How to Actually Build Brand and Sales in the New Social Media World
Written by Gary Vaynerchuk. Published by Harper Business in May of 2024
Mastering storytelling is vital for modern communication. This skill combines creative narratives with strategic approaches to engage audiences effectively. Concentrating on underpriced attention channels is the most effective. Decennia ago they were newspapers, then radio, TV, and currently it’s mainly social media and other modern advertising on emerging platforms. By honing this ability, you can create impactful content, build connections, and achieve your goals more efficiently across various digital channels.
Day trading attention is the management of attention in the digital age by quickly capturing, utilizing, and redirecting attention across various platforms or content types throughout the day. Similar to financial day traders we need to focus on short-term gains in audience engagement. It involves quickly moving between different attention-grabbing tactics or platforms to maximize engagement. Capitalize on trending topics, viral content, or emerging platforms that offer momentary spikes in attention.
Day trading attention should be metrics-driven. Measure immediate engagement metrics like views, likes, shares, or comments. Then use these for strategic thinking. Use social media data to inform and improve marketing efforts.
TikTok’s “For You” page is a groundbreaking feature that serves content based on users’ interests rather than who they follow. And is now adopted by other platforms. Platforms are moving from a “social graph” (focused on connections) to an “interest graph” (focused on user preferences) for content distribution.
Organic, relevant, authentic content is very powerful in driving brand awareness and sales. The new model allows for potentially unlimited organic reach, regardless of follower count, if the content is relevant and engaging. This levels the playing field between small businesses/creators and large brands.
And now you can use social media as a testing ground for different marketing ideas before committing to higher-budget productions like TV commercials. Use customer feedback and performance data from organic posts to inform which content to promote through paid advertising.
Gary suggests the following approach to advertising, which he calls The Modern Avertising Framework. It consists of the following:
- Defining your target audience
- Know the length limitations and organic reach of social media platforms, eg the differences between Instagram Stories, Reels, and Carousels.
- Cultural Awareness: Stay informed about current events relevant to your target audience. Identify influencers and celebrities your audience follows. Tailor your message to resonate with your audience’s interests and slang.
- Strategic organic content (SOC) is the content you share across platforms to build brand awareness and loyalty. Every detail matters. This includes the first few seconds that grab attention, the accompanying text (caption), any video title cards, and even video length.
- Amplification is making more people see your content. For example by paid ads on social platforms or streaming services, influencer marketing, TV commercials, outdoor media, and more.
- Modern commercials. Videos people want to watch.
- Post-creative strategy (PCS), Listening to your consumers (eg comments) to gather insights to improve SOC and target market.
Experiment with different posting times. Tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social can provide optimal posting time recommendations based on your audience’s engagement. Different types of content (e.g., videos, images, text posts) may perform better at different times. Once you find a schedule that works, try to maintain consistency to build audience expectations.
Observe when similar businesses in your industry post and how their content performs. Stay updated on how each platform’s algorithm works and prioritizes content. Test and iterate.
We’re shifting from traditional, long-term marketing campaigns to a more agile, data-driven approach that requires constant adaptation and optimization. Make sure to create content that people actually want to consume. But the most important thing is to just start.
You can define multiple cohorts. Consider groups with different interests, life milestones (graduating, starting a career, becoming a parent), personality types or current cultural movements (environmentalism, social justice movements). Reactions to contents for one media can generate a new cohort to address to. Give cohorts a fun, specific name. This helps in serving different “flavors” to different audiences and avoids bland generic content.
PAC (Platforms and Culture) knowledge is crucial. Understanding cultural trends helps in defining cohorts and creating relevant content. Pay attention to “signals” – data points indicating relevance to consumer groups.
Make sure your content is authentic. Don’t force trends if they don’t align with your brand or personality. Balance between tapping into trends and maintaining authenticity. Brands rarely drive culture through advertising nowadays. But opportunities exist in collaborations and unique collectible products
You also need to adapt content to the different platforms, often with different formats. TikTok has a very unique communication style. Tips include focusing on the first three seconds of videos, using TikTok search for research, and interacting with the community.
Instagram is more for all kinds of content types. Advice includes mixing up creative styles, utilizing different content formats, and maintaining good profile hygiene. Take advantage of Instagram’s various features like Reels, Stories, carousels, images, live streams, and broadcast channels.
X (Twitter) is still known as the “water-cooler” of society. It’s great for listening to consumers and participating in relevant conversations. Include using Twitter’s advanced search for consumer insights and customer service opportunities. And on Twitter it’s ok post up to 20 times a day.
