Practically everyone has some kind of social media presence set up, but too few actually have a well defined social media strategy.
To be perfectly honest, it’s not a huge surprise.
Social media keeps evolving at such a rapid pace that it can feel overwhelming.
If you DO fluke it and something starts working, it can switch on a dime – and suddenly your hot traffic source becomes as old and dated as a #winning meme.
Jab, Jab, Jab Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk
And as part of my ‘improve myself’ mission I just read through this book thanks to a special prompt by fellow Internet Marketer, Lester Lim. (thanks bud!)
After the super gross Content Rules book I read, Gary V’s book was a breath of fresh air – with REALLY actionable strategy in a way that made sense.
If you’re someone who struggles to focus on a book, or have in the past, struggled to read much – use this trick.
As you might have read in my Brainfluence book review, I’ve been trying a new strategy (inspired by the fabulous Tom Beal) to absorb more content from books and a huge part of that is getting a physical copy of the book, buying a highlighter and pen and actually marking the crap out it.
As a book purist in the past, this was a little tricky for me to do to begin with, but trust me – do it. By using this tactile – hands-on approach it locks it into your brain WAY more effectively!
So with all of that said, let’s dive in to the key points that I’ve learned and grabbed from Gary’s Jab, Jab, Jab Right Hook
Today’s Book: Jab, Jab, Jab Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk
Overview: Jab, Jab, Jab Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk talks about how different social media platforms can be used to market your products and how to find the social platform for you.
Key Point 1: Take Time To Explore A Little
- Many people think that just getting their message out there as loudly as possible on ALL social media sites is an effective strategy. There is a belief that ‘more is better’, which can sometimes be true, but finding out WHERE to market effectively is as equally important as the product itself.
- Gary shared a crazy mind blowing statistic about cell phone usage… There are 325 million mobile users in the United States alone – big number, yeah? But the reason this is just so insane is because, just 3 years ago the population of US was 316 million.
- Why is this important? Nearly all of those cell phone owners are on some form of social media.
- eMarketer have said that people spend nearly half of the time on their phones spent on social media. They also discovered that 71% of Americans have a Facebook account. Twitter’s statistic’s state too, that there are more than half a billion Twitter users worldwide!
- Baby Boomers have jumped aboard too, with a 42% jump in activity. This is important to us as marketers because Baby Boomers account for 70% of spending in the US – and as marketers we, of course… want to go where the money is.
- Growth is MASSIVE as accessibility skyrockets. Gary shares an example about the technological advances between radio/print/tv etc. sharing that while radio took 38 years to reach 50 million people, Instagram took 1.5 years.
- With social media becoming a major source of information and connectivity it’s imperative that marketers in whatever field are using social media effectively.
Key Point 2: Content Marketing Done Right, For An Engaging Social Media Strategy
- Social media is an increasingly ‘noisy’ space, with attention moving swiftly. Creating marketing campaigns is different now, you can’t make an ad and expect it to still be performing in this space in 6 months from now (like what used to work in television).
- The new way to do things is to create campaigns that engross your customers in a story, building branding awareness and leading them to the sale . Fresh content that is enticing and feels motivating, makes people come back for more and keeps your customers engaged and entertained.
- As Gary mentioned, content should be something they WANT to hear. He used the example of the Nike app as a great marketing campaign tool used by Nike. Users compare their achievements and their exercise accomplishments on a daily basis – so they themselves create content and give members a great reason to share it.
- Anyone can avoid your ad by blocking or muting it, so you need to keep your content from being intrusive or annoying, it should perfectly blend with your consumer lifestyle and be genuinely entertaining and engaging.
- You need to know your audience and the language they speak. Any time you can get interactivity you on the right path.
- Just having good, or even great content isn’t enough if it’s not in the right context. Effective content needs to be native to that platform.
- Example, a hairstyling tutorial posted on Pinterest can get thousands of views, but if you posted this on Twitter, it’s likely to flop. The Twitter audience engage on witty, quick and smart posts so posting a clever remark or a cheeky/controversial/edgy photo and Twitter will get you branded.
Key Point 3: Pairing Facebook with Marketing Properly
- Accounting for more than one-fifth of the total web page views in the United States, Facebook is a strong platform to interact with consumers.
- Facebook advertising is VERY cheap, compared to a lot of other advertising methods. Companies spend thousands of dollars advertising on TV but actually have no real idea how many people see them. On the other hand, costing between $0.50 and $1.50 you can get a Facebook “like” which is an interactive action and can also lead to more shares/likes etc.
