This week I started reading Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Jab, Jab Jab, Right Hook. In the book Gary discusses the intricacies on how to stand out in different social media platforms. Basically he explains how the content strategy for Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, etc. should all be very different if you are going to be successful.
So far the book makes a lot of sense and in typical Gary Vee fashion he shows how the idea of making content is a lot more arduous then actually making content.
The key to starting out is quantity which is what so many people do currently. People are scared to have a post that “bombs” for fear that the algorithm will punish them (or the mob will cancel them).
Below I am going to include an extremely brief summary of each social channel Gary covers in the book and how I intend to utilize it to build my “brand”.
Facebook is the first and longest section of the book. In it Gary details how it is the most important social channel because it has over 1 billion users. This book was also written in 2013 so it is important to keep that in mind. The information is slightly dated especially when it comes to the size of the platforms. I have no idea how many “active users” Facebook has no but instagram definitely has more attention at this point. Facebook is a place for people over 40 in my opinion.
Despite this the platform should not be ignored. Facebook’s targeting is incredible and you need a Facebook account to have Instagram. Using that logic there are more Facebook accounts than Instagram accounts. Facebook also offers better targeting than Instagram. If you post something on Instagram Facebook will serve it to a portion of your audience. However, you can target organic posts on Facebook so they get served to a specific portion of your audience. For example you can make sure a post about men’s boots is only seen by men. On Instagram you do not have that kind of control. The algorithm just makes its best guess on who wants to see that post. Facebook also offers the ability make groups. I am a part of several groups that actually relay really important information. I have also seen multiple “paid” groups where members have to pay to join. I have seen a lot of slack groups like this too.
Currently I am not posting “brand” stuff on Facebook. I don’t really have a problem with it but I do not have a clear strategy of how it applies to me. I think the best way to use it would be to include the beginning of an article or video and then have a link to the full video. For the time being I will not do anything other than update my profile picture to something more recent than my freshman year of high school.
On Instagram I am a little embarrassed to do this at the moment. It is extremely social for me. I mainly use it to show memes and post pictures with friends.
In the book, Gary describes Twitter as the “cocktail” party of the internet. It is a medium designed for speed and brevity which clearly plays to Gary Vee’s strengths.
I never really used twitter at all until a few months ago. There is a ton of good info on there even though it is extremely negative. I honestly think it is a better place to go job hunting than Linkedin, especially if you are interested in tech. There are thousands of people who own 7 and 8 figure companies on twitter that have less than 2,000 followers. In my experience if you ask a somewhat thoughtful question they will probably respond.
While Twitter provides the best opportunity to communicate with people you want to network with it also is the captial of right hooks for brands. If people are not complaining about politics on Twitter the are probably linking to articles outside of Twitter or spamming coupon codes.
To break out on twitter you need to provide context to what is trending to your brand. Professional sports are about to start back up again, and social media is frothing with anticipation. Brands can break out by joining in the conversation of sports even if it has nothing to do with their business. The real standouts are the ones that can create content that overlaps what is trending and still relates to their brand. Extra bonus points if it is witty too.
The biggest takeaway is cross platform pollination. Twitter provides the ability imbed instagram posts in it. If you are blowing up on twitter it can be a valuable tool to sen people to Facebook or Instagram. This is much better than just pasting a URL to your website. It also allows you to be “lazy” and get the most out of your content.
Overall I think Twitter plays to my strengths more than any platform. Sarcasm and witty humor do well there and it is less dependent on pictures than any other platform. The downside is that it is the most negative place in the world. It takes a lot of self control focus purely on brand building and not shit talk or make fun of people posting things you do not agree with.
The Instagram section was definitely the most dated part of the book so far. Instagram has really changed stuff and Gary Vee is the King of Instagram as far as I’m concerned.
Videos have become the most popular type of content on Instagram instead of photos. There are a lot of Instagram accounts that are mostly posting Tik Tok videos right now.
The biggest takeaway is that hashtags are extremely underrated on Instagram. They are over used on twitter but present a lot of opportunity on Instagram.
Instagram has also taken steps to keep people on the platform. You cannot link out on the vast majority of posts. In addition Instagram seems to be the most competitive social space right now. I do not think there is a huge play for me personally on Instagram right now. But could be a place to post highlights of Youtube videos if I start making them.
The deeper I get the more dated I realize this book is. Linkedin does not get covered until the emerging platforms section.
The cover of the book had the linkedin logo on it so I assumed it was covered in the same detail as Facebook. Great cover design. I think Linkedin could be a good space for me personally. I think it would be easy to start writing about Amazon on the platform and potentially pick up brands that way. If I have a reliable following on Linkedin it would also probably help me catapult to another job. Right now I am focusing on the blog but as the articles get better it can absolutely get repurposed for Linkedin. Just have to put in the effort.
Closing Thoughts
Overall I think JJJRH was a great book when it came out and still has some useful albeit dated information.
Gary Vee has put out a lot more up to date information since this came out (for free). It was still very educational to see what this looked like several years ago. The only answer is to make a bunch of content. I want to get to 50 articles on this website and then I will start expanding out.