This week I read Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuck. Gary is the New York Times bestselling author of Crush It! and The Thank You Economy. He is also an entrepreneur, and investor.
Originally best known for his YouTube show Wine Library TV, Gary has an amazing story about how he took over his dads liquor store, Shoppers Discount Liquors, and grew it from a $3MM per year business to a $50MM per year business in just 7 years. He is also the founder of and CEO of VaynerMedia, a digital consulting and social media agency, which is growing a an unbelievable pace.
It seems like Gary is everywhere these days. He is considered my many to be one of the best, if not the best, on the topics of social media and entrepreneurship.
Check out his website GaryVaynerchuck.com and his podcast The #AskGaryVee Show. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Why Should You Read This Book?
I would consider Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook a must read for anyone who uses social media for their business.
If you are an entrepreneur, this means you!
This book completely changes the way that most people think about marking and selling to their customers over social media.
The problem is that most businesses approach social media only as a way to market and sell to customers, while customers approach social media as a place to have relationships and connect with others. Therefore they are not generally in the “buying mindset” while they are on social media.
So does that mean that you cannot market and sell to them on social media? Not at all. In fact, Gary shows how it is the perfect place to do so, as long as it is done correctly.
Gary shows how to use your business social media to create a story, and connect with people on a human level. By giving lots of great value – jabs – brands are able to later sell – right hooks – much more effectively.
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook is broken down into sections that cover each of the major social networks. Gary gives you insight into each network, and what makes it unique.
One of the most important topics that he covers is how content has to be “native” to the platform to be effective. What that means is that content that will work well on Twitter may not work so well on Instagram, or content that kills it on Facebook may tank on Pinterest.
Each network has it own look, feel, and language. To be effective you have to know how to speak that language, and the great thing is that Gary makes it really easy to learn.
He gives numerous examples of how companies like Jeep, Mercedes, and many others have used social media successfully (or unsuccessfully) on each of the popular social media platforms.
Here Are Some Quotes I Pulled As I Read
- 71 percent of people in the United States are on Facebook, more than a half billion globally are on Twitter.
- Social media is like crack— immediately gratifying and hugely addictive.
- Marketers have learned to divide their campaigns into three categories— traditional, digital, and social.
- 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.
- Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a small business, or a Fortune 500 company, great marketing is all about telling your story in such a way that it compels people to buy what you are selling.
- Ultimately, that’s the real reason to do any of this— because social media sells shit.
- 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 businesses.
- There is no sale without the story; no knockout without the setup.
- Ignoring platforms that have gained critical mass is a great way to look slow and out- of- touch.
- You cannot win big in social media if you’re going to be afraid of emerging technology.
- Native content amps up your story’s power. It is crafted to mimic everything that makes a platform attractive and valuable to a consumer— the aesthetics, the design, and the tone.
- Similarly, each platform is unique, and requires a unique formula. What works on Facebook won’t necessarily work on Twitter. Stories told through pictures on Instagram don’t resonate the same way when told in an identical manner on Pinterest. Posting the same content on Tumblr as on Google+ is the equivalent of the tourist deciding that since he can’t speak Norwegian he’ll just speak Icelandic and it will do.
- Content for the sake of content is pointless.
- Content is king, but context is God.
If you are an entrepreneur of any kind you need to read this book.
Social media is one of the most influential places to connect with customers and clients. If you are using it the wrong way, or not at all, it is costing your business big time!
This book gives you all the info that you need to build your social media strategy and being connecting with your customers or client in the way that they expect.
