5 min read ⌚ 

Power Tips for Power Users

Do you have a profile on Facebook? Instagram? Twitter?

What do you do with them?

Did you know that you can use your presence to grow your business, or create a personal brand and make money?

How?

Read on.

Who Should Read “The Art of Social Media PDF” and Why?

“The Art of Social Media” is a book which is very relevant for contemporary people, whose whole lives are online.

We recommend it to everyone who is on social media, and who would like to add more meaning to just being present.

About Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick

Guy Kawasaki is a social media influencer, an author, former chief evangelist at Apple, current chief evangelist at Canva.

He is also an executive fellow at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.

Peg Fitzpatrick has worked on successful social media campaigns for Audi, Virgin, Canva, Google, Motorola et cetera, as a social media strategist. She is a director of social media at Kreussler Inc.

“The Art of Social Media PDF Summary”

Social media has taken over our lives in the past few years.

Twitter and Facebook have more than 1 billion users worldwide, each.

There are also many other social media platforms that people use daily.

With so many users, it is only natural that businesses would try to take advantage of this audience.

However, many businesses do not understand that although many people use social media, it does not mean that they can just post anything and get noticed.

As there are many users, there are also many businesses who decide to market through social media.

This means that the users are overburdened with information and that they are automatically filtering information, not even giving them any attention.

The battle for users’ interest has never been so hard!

Hence, the only way to get to social media users is not through posting, but through posting with purpose.

First, you need to take care of the “cover.”

We are told that books should not be judged by their covers. However, we all know that the reality is much different.

The same goes for social media.

Many people decide whether to follow or not based on the picture and name.

So, if you want to give yourself a better chance of creating an initial pool of followers, put enough thought into your profile picture and names.

When you are coming up with a name, do not try to be smart. Many things that are funny today can become embarrassing in the future.

So, keep it simple.

The best option is always using your own name.

After you have chosen the name, the next step is to create a vanity URL which will allow for your profile to be identified as more than just a random string of numbers.

At times, it will not be possible to get a unique URL which is the same as your name, since it may have already been taken, but even in such cases try to find something as close as possible as you can.

Once you have done the previous two steps, it is time you consider your profile picture.

Pictures are important since the name is something you may share with many other people, while the image will make you recognizable.

Pictures also will draw a “map” of your character in the minds of your users, so choose an image where your face is visible, you are smiling, and you give an impression of someone likable and competent.

Now, this is just the start.

The real job begins from this point on.

The name of the game is called content.

In order to make people follow you, you have to share content that they will also want to share.

Also, in order to keep their interest, you will also have to keep posting relevant content.

Relevant content is something that people care about and find helpful or entertaining.

Sometimes, you can share interesting content from other people, since there will be times when you will not feel like you have anything to say.

However, never forget the importance of original, self-created content.

When you are creating your content, remember that the internet has changed users and they have a much shorter attention span that they once had, so it will be best if you keep your posts short and sweet.

Do not go over 1000 words, shorten your sentences and paragraphs and use pictures and graphics whenever you can since visuals keep people’s attention.

And let’s not forget the title!

The title of a story and a post is very significant, since if it tickles people’s attention they will want to open it, and once they do, the chances that they continue reading are much higher.

One of the titles that you can never go wrong with are the “How to…” or “Top…” types of titles.

Lastly, do not forget to engage with your audience by replying to their comments and show that you care about their support.

Key Lessons from “The Art of Social Media”

1.      Social Media Presence is a Business
2.      Think About Your Audience
3.      Consider Cross Promotion

Social Media Presence is a Business

Social media is not about posting – it is about posting with purpose.

We tend to not take social media as something serious, or at least not as something as serious as traditional channels.

However, you can only be noticed if you go pro and learn the tricks that can help you stand out from the crowd.

Think About Your Audience

As it is with any product and service, you have to think about your customers, or in this case your fans.

Posting things that only you find relevant will not bring you any results, so make sure you know what your audience wants and give them exactly that.

We are not saying to tailor the content so much that your own opinion and voice are not heard, but to make a balance between the two.

Consider Cross Promotion

Nowadays there are many social media pages, but that does not mean that you should sign up for them all. Being present on each one of them will take up too much time and engaging the audience requires much effort.

However, it is good to use these platforms to cross-promote, so make sure you sign up for at least three different platforms.

Like this summary? We’d Like to invite you to download our free 12 min app, for more amazing summaries and audiobooks.

“The Art of Social Media” Quotes

Our Critical Review

The internet changed the world. Now everyone can become a brand, with or without a unique talent.

That is why it is very important to learn about personal branding and how it can help you make a fortune.

“The Art of Social Media” is a book which is great for social media beginners.

Of course, since technology changes, many parts of it are already outdated, but the core remains the same, so you can still get valuable lessons from it.

Emir Zecovic

Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.