Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World

Marketers should strive to deliver something of real value to prospective customers before attempting to close the deal. Building up goodwill with well-orchestrated "jabs" of value sets up the "knockout punch."

Think of it this way: Jab, jab, jab … right hook! Or: Give, give, give … ask!

Round One: The Set-Up:   Understand the power and reach of social media.  Far too many marketing executives fail to harness its full potential to tell compelling stories, and connect with customers.

Round Two: Jabbing with Great Content:  Remember why people use social media in the first place  - it's fun! Your first jabs of content should  make  your customers laugh  or feel appreciated.

With proper  execution, the content won't seem like a set-up for that ultimate  sales pitch, eventhough it is.

Round Three: Jabbing in the Right Language:  Every social media platform has its own language. Getting people to hear your story and act on it requires an understanding of a platform's subtle  nuances so you can  create content to match.

Content is king, but context is God.

Round Four: Jabbing on Next Generation Platforms:  Facebook and Twitter are the most popular social media platforms today but you should also experiment with fast growing platforms, like Linkedln, Google+ and Snapchat.

You'll have  a significant business advantage if you choose to be part of the small fraction of marketers who take the time to excavate the value these platforms may hold.

The Knockout Punch:  It requires a lot of effort to figure out how to use  social media  to its full potential.    But, once  you've  found that right combination of jabs that work for your business, you'll be able to apply that knowledge to any new platform that crops  up in the future.

Now, take your corner and let the match begin.

By Gary Vaynerchuk