- You need to be aware however. that Facebook’s main focus (besides them making tons of cash.. haha) is giving the consumers the best experience – not the advertisers. They prioritise more prominent placement in people’s newsfeed, so when a consumer regularly likes or comments on a particular friend’s profile, then they see more from that friend in their Newsfeed.
- Similarly, if your content is enticing and it sparks a discussion, people comment and start liking then you have made a start.
- Facebook have developed something called EdgeRank, which records user activity. When they interact FB keeps track of this as information called an ‘edge’. Keeping your content loaded up with ‘edge’ points gives you higher exposure.
- Facebook DOESN’T factor in clicks or likes from paid traffic, so even if a link has thousands of clicks and you are making millions of dollars with it, it won’t show in newsfeed unless it’s liked, shared and commented on. So you need to make sure your content is engaging or Facebook advertising won’t be worth spending your money on.
Key Point 4: Using Twitter #Effectively
- Twitter lets you connect powerfully with your audience, but it’s often used really poorly. For marketers it’s a dream come true, allowing you to directly connect with consumers.
- Twitter pages are almost entirely public which makes it easier for anyone to connect and be seen by anyone and everyone. When running a large Twitter account the feed can get inundated pretty quickly with approximately 750 tweets being posted per second you need to make yours stand out from the rest.
- Getting noticed is by using a strategy Gary calls trendjacking. Most underrated and underused, trendjacking is a useful way to market a product. To trendjack, you find a trending topic (topics that Twitter’s algorithm shows as mathematically popular) and latch on to that.
- Finding those opportunities is key! Gary talks about a missed opportunity by the TV series 30 Rock. They aired their final episode in Jan ’13 (after running as a highly popular show for 7 years) and the day after the final episode it was trending on Twitter. The Jeans company 7 For All Mankind, who are nicknamed “Sevens” could have jumped on the 7 Trend, but they missed the opportunity.
- (My personal note here) A GREAT more recent example of a company jumping aboard of a trending phenomenon is Kohl’s who jumped aboard the Chewbacca meme which went massively viral. This was on Facebook (so not Twitter), but I thought it was worth mentioning here – in relation to Gary’s Twitter/Seven’s trend.
The Original Massively Popular Chewbacca Mom Video
And Kohl’s Marketing Team Response
- Final words about Twitter is to use hashtags to stand out. You need to use them cleverly with humor or use or irony. Using them #hashtags #justbecause it’s #whatyoudo is #boring. Make them edgy, funny and witty or it just makes you look out of touch.
Key Point 5: Businesses Are Still Missing The Point With Pinterest
- Any marketers whose targeted demographic is female are crazy if they aren’t using Pinterest in their social media strategy.
- Pinning photos of your product with links back to your website is not only a simple, but most powerful for visual driven learners/engagement types of people.
- You can have multiple pin boards and make them relate to the brand with a broader appeal. For example, get a following for a tea company by hosting a pin board for tea cups that traveling pinterest users find in unique places all around the world.
- Gary cites a survey done back in 2012 showing that Pinterest users were 79% more likely to purchase something they saw on Pinterest than on Facebook. That may have changed a bit now, but still shows that it’s an excellent platform to market on and is a rapidly growing marketplace with over 50 million users by 2013 alone.
- Females on Pinterest outnumber males five to one.
- About half of the Pinterest members are mothers.
- Knowing your avatar and buying audience is important in any marketing endeavour so knowing these facts make marketing home goods, parenting/family products or anything targeted to this audience perfect.
- Gary says that in the past, a lot of marketers are steering clear of Pinterest mostly because of business dogmatism and legal issues, with the fear of sharing photos that they don’t own. Until now though, no lawsuits have been filed, it’s mostly a case of businesses not understanding the marketplace and seeing Pinterest as a passing fad – which it by no-means is.
In conclusion
The main message in Gary’s book is that as more and more people migrate towards online activity and have it take a significant place in every day lives, it’s essential to make good use of social media strategy.
Find out what platform is best for your brand, so that you can tailor your marketing to the audience. There is no PERFECT platform for everyone, so read the book and see which one fits best with you, your business and brand.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and if anything has jumped out at you please share it in the comments below!
I also welcome you to share this with someone you think might benefit from a bit of social media goodness. Hit the share button and make them (and me) smile.
Also, if you have any other books you have been thinking about diving into, but just haven’t had the time and want to know if it’s for you before grabbing it, post in the comments below! I’m always looking for suggestions and love to hear feedback.
To your success!
– Cindy Donovan
