Doing business in the social media world

In the world of boxing, a hook is a power punch usually aimed at the chin, but it can also be used to target other parts of the body, particularly the liver area. The right hook is also called a right uppercut, and when delivered right, can result in a knockout.

The metaphor of the right hook is used by author Gary Vaynerchuk in his book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, to illustrate the fast-paced, competitive and aggressive way of doing business in the social media world. Boxing trainers say that you don’t win a fight with a single right hook. Long before a boxer develops a victorious knockout, he goes through weeks or months of focused training, a series of smaller jabs, watchful scrutiny, and fine-tuning on the fly, all in preparation for the ideal time to hit the ring and floor the opponent.

“In the social world, this means that if you want to keep your followers and attract new ones, you’ve got to set your sell aside and bring content of value to them first, whether it’s humor, related news or something else. And then you’ve got to bring it again, and again. It’s the only way to win,” Vaynerchuk declared. Such strategy is basic, but a lot of businesses and individuals seem to learn it the hard way.

His tome builds on an irrefutable claim that every business — in whatever size or shape — can start itself up on social media and develop an engaged audience, provided it has the motivation to learn each platform’s purpose, and put in the ensuing hustle to demonstrate it.

After laying down the fundamental structures, Vaynerchuk discusses the technical capabilities, advises on best practices, describes the native voice of the platform, and offers tips and tricks for maximizing engagement. He provides real-life examples, complete with screenshots, of posts that worked and posts that didn’t, and gives thorough explanations as to why each was a success or a failure. The hardbound is packed with good reminders for digital natives, and is particularly helpful to digital immigrants that are new to social media marketing. Here are key samplers from Vaynerchuk’s jabs that can deliver the right hook:

Get people to hear your story on social media, and then act on it. Today, such a goal requires using a platform’s native language, paying attention to context, understanding the nuances and subtle differences that make each platform unique, and adapting your content to match. There is a science to setting up, and creating memorable, effective social media content for mobile that converts fans into customers. Today’s perfect right hooks always include three characteristics: they make the call to action simple and easy to understand; they are perfectly crafted for mobile, as well as all digital devices, and they respect the nuances of the social network for which you are making the content.

Create great content and compelling stories. What more could possibly be said about Facebook? You know what it is and what it does. You all know and have experienced how it’s changed the world’s culture as monumentally as television. While many remain skeptical about many other social media platforms, small business owners, marketers, and brand managers consider Facebook a legitimate marketing tool because a lot of people, of varying ages, social status, gender and behavioral types, are on it. When doing micro content on Facebook, the text shouldn’t be too long. It must be provocative, entertaining and surprising, and the accompanying photo has to be striking and high quality. Make the logo visible, choose the right format for the post, and position the call to action in the right place. An interesting story that doesn’t ask too much of the person consuming the content can seal the deal.

Listen well on Twitter. The Twitter concept is a byproduct of a brainstorming session that took place at the top of a slide on a San Francisco playground. The company’s logo, a little bluebird, is officially named Larry, after Larry Bird, the former player for the Boston Celtics. Many are at home in Twitter’s 140-word cocktail-party environment. It’s a platform that comes most naturally since it’s perfectly suited for small bursts of quickfire conversations and idea exchanges. When using it, your content must be to the point, with a hashtag that’s unique and memorable, and when attaching an image, it must be premium quality. The voice must be authentic to ensure it resonates with the Twitter audience.

Glam it up on Pinterest. The majority of Pinterest users are women, and half of them are mothers. Unless you sell a product that no woman in a million years would want for herself or any person in her life, you’re missing a lot if your brand is not on Pinterest. Although the specifics of how jabs and right hooks work on Pinterest is unique to the platform, learning more about how companies successfully capitalize on the forces behind its meteoric popularity should help fuel your creativity in devising new strategies for reaching consumers on other platforms. Your content on Pinterest must feed the consumer dream, where your boards carry clever, creative titles. When appropriate, include price points and a hyperlink for every photo. Consider making your pins double as ads or act as an accompanying photo to an article featured in a topflight magazine.

Create art on Instagram. Another visual-centric social network, Instagram, Like Pinterest, has what the author calls “baked-in utility,” which means that it’s really good at what it’s supposed to do — help you take better mobile photographs. Yet it is a vastly more challenging platform for marketers. Instagram is a closed loop. Anyone who clicks on your Instagram photo gets brought back to Instagram.  Your Instagram content must be artsy and indie enough for its crowd, with enough descriptive stories appealing to the young generation.

Get animated on Tumblr. Tumblr is skewed towards the young, appealing largely to 18- to 34-year-olds with a slight tilt towards women. In addition, it skews extremely artsy, providing an exhibition space for photographers, musicians, and graphic designers. If Twitter is hip-hop, Tumblr is indie rock. And yet, though Tumblr doesn’t have the scale of Pinterest or Instagram, you should be there. In Tumblr, you must customize your theme in a way that properly respects your brand.

Seize opportunities in emerging networks. Other than the five social networks, the author briefly scrutinizes LinkedIn, Google+, Vine and Snapchat, bringing his thoughts on how they might develop, featuring what kind of content works on these platforms and making a powerful case for becoming an early adopter. LinkedIn is where you have the most freedom to indulge in long text, since people who go to this site are hungry for information and are wont to meet professionally like-minded individuals. Vaynerchuk says that the future of Google+ as a viable marketing platform is one big question mark. Right now, it is where Twitter was in 2006 or 2007. Most of the world just isn’t interested in Google+ as a stand-alone product, because it offers little that people can’t already get through Facebook.

Vine’s six-second restriction is a powerful thing. It brings out your storytelling creativity in a big way. Vaynerchuk believes that the six-second promise is going to turn it into one of the major platforms in the marketplace. It offers enough variety to satisfy the cravings of consumers constantly looking for their next high, and is short enough for those time-pressed consumers to come back for more over and over gain.

Snapchat allows users to send photos and videos that self-destruct in a matter of seconds. It was labeled as a “sexting” platform, but surprisingly, it is actually used much more for circulating visual gags and jokes than dirty pictures. Snapchat is not for profound content, nor to produce anything that’s going to be treasured for eternity. It’s where people will go for a quick laugh before moving on. Imagine the power of a brand or business that can jab well enough to become the source of choice for those little moments that get you through your day.

Essentially, Right Hook urges marketing and communications people to be more engaging, creative and responsive to audiences who want to be educated, entertained and involved. One has to jab, jab, jab in the online arena.  Indeed, it’s how you tell your story in a noisy social world. As Vaynerchuk aptly states, “There is no sale without the story; no knockout without the setup.”

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