Ah, social media. It’s a beast. So many platforms, so little time. So, it makes sense that we need to get super strategic about our social media marketing moves. And Gary Vaynerchuk, the master of this beast, tells us how. That is why we HIGHLY recommend you go pick up a copy of Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.
Who knew something like Instagram had the potential to change our businesses. Well, it does. Some folks still aren’t buying into the importance or power of social media. Vaynerchuk says, “Today business simply can’t be done without it.”
“It took thirty-eight years before 50 million people gained access to radios. It took television thirteen years to earn an audience that size. It took Instagram a year and a half.”
Okay, so what the heck do we do with social media? Where do we start? How do we use it as an extention of our brand? Where is our target audience hanging out? How do we get them to see us and hear us and then buy from us? How do we tell our stories in a noisy social world? Vaynerchuk is all about that jab.
He compares our social media marketing efforts to a boxing match. Every single little jab adds up. Jab, jab, jab. Most of the time, a boxer doesn’t walk into the ring and immediately throw one right hook that takes his opponent out. Game over. No, sir. It’s the repition of the jab. The persistence. The effort.
“The right hook gets all the credit for the win,” says Vaynerchuk, “but it’s the ring movement and the series of well-planned jabs that come before it that set you up for success.”
Vaynerchuk says it all comes down to us communicating our stories effectively and on the appropriate platforms. “Different platforms allow you to highlight different aspects of your brand identity.” Copying and pasting content from one platform to another is not the way to go. Different people are hanging out on different platforms. Each platform has its own language, dress code and sense of humor.
What exactly is a jab?
“Jabs are the lightweight pieces of content that benefit your customers by making them laugh, snicker, ponder, play a game, feel appreciated, or escape; right hooks are calls to action that benefit your business,” Vaynerchuk says.”Jabs are the lightweight pieces of content that benefit your customers by making them laugh, snicker, ponder, play a game, feel appreciated, or escape; right hooks are calls to action that benefit your business,” Vaynerchuk says. It’s hard to do social media right. It takes time, effort, creativity and strategy.
Vaynerchuk says that, first of all, it’s vital to know your platform and tell your story accordingly. He says we shouldn’t make demands too often from our audience. Give, give, give. He also says we should know what’s going on in the world. A great start to place jabbing is where people are already gabbing. “Talk about what they’re talking about. When they start talking about something different, talk about that instead.”
My favorite part of this book is Vaynerchuk’s real life examples. He discusses Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and other less popular platforms. After he gives his advice on approach for each platform, there are samples of good, bad and ugly jabs, from all sorts of brands. He tells us why he thinks the photo used is effective. Same with the copy, the type of jab, etc. It’s really helpful for us visual folk. And he shows such a great variety that it’s easy to find something to relate to, a jab similar to something we’ve attempted and why it worked or didn’t. He teaches us how to engage, connect and communicate in a way that’ll help us make a name for ourselves, for our brands.
After all of his insider insights, Vaynerchuk says that in order for us to really make social media work to our advantage we have to put in the effort. “Content is king, context is God, and then there’s effort. Together, they are the holy trinity for winning on Facebook, Twitter, and any other platform, and even for winning in any business.”
“Effort is the great equalizer,” says Vaynerchuk. And I love this statement. This declaration. No matter how great we think someone else is or has it, we always have our own effort. We get out what we put in. And if we give, give, give, over and over and over again, our audience will notice. They’ll like us. They’ll trust us. They’ll be loyal and eager to give to us in the rare moments when we ask something of them. When we finally pull out that killer right hook.