13Jun 2018 by Bob Cargill
Red Tape and Social Media

Red Tape and Social Media

Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media
Red tape. Unfortunately, it prevents many businesses and brands from making progress in any way, shape or form on social media. Whether it’s because too many chefs are in the kitchen or there is just far too much adherence to outdated rules, red tape can undermine the success of your very best efforts. The most accomplished social media practitioners have a green light in front of them, not red tape. They get autonomy and support from colleagues and management, not questions and criticism. The most effective social media programs are authentic, transparent and immediate. They’re carried out quickly and seamlessly with very few interruptions. If you expect to be successful as an organization on social media, you’ve got to cut to the chase and cut the red tape.
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29May 2018 by Bob Cargill

Create Social Media Moments and Memories for Your Audience

Branding, Marketing, Social Media
Look all around you. Everybody is taking pictures everywhere they go. You want to capitalize on this trend. Anything you do as a business or organization needs to be optimized for social media. Your people. Your office. Your content. Your events. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, you want to be making it easy for your connections and customers to share something to do with your brand with their own respective networks. Your fans and followers want to talk about you. They want to amplify everything about you to a wider circle of people. They’re looking for something to capture and disseminate via their own feeds on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and the like. Give them the opportunities. Give them the inspiration. Create social media moments and memories for…
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22May 2018 by Bob Cargill

American Marketing Association’s 2018 Leadership Summit

Marketing
An excellent time was had by all at the AMA Summit recently, especially by your representing contingent from AMA Boston. I was happy and honored to be able to attend the event at the Westin O'Hare in Rosemont, Illinois, with my colleagues on the Board of Directors, Bonnie Akerson, Parna Sarkar-Basu, Laura Chapman and Todd Holloway. We attended a variety of educational sessions designed to both inform and Inspire us. We met and mingled with members of dozens of the some 70 or so different AMA chapters throughout the country who were also there in attendance. We sat in the audience to listen to many incredibly good speakers, including two electrifying, exhilarating keynote presentations delivered by Robert Rose and Sima Dahl. A big thanks to the entire American Marketing Association…
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07May 2018 by Bob Cargill

Immortalizing Your Brand’s Audience on Social Media

Boston Marathon, Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media
It feels good to be able to run 26.2 miles on any given day, but I was particularly happy to finish the Boston Marathon on April 16, 2018. For starters, this was the 11th time I've run Boston for charity, the fifth time for Christopher's Haven, raising nearly $2,000 this time around for this ridiculously awesome non-profit organization. It was also especially gratifying to be able to go the entire 26.2-mile distance despite such extremely inclement weather conditions. Pouring rain. Stiff headwinds. Cold temperatures. The long, challenging journey from Hopkinton to Boston this year was about as far from a walk in the park as you could imagine. After I crossed the finish line on Boylston Street, I asked one of the volunteers to take my picture, as I wanted…
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18Apr 2018 by Bob Cargill

What Can I Do for You?

Business, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Social Media
I'm a traditional marketer. I'm a digital marketer. I'm a content marketer. I'm a social media marketer. I can provide you with strategies and workflows. I can help you manage people and projects. I can provide you with copy. I can provide you with content. Yup. I've been writing in this field for a long time…since 1983. I've written everything from direct mail to email, print ads to banner ads…AND then there's social media. In 2004, I started my blog, "A New Marketing Commentator," and I haven't looked back. Yup. I've done a ton of social media! Frankly, I consider myself an ultra-modern, hybrid marketer who can help you out in a variety of ways, both B2B and B2C, agency and client side. What can I do for you? A…
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29Mar 2018 by Bob Cargill
Social Media Isn’t Rocket Science

Social Media Isn’t Rocket Science

Branding, Marketing, Social Media
Social media isn’t rocket science. Yup. Using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and the like is easier than you think IF you make it a priority. But that’s just the problem. Many businesses, organizations, institutions and communities don’t get it. They are still giving short shrift to what they view as an unnecessary, newfangled way of communications. They think social media is a fad or something the cool kids may do, not something they have to make a priority. Think again. Employers should be training their employees TODAY how to use social media on behalf of their brands. Anyone in a leadership position should be immersing themselves NOW in everything to do with these online channels and making sure their constituents are right behind them. Team members are your advocates. Those…
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16Mar 2018 by Bob Cargill

Music to the Ears of Your Audience on Social Media

Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media
Bruno Mars and Cardi B. Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett. Florida Georgia Line and Bebe Rexha. Performers in the music world do it all the time. They collaborate. They form partnerships. They join forces to produce music that they know they couldn’t have done on their own. You can do the same thing on social media. Hook up with other brands, businesses and people to produce content that you couldn’t do on your own. Guest post on their blogs and vice versa. Conduct interviews. Barter services. Tag-team projects. Engage with them in some way, shape or form. Mix it up. Put different faces and voices in front of your audience every so often. The results may pleasantly surprise you. Collaboration. It’s music to the ears of your audience on social…
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01Mar 2018 by Bob Cargill

Use Social Media Like Chloe Kim

Branding, Social Media
Use social media like Chloe Kim. Chloe jumped, twisted, turned, somersaulted and flew her way to a gold medal recently on her snowboard in the women’s halfpipe competition at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. But what caught my attention almost as much as her prowess on a snowboard was the fact that she used Twitter during the competition. Yup. Chloe somehow found time to tweet between runs about being “hangry” because she hadn’t finished her breakfast sandwich. Kudos to this snowboarding superstar not just for winning gold, but for showing the world the prevalence, pervasiveness and power of Twitter. Despite the triviality of her tweet, it’s still received over 10,000 RTs and 100,00 likes. Businesses and brands (personal or corporate), that use social media like Chloe are more likely…
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17Feb 2018 by Bob Cargill

12 Boston-Area Marketers to Follow on Twitter, Part II

Boston, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter
Of course, there are far more than just a dozen marketing professionals in the Boston area who you and I should be following on Twitter. There are hundreds, if not thousands who deserve our attention. That’s what couldn't have been more obvious to me after finishing up my last post for this blog. And while I can’t possibly write about every single one of them here in this space, I can certainly give it another whirl. So, to continue the conversation about some of the most ridiculously accomplished people in our industry on Twitter who just happen to work around here – that is, Boston – here are another 12 local rock stars of marketing, advertising, PR and social media. You can follow them individually on Twitter by clicking on…
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