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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11Feb 2018 by Bob Cargill

Shouting It Out Loud on Social Media

Branding, Marketing, Social Media
Shout it out loud. That’s what your customers, connections, clients and constituents are doing on social media. They’re amplifying what you have to say about your business to their own personal networks, exponentially increasing the reach of your marketing messages. Are you taking advantage of this opportunity? Are you providing your audience with enough quality content to share on a regular basis? Are you capitalizing on the fact that your fans, followers and friends can help you get the word out about your products and services in today’s day and age? Like it or not, online communities are talking about you. Give them something to rave about. Give them something to share. Give them something to shout from the rooftops that will call more positive attention to your personal or…
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25Dec 2017 by Bob Cargill
Video Rocks

Video Rocks

Branding, Business, Marketing
People are asking me all the time now about my videos. They're seeing my videos on social media and wondering how I do them. My answer is always the same... Recording my videos is easy. Most of them I shoot by myself with just my mobile phone and a selfie stick. Sometimes my wife, Barbara, helps me shoot them. Nothing fancy. Very low-budget. But well-thought-out. Shooting videos like I do is something I think everyone in marketing, advertising, PR and social media should be doing today. Video rocks. It’s emotional. It’s easy. It’s effective. Video helps you deepen the relationships you have with your connections, constituents, clients and customers.
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12Sep 2017 by Bob Cargill

10 Boston Hotels Crushing It On Social Media

Boston, Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media
It may be all the rage, but for a variety of reasons, not every business is cut out for social media. Some will never understand it. Others think it’s a waste of time and money. And finally, there are those who just aren’t the right fit for it. But most marketers would agree that while social media is not for everyone, it is ideal for those who want to engage with their customers and prospects, especially in real time. If that’s where your audience is, time spent on these relatively new online communication channels is more than well worth it. Where else can you put the word out to your constituency without feeling like you’re invading their space? Where else can you capture the attention of such a qualified audience…
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26Aug 2017 by Bob Cargill

10 Boston Restaurants Crushing it on Twitter

Boston, Branding, Business, Marketing, Restaurants, Social Media
It’s one thing to be able to serve great food. It’s quite another to be able to show off those dishes in words and pictures on Twitter so well that your followers like your tweets almost as much as your eats. That’s the irony of marketing a restaurant in this day and age. As if it’s not enough to be considered one of the best places to go for a bite to eat in town. Now they have to have the popularity on social media to prove it. Okay. Maybe that’s a stretch, but the importance of displaying their menus everywhere people are congregating online today cannot be underestimated. More and more potential customers are stalking their every move not just on the grapevine, but on a bevy of newfangled…
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20Jun 2017 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways Major League Baseball Teams Win on Social Media

Branding, Marketing, Social Media
There may still be a little chill in the air in some parts of the country, but spring has arrived and so has one of the biggest rites of this time of the year, the beginning of the Major League Baseball (MLB) season. And while MLB may be showing its age a little as the oldest of the four professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, having been around since 1876 (the National League) and 1901 (the American League), respectively, it is still very popular. Tickets are sold by the millions. Broadcast rights are valued in the billions. And social media is helping the sport to offset the fact that younger people today are less inclined to follow it than the generations before them. Teams are using Twitter,…
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04Jun 2017 by Bob Cargill

How to Use Instagram Stories for Brand Storytelling

Branding, Business, Instagram, Marketing, Social Media
Now that social media is such a mainstay in business, those of us in the advertising, marketing and PR industries are realizing just how much time and talent it takes to succeed on these digital communication channels. We’re seeing for ourselves that there are no shortcuts to success in this space, not to mention that even a massive budget won’t be able to offset the deficits of a product or service that’s not up to par. For strategists and practitioners, agencies and clients, it’s certainly not an easy pill to swallow. Social media has leveled the playing field on which companies and consumers engage, making it easier than ever for a brand’s weaknesses to be exposed. It might be an understatement to say that audiences can be fickle on Twitter,…
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