Social Media 2024: Not Just Posting, Actually Growing (According to Gary Vee)

Gary Vaynerchuk is one of the people who has mastered social media marketing and I researched his strategies to find out what exactly he’s doing to get such fantastic results.

If you’re NOT getting followers, traffic, and sales, even though you’ve been posting content on social media, then you need to read this blog.

Number 1: Attention Hacking

He focuses on “Attention Hacking.” 

According to him, it’s like modern day-trading and you focus on where people’s attention is online.

There are many ways to capture people’s attention. Let’s look at 3 examples, starting with YouTube.

A. How To Catch Attention On YouTube?

You do that by having a really strong Hook in the first 3 seconds and by designing great thumbnails of your videos which increases retention and engagement.

Thumbnails matter so invest time and maybe even money in creating captivating thumbnails.

Ever noticed how Gary crafts his thumbnails and intros that hook viewers from the first second, ensuring they stick around for the main part?

Next let’s look at LinkedIn as an example.

B. How To Catch Attention On LinkedIn?

The first 50 letters in a LinkedIn post are crucial for higher retention and engagement.

In this LinkedIn post, for instance, see how beautifully Gary catches your attention with this hook.

And finally, the third example is Timing.

C. Post At A Specific Times

Gary Vee recommends posting at specific times for maximum attention on social media. 

To engage with popular culture and maximize social media impact, you can utilize:

• Real-time
• Relevant content
• And creativity

Here are the latest stats I found on HubSpot to help you get a general idea about the best times to post on social media.

As you can see on Weekdays, HubSpot says it’s between 1 PM-3 PM as well as 5 PM-6 PM. And on the Weekends, it’s between 9 AM-2 PM and 8 PM-11 PM (Saturday).

Now, keep in mind that these are platform averages to really find out the best time for you. You may want to go into your own analytics and see at which times your audience and your followers are most active.

I can create another article if you want platform-specific guidelines on the best times if you want so just let me know in the comments below if you want me to.

Now, based on my research, the Second Social Media strategy that Gary Vee always promotes and mentions in his interviews as well is to be Authentic.

Number 2: Be Authentic

Yes, being authentic is a strategy.

Don’t be afraid to show the world who you really are.

You don’t have to share everything about your life. Let your authenticity shine. You can pick and choose which areas you want to share:

• Whether it’s your sense of humor
• Your passions
• Or even your flaws

After all, it’s what makes you unique and relatable.

Look at this post by Gary, who could share such wise words in such an amusing way?

If you see this, you know that this was created by him and that’s what it means to be authentic. Sometimes it is also called “Speaking the Language of Your Audience.” And this works really well if you are also a member of your own audience.

What that means is that your language will be their language, and that’s how you win them over.

Here are a few ways to speak their language: 

• Dropping pop culture references
• Usine Memes
• Sharing hilarious anecdotes from your life or from people in your circle
• Find ways to connect with them on a human level

Well, that reminds me of the third social media strategy. It was actually a marketing strategy that began in 1996. 

But, most of us were unaware of it until Facebook and Instagram came into existence, and people started interacting with each other through social media.

I’m talking about Meme Marketing.

Number 3: Meme Marketing

Gary believes that Memes is language. 

After all, who doesn’t love a good laugh or a relatable “I’ve been there” moment?

In fact, Gary even has a guide on How To Make Memes.

You can go give it a read, but I’ll summarize it here in two simple steps:

Step 1: The best way, according to him, is to find a popular meme that’s trending.

Step 2: Add your authentic voice to it. 

The goal is to be creative and authentic in your messaging by combining the meme with your own text.

But you might be asking, why do you need Meme Marketing?

Because it gets attention. And Gary Vee’s marketing is fundamentally about going where the attention is.

So if memes get attention, you want to consider creating memes. If you’re still shocked and can’t believe me. Check these stats from Amra and Elma.

So, these stats and Gary Vee tell us that memes are not a passing trend, they are part of the language, communication and culture. They’re not going anywhere.

They are also powerful tools for your business. If you’re looking to connect with your audience in a fun, light-hearted and relatable way.

But of course, it is one of the strategies. You can’t ONLY be posting memes. Post memes to switch up your content regularly but don’t rely solely on them.

So, coming to the fourth strategy, which is: Experimentation & Optimization.

Number 4: Experiment & Optimize

When you start posting on social media, you often wonder how much to post and how often.

While consistent, high-quality content is essential, Gary Vee encourages a high-volume approach in the initial stages to experiment and uncover what resonates with your audience.

This trial and error fueled by quantity allows you to identify trends that work for your niche and target audience and authentic voice.

You can then refine your content strategy based on these insights.

I know it can be hard to create a lot of content and then it’s even more of a struggle to post content where we don’t even know if people are going to like it but think of it as data collection: The more content you create, the more data you have to analyze and understand what performs well.

If I could present you with 100 posts on each of your social media profiles and you could see which post performed better or worse, it would be very simple for you to understand better what your audience wants. So by you creating those 100 pieces of content and for example as fast as you can, you will arrive at this crucial data, faster, and of course, quality still matters.

Creating a lot of content doesn’t mean sacrificing quality. Even while producing high volume, aim for content that’s:

1. Informative
2. Engaging
3. And visually appealing

Prioritize consistency and value even with high volume. Don’t simply churn out repetitive or low-effort content.

Number 5: Engagement & Community Building

Everyone talks about engagement but nobody knows how to do it right.

Don’t think of “like for like” or “follow for follow” as the way to engage.

Do these instead: 

• Respond to comments and messages. Show your audience you care by responding to their questions and comments. This builds a sense of community and encourages further interaction.
• Run contests and giveaways. These are fun ways to engage your audience and grow your following.
• Collaborate with others. Partner with other businesses or influencers to reach a wider audience and gain exposure.

Bonus TIP: Create Valuable Content That Solves Your Followers’ Problems

Content is the key to your social media marketing success. It’s what draws your audience to you. 

But we can get so focused on pleasing the algorithm for views and likes, that we forget what ultimately matters: helping people and being valuable.

People love things that provide value to them. 

So, your content, whether created or curated, should not be limited to plain promotional materials.

Your content should help your followers overcome an obstacle they have, even if that obstacle is just being bored today or feeling uninspired.

Here are a few ideas:

1. Posts That Evoke Emotion

Emotions are an effective way to make people take action. This is the reason why posts that stimulate one’s emotions get a lot of shares, comments, and likes.

2. Ask Questions

There’s no easier engagement hack than to ask your followers questions and have them comment with their responses. 

You already need to have an audience and the trick is to only ask interesting questions that your audience would actually care to answer.

Sometimes seemingly superficial questions like: Do you eat pizza with or without pineapple?

We’ve all seen that question online that’s why those questions work because:

• It gets people intrigued.
• It’s very easy to answer them so don’t just ask difficult or deep questions.

Think about what would your audience care to answer in the first place. If you’ve reached this part of the blog, I think you may now have many strategies to implement and optimize your social media results. It’s time to take action.

As Gary Vee would say… 

If you want to attract dream clients while growing on social media, then you need to build your brand.

I interviewed branding expert Chris Haase, where he shared his step-by-step blueprint for creating your personal brand on social media. Click here to read it now.

And don’t forget to subscribe on my YouTube channel, @creategrowprofit.