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The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, Guy Kawasaki

1) The general theme / argument for the book “The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users” by Guy Kawasaki is a guide for the most effective and efficient use of social media. I would say that the argument is about stressing the importance of the impact that social media platforms can have on the success of a company. He reiterates that it can seriously make or break your company. Guy Kawasaki is a revered and highly respected marketing and social media specialists. He is best known for his critically acclaimed books and the work he did on marketing the original Macintosh computer for Apple. 

2) Reading this book was helpful for me in ways that went beyond my expectation, not only for this class but for other aspects of my life. As a marketing major, we are constantly taught about the importance of social media but never given the tips we need to optimize its use. Guy provided an easy to read and engaging abundance of tips that I will carry on with me during my college and professional career. I connected with the book because of the relevance it has in my life. I maintain personal social media pages as well as one for the Panhellenic Sorority I am part of, and as a marketing intern over the summer had to run multiple of the company’s social media platforms. It connected with what we have been learning in this class in the way that it gave me a very clear idea of what kind of social media marketing I would have to perform to raise awareness for “Cap your cap.” Even while reading the book I would think back to the product I invented in this class while reading Mr. Kawasaki’s tips. 

3) If I had to design an exercise for this class based on “The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users” I would have everyone create a social media page of their choice for their product. At first I would let them do whatever it is they think would be the most effective way for them to run this page, and have them do so for about 2 days. I would have them track post  engagement and overall reach after this original attempt. I would then email each student a copy of Guy Kawasaki’s most useful tips and have them implement them on their own social media page they created. Again 2 days later I would ask them to evaluate their post engagement and overall outreach and have them record any changes that they see. 

4)It is difficult for me to choose just one ‘aha’ moment I experienced when reading this book because I encountered so many. It seems as though even the things I thought I was doing right when it came to social media could be improved, and I found that there were plenty of things that I was doing wrong. One thing that really stuck with me was his snippet on targeting people or demographics that weren’t apart of your original set target group, but people who are similar that you probably would never have thought of. He suggested that the Monster Energy drink social media team target music and sports enthusiasts, and that restaurants should desire to have ‘foodies’ follow them. Its these groups of people that you may not even think of immediately that will engage the most with your page and raise the most awareness !