One of the best social media speakers out there is Gary Vaynerchuk (sometimes referred to as GaryVee), an entrepreneur and bestselling author, with nearly one million Twitter followers. He can be a bit abrasive, but that is part of his charm. Although subdued this time around, Vaynerchuk still shared great advice at the annual Social Media Conference for Financial Services, held in Boston, Mass, organized by LIMRA and LOMA.
Here are 15 of GaryVee’s best words of wisdom.
1.“Every person in this room’s job is to be a story teller.”
Content is going to be how organizations are found and how they build relationships. The key is to tell the right story while clients are making their decisions.
2. ‘This is the World Wide Web, we can get chicks on this thing.’
Although this was Vaynerchuk’s college friend’s quote when they first discovered the internet, it was the inspiration GaryVee need to figure out the potential of online marketing, which helped him eventually grow his family business from $3 million to $45 million.
3. “Forget about Facebook. They have mapped that game.”
Twenty percent of the audience, through a show of hands, admitted that they said that five years ago they would not be on Facebook, but they are now using it. Vaynerchuk called this the ‘Hot club syndrome,’ referring to when a trendy New York City club starts to draw people in from the ‘bridges and tunnels.’ The second that happens that club is no longer cool.
Vaynerchuk recommended that the audience know about new social networks like Vine that went from zero users to 40 million active users. Although it might be dominated by 13-25 year olds, Vaynerchuk believes in 8 months the older generations will be there.
Even his own company now does better with Pinterest than Facebook and Twitter combined.
4. “Don’t be romantic about how you make your money.”
He encouraged the attendees to be open to trends. His example was that just because we think it is sad that people go out to dinner and use smart phones while sitting at the table does not mean that activity is not happening.
5. “The biggest culture shift of all time.”
The consumer internet is 18 years old noted Vaynerchuk. We are just starting to figure out how it works for businesses and it is going to keep evolving.
6. “Technology and evolution don’t care about any of us.”
Changes are rapidly taking place whether we like it or not. He gave the example of making and receiving phone calls. The younger generations do not want them as they feel they are a massive burden.
He gave another example of how we DVR TV we later watch, but many organizations are still spending a boat load of money on traditional advertisements that we fast forward and do not watch.
Even if we do watch them, most of the attendees admitted, through a show of hands, they have multiple screens up, while TV is on. In other words, they have a laptop, tablet and/or smart phone they are using.
7. “Social media is a gateway drug to selling things.”
His upcoming book, Jab, jab, jab, right hook, is going to be about how we can use social media to start online conversations, build relationships and then sell those that are engaged.
He thought the financial services industry is still terrible at this. Content and context need to be created before pushing an agenda.
8. “Don’t talk about what you actually do; most consumers aren’t interested.”
For financial professionals, he recommended becoming a media company to what is relevant in that town. It might be seven articles about high school football and then the eighth article is a commercial, also known as an advertorial.
He stressed the importance of creating content to sell. This will continue to be the case and he believes a company like Nike will eventually be a major competitor of ESPN.
9. “Everyone is in the media business.”
Vaynerchuk advised, create content for the people you want to reach or you are becoming irrelevant very quickly.
He provided data that supported his beliefs, including how email open rates have collapsed, banner ads get less and less clicks and Google ad words are down 15 percent.
10. “Social media is the plumbing for word of mouth.”
Marketers should listen more than talking. He sees that most are still pushing their stuff.
The consumer is more educated because there is more information online.
11. “People are digesting more information.”
Listening is the game, suggested Vaynerchuk. He thought a great Facebook post might be, ‘What can I do for you?’ When people answer the question, it will give great insight into the customers.
12. “Every piece of content is going to be there for the rest of time.”
Vaynerchuk suggested that all stuff that our grandparents did is lost forever, but everything we are doing will be recorded forever.
In other words, if you do not want your grandkids to see something, avoid saying or doing it. Think that everything is now recorded and live your life that way.
13. “It hasn’t even started.”
The last 50 years are going to be very different from what the world looks like in 10 years. To be successful in the future, focus on building relationships, bringing value and scaling those activities online.
In the coming years, Vaynerchuk believes people will no longer be able to hide in the shadows. The people that are actually good are going to win.
14. “Marketing is like parenting. The more you put in, the more you will get.”
He encouraged those late to the game to catch up quickly. For those that are afraid to learn, he snubbed them by saying they did not know how to drive, but they figured it out.
15. “99% are not going to do anything about it.”
Vaynerchuk stated, “1 or 2% of you are going to do something and you are going to win.”