Exceptional marketer and charismatic personality Gary Vaynerchuk popularized the concept of altruistic social media posting, where the ratio between selflessly sharing useful information and promotional content is at least 80:20, if not even more weighted toward free, valuable content.

He popularized this concept in his books Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook (2013) and Day Trading Attention (2024). Clubs and associations can also embrace this philosophy to build a loyal community that happily attends their events, donates money, and contributes through volunteer work.

What does "Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook" mean?

In boxing, a "jab" represents quick, light punches that build position for a stronger blow - the "right hook." In marketing, a jab means giving value without expecting anything in return - entertaining, educational, or inspiring posts that have nothing to do with your services. The right hook is the direct ask - an event invitation, a request for donations, or a call to volunteer.

The key message is that you need to give much more (at least 80%) before you ask (20%). This is how you build trust and a relationship with your community.

The 80/20 ratio in practice

Capturing attention on social media has recently become a science. Beyond Gary Vee's books, we can also look to television, radio, and social media platforms themselves to understand the right ratio. They all make excellent use of the concept give at least three times more than you ask, meaning a ratio of 3:1 or higher.

Established media are closer to 3:1 - on television or radio, we listen to 5 minutes of ads for every 15 minutes of entertaining and educational content. It is similar on established social networks like Facebook or Instagram, where roughly every fourth post is an ad. On the other hand, media that want to grow first are more generous. Facebook in its early days had no ads at all, despite being completely free to use, and later started with a ratio of around 20:1.

Why does this matter for associations?

Creating great digital content and maintaining a strong social media presence is important for associations and clubs whose goal is to increase event attendance, attract new donations, and recruit volunteers. That is why they, too, are encouraged to follow a similar strategy.

Typically, however, our Facebook pages are full of nothing but invitations and promotions, and we never publish a single post that provides concrete value or entertains people. Of course, it is possible to combine the two in one post, but it is far better to keep these two approaches completely separate.

A solid strategy for the future

1. Posting videos instead of images and text

In his book Day Trading Attention, Gary Vee emphasizes that video content is king on every platform today. Social media algorithms favor video content because it keeps users on the platform longer.

Examples for associations:

• If you organize festivals, videos can be funny skits about what happens at these events
• If you organize fitness sessions, your trainer can record short educational videos about exercise form and nutrition tips
• If you are a cultural association, you can share backstage footage from rehearsals or event preparations
• If you are a tourism club, you can showcase hidden gems in your local area

2. Short text posts and polls

You can also publish short text posts that either share an interesting fact or create a simple, fun poll with answers in the comments. This encourages interaction and builds community.

3. Learn from the best

For inspiration, we can look at the Facebook profiles of Slovenian commercial radio stations such as Radio Antena, Radio Center, and Radio 1, which are among the greatest masters of digital presence through entertaining content. Take a look at how often they post promotions compared to entertaining content.

For examples of educational content, we can turn to internationally recognized experts who have mastered the art of giving:

• Alex Hormozi - a master of the "teach-to-sell" approach who shares an enormous amount of business knowledge completely for free before even mentioning his services
• HubSpot Marketing Blog - thousands of free guides, templates, and marketing tools that you can use right away
• Neil Patel - an SEO marketing legend who shares all of his knowledge publicly and for free on his blog and YouTube channel

A practical tip to get started

Do not try to hit the 80:20 ratio right away. Start with 50:50. If you currently post only promotions, try publishing one entertaining or educational post for every promotional one. Once you have that down, move to 2:1, then 3:1, and eventually to 4:1 or 80:20.

What matters most is that you create valuable content regularly and consistently. It is better to post one piece of quality, useful content per week than to post five promotions per month.

Conclusion

The 80/20 rule is not just a marketing strategy - it is a philosophy for building community. When you selflessly share stories, knowledge, and entertainment, you build trust. And when the time comes for the "right hook" - an event invitation or a request for help - people will be ready to respond, because you have already proven many times over that you care about them, not just about yourself.

As Gary Vee says: "Marketing is not about the right answer, it's about the right behavior." And that behavior is giving, giving, giving - before you ask.

Start today. Publish one post that asks for nothing. Just entertain or educate. And watch how your community begins to respond.