Whether you’re a founder and entrepreneur, own a small business, are trying to make it as a freelancer, or have a small side hustle, branding is integral to your success. Even if you just have a hobby podcast or YouTube channel, you’re building that show’s brand and your personal brand simultaneously.
Some people get an MBA or a marketing degree to learn the ins and outs of branding. But you don’t need to go that far: These books on brand building will help everyone remember you, your company, and what you stand for.
This list features books on how to build a brand, written by marketing and other industry experts who relay tried-and-true tactics. Reading brand marketing books like The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and Growth Hacker Marketing will help you break through a crowded and noisy marketplace. Without further ado, let’s get your brand out there.
1. Brand Identity Breakthrough by Gregory V. Diehl
Diehl helps you figure out exactly what your brand identity is, and what to do with that information, because actually sharing who you are and what you stand for is how you build a brand. Getting your story straight starts here.
I appreciate that to illustrate his points, Diehl doesn’t just use big brands like Coca-Cola or Burger King, but includes smaller businesses as well. No matter the size of your operation or the stage, Diehl has advice that’s applicable to you.
2. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al Ries and Laura Ries
This book may be one of the most quintessential and iconic brand marketing books out there. It’s an in-depth look at proven branding strategies to give you ideas for your own business.
While you may not be planning to be the next Starbucks, the advice provided in this book works for companies of any size or budget.
3. Growth Hacker Marketing by Ryan Holiday
Holiday is primarily known now as a philosophy writer and podcaster, but he got his start in advertising and PR.
His book, Growth Hacker Marketing, is a great guide to amplifying your message without spending a ton of capital on traditional marketing practices. He provides great examples of brands who’ve done things differently and reaped the rewards.
This is a great reminder to think outside the traditional box as you consider your brand and your growth strategy.
4. Company Rules by Mike Baker
A former CIA operative lays out nine rules he learned while working for America’s human intelligence agency that helped him successfully launch his own business in this Everand Original.
Company Rules provides practical advice for entrepreneurs (spy skills not required but can come in handy) alongside insightful and humorous stories of Baker’s transition from the public to the private sector.
5. Industry Influencer by Dr. Glenn Vo
Vo is a full-time dentist by day and successful podcaster, writer, and motivational speaker when he’s off the clock. How does he do it all? Industry Influencer shares the secret sauce to finding your “Triangle of Genius” and branding yourself throughout all your various endeavors.
Vo explains how to leverage social media so that your startup or side hustle can have an outsized impact and influence on the world (and potentially your finances, as well).
6. How to Launch a Brand by Fabian Geyrhalter
If you haven’t started your business or side hustle yet, learning to launch with a bang is a great goal. Assuming you already know what you want to make or provide, Geyrhalter walks you through the next steps of creating your platform, choosing a name, forming an identity, and honing the customer experience, whether your product exists in the physical or digital realm.
7. Bold by Shaun Smith and Andy Milligan
Being bold has become a mantra for many people and businesses alike, but how exactly do they do it? Marketing consultants Smith and Milligan mined the stories of several companies to figure out what made them bold and stand out above their competitors (hint: it’s way more than a well-designed logo).
If you’re ready to take a calculated risk for the benefit of your brand, Bold shares plenty of inspiring case studies that will give you ideas to get started — and the courage to take the leap.
8. How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer by Debbie Millman
While branding isn’t all about aesthetic and graphic design, it’s a large part of it. (Just think of how critical people become any time a brand changes its logo!)
An identifiable brand has a logo, a website, ads, and more that must strike the right look and feel in order to be successful. Even if you outsource your design needs, it’s helpful to have an idea of what you really want.
In this book, Millman, a renowned branding expert and designer, shares interviews with 19 graphic designers about their work and how they think about design. While it won’t teach you how to use Adobe Illustrator or Sketch, it will help you better understand strategic choices graphic designers make, and perhaps inspire you to play around with your own brand design.
9. What Great Brands Do by Denise Lee Yohn
In What Great Brands Do, author Lee Yohn dissects her 25 years in branding and consulting, where she worked with some of the biggest companies in the world. She boils down successful branding into seven key principles and shares case studies from major brands like Lululemon and Chipotle, while also bringing those strategies to a smaller scale so any business can put these findings into practice.
10. Unconscious Branding by Douglas Van Praet
Want to better understand why branding matters? Unconscious Branding isn’t a book about how to create a logo. Rather, it’s a book that helps explain why logos matter to customers, and the impact that branding can have on a subconscious level.
This book will help you realize just how important branding is, even if you hate the idea of marketing or creating a “personal brand” for yourself. If you can understand what makes people want to get on board with a brand, you can create one that speaks directly to your audience.
11. Creative Personal Branding by Jurgen Salenbacher
Salenbacher shares the method he uses with business clients to develop their creative thinking. His goal is to help entrepreneurs figure out what’s next for them and for their brand, and he shares nine assignments to put you on the right path toward a brand that makes sense for you.
If you’re someone who needs specific workbook-style assignments and a coach mentality, this is it.
12. Brand the Change by Anne Miltenburg
It may be tough to consider branding when you’re busy trying to save the world in the changemaking space. But the more eyes you can get on your cause, the more likely you are to actually affect change. That’s why Miltenburg wrote Brand the Change.
Miltenburg explains why creating a strong brand is critical, even for small nonprofits, and she shares ways to do so that don’t feel inauthentic. She also includes specific exercises to help you get started.
13. Fascinate by Sally Hogshead
We all want to make our brands irresistible; Hogshead is cracking the code on how to do just that.
Fascination equates to holding a customer’s attention, making it so they simply can’t look away. Hogshead believes the ability to fascinate is built on one of seven principles: innovation, passion, power, prestige, mystique, alert, and trust. This book includes an assessment to help you hone in on your brand’s pre-existing strengths and play to them.
14. Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller
Clearly, there’s something about the number seven: it seems like half the books on this list about branding feature seven principles, and Miller’s Building a StoryBrand is no different.
Miller looks at the seven elements that create powerful stories and helps you figure out exactly what your company’s unique, salable story is. (Hint: It’s probably not that really boring story about how you founded the company that makes your spouse start zoning out every time you tell it.)
15. Personal Branding for Dummies by Susan Chritton
It’s hard to beat a For Dummies guide when it comes to hitting the basics of any topic, and this massive volume is no exception. It starts by helping you clarify your personal brand and develop a mission statement. It also includes next steps when it comes to building your brand as well as common pitfalls to avoid.
This is a great place to start if you want to get a 101 grounding of branding and learn the lingo.
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