Blog - Page 14 of 58 - Bob Cargill

29Feb 2020 by Bob Cargill

How Close Are You to Your Customers and Prospects

Customer Service, Mark Schaefer, Marketing, Social Media

In business, we want to think of our customers and prospects as relationships, not transactions. We want them to like and respect us, to think so highly of our businesses, brands, products and services, that they’re loyal to us forever. We want them to feel close to us, to know that we’ve got their backs, that we’re listening to them, that we care about them, that we want them to be happy with everything they get from us. I recently read a blog post written by Mark Schaefer in which he talked about something called parasocial relationships. That’s what I’m talking about in this post and the accompanying video. As Mark explains in his post – which you can read here – a phenomenon that started out in the ‘50s,…

09Feb 2020 by Bob Cargill

A Good Bedside Manner Goes a Long Way

Branding, Business, Customer Service, Marketing

My wife, Barbara, wasn’t feeling well the other day. After talking to her doctor’s office on the phone, we decided to go to a local on-demand healthcare facility, CareWell Urgent Care in Marlborough, where she could get the quickest treatment possible. We didn’t have to wait more than a few minutes before she was seen by two different nurses and thoroughly checked out. Not only did she receive exceptional care at this facility, the medical team’s bedside manner was ridiculously awesome. They spent a lot of time examining her as well as just plain comforting her. They weren’t just extremely professional, they were incredibly personable as well. BIG thanks to Kristen and Virginia, the two nurses who took care of Barbara during our visit. You. Me. We can all learn…

16Jan 2020 by Bob Cargill

Put a Face on Your Brand as a Marketer

Mark Schaefer, Marketing, Seth Godin, Social Media

I’ve been around long enough to have worked as a marketing professional both before and after the emergence of the Internet. I’ve seen what was once called plain, old marketing transform into an array of digital marketing, social media and online capabilities we couldn’t have imagined back in the day. Now we have artificial intelligence, chatbots, smartphone apps, ephemeral content, SEO, ABM, AR, VR, YouTube, podcasts, geo-fencing, blockchain, TikTok, voice search, programmatic advertising, omnichannel marketing and social commerce. Having at our disposal practically all the tools, tactics and technologies we could ask for, it’s a ridiculously awesome time to be a marketer. Unfortunately, it’s also an incredibly difficult time to be in this business, as those on the receiving end of our messages are sick and tired of our ads.…

29Dec 2019 by Bob Cargill

Humanize Your Brand

Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Seth Godin, Social Media

Real success in business is achieved when you use real people in marketing and sales, real people in real time being really honest with their audience. When I saw Mark Schaefer speak earlier this year, he emphasized the importance of being human as marketers. I saw Seth Godin a few months later, and he pointed out that human marketing takes time. They're both right, of course. Consumers are tired of being bombarded by the constant cacophony of cries for their attention from brands. There must be a better way to win friends and influence people in business. That’s why I’m such a huge proponent of social media. Social media levels the playing field, making it possible for companies to engage with consumers - and vice versa - as human beings.…

13Dec 2019 by Bob Cargill

The Future of Advertising…It’s About to Get Real

Advertising, Marketing

To break through the clutter and win consumers over, advertising and marketing need to get real. That’s what Bud Light did recently. During game five of the 2019 World Series, Washington Nationals fan, Jeff Adams, took a home run ball to the chest while holding on tightly to his two cold beers. That’s when Bud Light sprang into action. Not only did they take quickly to Twitter to call attention to the moment, they tracked down the fan and by the next game, had him the star of a television campaign that featured the actual video footage of him being hit by the ball. This scenario was remarkably well played by Bud Light, to say the least. Borrowing a page out of the social media playbook, they wasted no time…

29Nov 2019 by Bob Cargill

People Don’t Like Advertising and Marketing

Advertising, Marketing, Social Media

I hate to break it to you, but people don’t want to be interrupted by advertising and marketing. That’s the last thing I want to hear, too, as I’ve earned my livelihood in this business for years. But we can’t bury our heads in the sand. We can’t look the other way. We can’t say we weren’t warned. Not after reading a recent article in The New York Times (“The Advertising Industry Has a Problem: People Hate Ads") that painted a very pessimistic picture of what my colleagues and I do for a living. Consumers are turning off and tuning out, going so far as to pay extra to receive news, information and entertainment without being bothered by brands’ incessant cries for attention and engagement. This is what I’ve been…

09Nov 2019 by Bob Cargill

Selfies on Social Media

Branding, Marketing, Selfies, Social Media

Selfies can be some of your most popular content on social media. People like to see pictures of other people, especially those with smiles on their faces. Do you remember that famous selfie that Ellen DeGeneres took at the Oscars in 2014 with Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and a group of other celebrities? On Twitter, that selfie garnered over 3,000,000 retweets and more than 2,000,000 likes. Former Boston Red Sox slugger, David (“Big Papi”) Ortiz, took a great selfie of him and President Barack Obama on the team’s visit to the White House a few years ago. Kim Kardashian, of course, is famous for her selfies. I take a lot of selfies myself, many of them group selfies using my selfie stick at industry-related events like American Marketing Association, Boston's.…

30Oct 2019 by Bob Cargill

What’s Your Mud?

Branding, Marketing

What's your mud? What's your secret sauce? What's the one thing you can offer to your audience members that they can't get anywhere else? I read an article in Sports Illustrated recently about this guy who provides Major League Baseball with the mud that's rubbed on baseballs before they're used in games. Apparently this mud makes it possible for a pitcher to get a dependable grip on the ball. This mud is unique. This mud is valuable. This mud, according to this article, has been the only mud used by MLB for decades. Every brand and business should have the equivalent of this mud as their own product or service. Something exclusive. Something rare. Something no one else can offer. After all, there is a lot of competition in the…

05Oct 2019 by Bob Cargill

Advertising is Everywhere

Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media

Advertising, marketing, PR and social media …all this is changing at breakneck speed. What strategies and tactics worked for us a few years ago, or as recently as last year, could easily backfire on us today. We can’t afford to have whatever messages we’re sharing with our own respective audiences be anything but relevant, timely, engaging and even amusing. Never mind the glut of content people are trying to sort through and digest, many consumers, customers and clients won’t tolerate anything that even resembles a sales pitch anymore. Stop begging for business and start earning that business. Stop trying to fool those on the receiving end of your messages and start trying to help them. Stop hitting listeners, viewers and readers over the head time and again and start listening…