LinkedIn has evolved from a job search platform to a powerful B2B and B2C marketing tool. It offers high organic reach for businesses, professionals, and content creators. You should use both personal profiles and company pages, focus on content creation over immediate sales pitches. Build relationships through relevant, consistent posting. Blend professional exp ertise with personal elements in content. Leverage connections and engagement to expand reach.
Facebook is lately being perceived as an older platform, but it still has 3 billion monthly active users. It appeals to a wide age range. Facebook groups provide networking and community-building opportunities. And recently with TikTokification organic reach is back on the
platform. It’s great for B2B and B2C businesses, including local ones. It also offers comprehensive analytics tools for strategic content creation and A/B testing.
Youtube is ideal for long-form, high-production-value content. The emphasis here is on data-driven content creation. As the second-largest search engine, it’s optimizable for SEO. It’s also suitable for vlog-style content, live streaming and event documentation. Encourages testing and analytics-based improvements. Offers advanced analytics for content optimization
And then there’s Snapchat which mimics face-to-face communication with disappearing messages. Popular among younger users for intimate, core group interactions. It offers content discovery through Spotlight and Snapchat Discover, but it’s primarily used for messaging. Snapchat is advanced in augmented reality (AR) technology. It has potential for businesses, particularly local ones.
Ensure your profile is well-maintained and informative. This includes having a complete bio that describes what you do, linking your website. using Highlights to showcase different aspects of your business, setting up a broadcast channel for valuable updates and including relevant contact information.
Some effective content types:
- Selfie videos, straight-to-camera
- Mascot-driven content
- Cartoons and comics
- Strategic reposts across platforms
- Content with real-life backgrounds
- Street interviews
- Ad reads in podcasts
- Modern commercials that feel like entertainment
- Lenses and filters on social media
- Listicles, articles written as a list, in video format
- Content showing multiple actions simultaneously
Experiment with different formats, repurpose content and continuously optimize based on audience response. Check for relatability, authenticity, complexity and platform-specific optimization.
In the last part of the book various scenarios and provides his advice on how to approach them. The scenarios cover a wide range of topics, including:
- Introducing social media marketing to a family roofing business
- Using social media for a locksmith business
- Generating leads for a B2B SaaS company through social media
- Building an angel investing profile through content creation
- Monetizing a successful TikTok account
- Running for local political office with limited resources
- Using mascots in marketing for CPG brands
- Authentically advertising in new categories like esports
- Transitioning content focus from skin care to music on social media
The advice generally emphasizes the importance of creating relevant, platform-specific content, understanding the target audience, and being willing to experiment and adapt. The author also stresses the value of research, authenticity, and persistence in marketing efforts. Some marketing efforts don’t pay off, don’t get discouraged.
For B2B marketing, for example for a B2B SaaS company trying to generate leads, it’s probably best to post organic B2B content on LinkedIn. Aim for 2-5 pieces of creative content per day minimum. When organic posts overperform, convert them into paid ads with a sales focus. You can also utilize LinkedIn’s ad targeting capabilities to reach employees at specific organizations you want to sell to.
For B2B it’s good to create content that showcases the depth of knowledge and expertise of your team. Maybe use green screen videos, where your experts can provide commentary on product features or industry news.
It’s often best to have a channels and a phone number separately from your main business. This way you can experiment more, and maybe make it into a separate business. Set up clear attribution for leads generated through LinkedIn by using unique email addresses or phone numbers.
B2B content doesn’t need to go viral. Reaching and converting a few key decision-makers can be highly valuable. Lower view counts are normal in B2B , and can make the strategy ROI positive. Balance engaging, valuable content with more sales-oriented content. You can also ask people to sign up.
On all social media you can ask questions directly. So instead of just promoting your product or service, incorporate questions into your content to get feedback from your audience. You can also use polls and interactive elements.
Browsing through social media you can find suitable influencers to partner with to promote your business. Be open to different types of partnerships, such as exchanging services or creating content together. Influencers who can drive results and generate loyal customers aren’t always those with a large following.
Event marketing is also often perfect to reach the target audience and get reactions to learn from. And filming the event creates tons of content. You can organize the event or just rent a stand, but needs to be culturally relevant for maximum impact.
AI will significantly impact content creation and consumer behavior. You can use even use it to bring content in your voice in other languages.
WhatsApp, Pinterest, decentralized social networks, virtual reality, and the metaverse are small today and will probably become good potential marketing channels. But it’s better to work on where consumer attention is currently focused. The main thesis of this book after all is to find underpriced attention now and effectively storytell in those places.
