulates the meaning of this book. The goal, contrary to the previous two, is not to give you a step by step guide to word of mouth marketing. It's all about helping you understand the importance of relationships and having a passionate conversation with your clients and prospects.

Using humour they will subtly make you realize that at the end of the day business is all about sincere human interactions. That the best way for a brokerage firm to be on top is to really care about their clients, who they are and what they have to say.

The lesson to be learned here is that word of mouth marketing starts with impeccable and wholehearted customer relations. That is especially true for the real estate industry.

More information about this book

4) Growth Hacker Marketing by Ryan Holiday

How did big companies like Dropbox or Instagram grow their brand so quickly and efficiently? The answer is simple: Growth Hacking Marketing.

But what is growth hacking marketing exactly? It is a strategy that focuses on rapid growth thanks to non traditional (and usually very cheap) methods in order to grow a customer base rapidly.

Let's take the example of the well known hotmail (now outlook). It's the mid 90's and emails are taking over the internet. This free email service had to find a way to generate traction and new users. They used a now famous, but at the time, revolutionary technique.

By simply putting at the bottom of every sent e-mail a message saying "Get your free email at Hotmail", every mail sent through the platform became an advertisement for the startup. In only 8 months they were able to grow their user base to 2 million accounts. in 1997 they were sold to Microsoft for $500 million.

By using many successful examples of growth hacks, the author, Ryan Holiday, is able to show us that marketing doesn't have to be expensive, but rather smart.

More information about this book

Marketing is a discipline evolving quickly, especially in our society, where trends change faster than ever before. But in order to be an innovator, a master of that change, reading is necessary. This is the reason we came up with this list. We will of course write other articles about inspiring marketing books.

We really hope that one day we will have the chance to write about your success story, and how, maybe, a book was able to start it all...