Book Review: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk

New York Times bestselling author and social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk shares hard-won advice on how to connect with customers and beat the competition. A mash-up of the best elements of Crush It! and The Thank You Economy with a fresh spin, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook is a blueprint to social media marketing strategies that really works. 
When managers and marketers outline their social media strategies, they plan for the “right hook”—their next sale or campaign that’s going to knock out the competition. Even companies committed to jabbing—patiently engaging with customers to build the relationships crucial to successful social media campaigns—want to land the punch that will take down their opponent or their customer’s resistance in one blow. Right hooks convert traffic to sales and easily show results. Except when they don’t.
Thanks to massive change and proliferation in social media platforms, the winning combination of jabs and right hooks is different now. Vaynerchuk shows that while communication is still key, context matters more than ever. It’s not just about developing high-quality content, but developing high-quality content perfectly adapted to specific social media platforms and mobile devices—content tailor-made for Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Tumblr.

I have been hearing about Gary Vee for years but have never read him until now. I decided to see what all the hype was. I also follow him on Instagram and his personality is really…out there… So I wasn’t too sure what to expect with his books. I know this one was written a while ago so his later books might have a different tone but the tone of this book was waaaayyyyyy more subdued than how he is on Instagram.

I was also looking to learn more about social media. On that aspect, this book seemed more geared toward beginners. I DID learn some twitter tips and twitter seems to be the place where I struggle most so I did come away with some valuable insight. I am testing them to see if they still work as this book was written a couple years ago and we all know how fast social media can change. I mean he had a chapter on Vine and we all know what sad fate befell them.

He also had a chapter on SnapChat. I have to admit I REALLY don’t get SnapChat. I think I am just getting old BUT I did learn how other people use the platform so I will give it more time. People keep adding me on there so I must be doing something right. I LOVE the filters on SnapChat and now with my implants, I can hear people doing the funny voices and what can I say I am easily amused. I am also testing his recommendations for that platform.

I did find his chapter on Pinterest lacking. I mean he makes it sound like all you need is a pretty board and you will get thousands of followers which we know is not true. There is an art to using Pinterest and if you want people to actually find your pins you better have some keywords and such. I felt he could have done better on that but he is not really in the demographic so I should cut him some slack.

All in all, i felt that the overall tone of the book.  Give …give…give..give…. ask was on point. Too often I see people going straight for the asking when they haven’t really given anything yet. It takes the time to build a level of trust up to the point where people are going to part with their hard earned dollars. I recently joined a mastermind but I watched that person’s blog and stuff for TWO YEARS before I was ready to part with my cash. And this is a blogger that gives almost everything away for free. I watched and I waited……and when she launched a mastermind I decided that this was worth my money. So that tactic does work. I also have my eye on some more courses but as of now, i am just seeing what free stuff everyone puts out before I part with a 1000 dollars. I don’t care how well known they are that much money makes me want to poop my pants so it is gonna take a high level of trust before I hand over my card.

Overall I felt this book had some good tips. There were some areas that were lacking so I would recommend you get this book from a library.