The Art of Social Media Summary – Guy Kawasaki’ Practical Social Media Marketing Guide

The Art of Social Media is less of a novel, and more of a collection of over 100 tips, tricks, and intricacies to increase your presence and effectiveness on Social Media.

The author of the book The Art of Social Media, Guy Kawasaki is a name that many people may be familiar with, but just can’t quite place your finger on it. This is because he has been around since 1983, starting as a primary spokesperson for Apple. Since then, he’s invested in many startups and companies, and learned everything he could about social media.

The Art of Social Media Summary

After amassing a loyal and fanatical following, Guy Kawasaki put together this practical guide on social media. The key problem that is addressed in this book is that social media must be treated with professionalism and a very organized approach.

The art of social media summary - guy kawasaki book

While some books may advocate posting anything, such as Garyvee, who places no importance on the type of content as long as you post something, every day detailing your journey. This book is a stark contrast to that laissez-faire approach, and Kawasaki tells you to fasten your seatbelt.

Social media is a game that everyone wants to play, but most cannot do it right. The reason being is that social media is accessible to everyone. Since it has such a low barrier to entry, there are millions of people posting content every day. By taking it seriously, and learning proven business steps, this can be incorporated into your strategy.

Social Media is A Business

The difference between the words “Professional” and “Amateur” is just one cent. A professional is someone who gets paid for their work, and an amateur doesn’t. This is important to point out as these two words have nothing to do with skill. It’s about mindset, determination, goals, and intention.

Think about the person who is good at music or sports. These are popular hobbies. Let’s look at singing for example. There are many great singers in the world, but the music industry can only hold a spotlight on a few key celebrities. Does this mean that celebrity singers and unknown singers have a huge skill gap? perhaps, but more often than not, it’s just a lack of recognition.

This is why in the modern age with the internet and TV there are multiple singing and music shows, such as American idol and each countries variation. It pits multiple amateurs together and places them through a trial by fire to mold them into professional singers who take their hobby seriously.

In the same way, social media must be taken seriously to be seen amongst the vast waves of content creators. If you want to succeed, act professionally. Place your full name or business in the handle and remove any excess numbers, letters, or unnecessary emojis.

Have a professional headshot, smile, and dress how you want to be associated with your business. Remove sloppy photos, lewd jokes, and menacing posts. Your brand decides everything.

Content is For The Viewer, Not You

This section may be misleading, but Kawasaki clarifies what he means in this section with various tips and tricks. This does not mean that you should not put out content that you enjoy about your brand or yourself. This means to no use social media as an announcement of your daily thoughts and the latest scandal.

It is well known, especially for luxury or niche brands, that polarizing your audience is a good thing. This seems to contradict the above statement about posting thoughts or opinions, but the difference is that it must be related to the product or service you are trying to sell.

For example, posting about politics and religion will drastically reduce your potential customer base if your products are completed unrelated, such as learning software. Humans are emotional beings and will only do business with people they feel are like them; regardless of how good the product is.

So how can you polarize? post opinions and debates regarding your product. Taking the learning software, for example, there are two spaces to tackle: education and tech. A recent hot topic in regards to education is remote learning – give your opinion and solution. Match your opinions with content that your viewers want to see.

Create Multiple Accounts – And Interact With Each Other

Unless you are a full-service marketing agency or have purchased subscriptions to SaaS that can handle dozens of accounts, do not sign up for every platform under the sun. Kawasaki suggests starting with 2-4 and working your way from there once you have a sizable following. Interacting between these accounts does not mean making it seem like you’re talking to yourself, it means driving people from one platform to the other to maximize viewership and to create suspense.

For the example above, if you’ve signed up for both Instagram and TikTok, you can link your TikTok on Instagram and your Instagram on your TikTok profile. Not only will people stumble across the link from each platform, but you can also post anticipatory videos and pictures that get people excited.

A simple “New TikTok video coming on Friday…. you won’t believe this” creates suspense and anticipation. Your followers will then visit your TikTok page, follow and maybe even interact with some of your existing content. Scale as you see fit by increasing the number of your posts and platforms.

The Good, The Bad, And Should You Read The Art of Social Media?

The Art of Social Media serves as a reminder that brands need to treat their page as a business rather than a hobby or a necessary evil that must be created to have an online presence. There are still business owners that create pages and websites without any content other than posts on a regular cadence to show they are active.

Critics may claim that this book is too harsh and that in a modern more liberal society your content doesn’t need to be regulated. Although everyone has their styles, Kawaski makes great points that being discip[lined and showing class and thought leadership is still values we must uphold even in the wild jungle of social media content.

Summary

With this guide, the message is clear: everyone is a social media brand. Even if you are not a business or do not have any product or service to offer, you are still a brand.

Influencers and vlogs for example make hundreds of thousands through sponsorship and advertising, and all they post are their daily lives (which are usually filled with engaging drama or luxuries!). Treat social media like a professional business today and pick up your copy of The Art of Social Media

Marilyn Nissen
Written by Marilyn Nissen

Marilyn Nissen is the founder of BestSellerSummary.com, a highly reputable book summary and reviews website. With over a decade of experience in summarizing and reviewing books, Marilyn is a trusted authority in the book industry.