12Jun 2015 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Humanize Your Social Media Brand

Branding, Marketing, Social Media
A critical mass of brands, businesses, marketers and corporate executives may have a presence on social media today, but that doesn’t mean they have a clue what they’re doing on these online communication channels. Sure, some of them may be thriving in the space, attracting a loyal following and carving out a reputation for sharing timely, indispensable content that couldn’t be found anywhere else. However, an overwhelming majority seem to fall into one of two categories of still doing it wrong. Either they don’t know what to say so their collective silence is deafening, or they’re broadcasting the same old promotional messages over and over again so they sound like a cacophony of carnival barkers. Many of them seem at a loss on how to strike a happy medium with…
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02Feb 2015 by Bob Cargill

Six Brands That Are Killing It on Instagram

Advertising, Branding, Instagram, Marketing, Social Media
Having recently turned four years old, Instagram’s user base of just north of 200 million may pale in comparison to Facebook’s 1.35 billion, but the engagement rate for brands on this visually oriented app is hard to beat in the social media ecosystem. In fact, pretty much anyone who uses Instagram knows just how superior the ratio of likes and comments to followers on it is compared to other comparable online communities. Instagram makes it easy for businesses and consumers alike to share high-quality photos and videos with one another whenever, wherever. What’s not to like? Maybe that’s why such a tech behemoth as Microsoft didn’t just dip a toe into the Instagram waters, but jumped in with both feet last month, announcing they’ve hired a photojournalist who “will travel…
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05Oct 2014 by Bob Cargill

10 Reasons Why You Should Use Vine to Build Your Brand

Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Social Media
If your bandwidth is limited, the best social networks on which to set up shop and share are probably going to be sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest, four of the most popular players in the field today. But if time is not an issue and you really want to make a splash in the social media waters, you should try making videos with the mobile app, Vine. Sure, with more than one billion unique users visiting the site each month, your potential audience on YouTube is going to be gargantuan. And with over 150 million monthly active users on Instagram, you’d be hard pressed not to experiment there as well, even if your videos can only be up to 15 seconds in length. If you want to…
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06Sep 2014 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Build a Social Media Audience

Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media
In direct marketing, it's long been said that a bad offer to a good list will perform better than a good offer to a bad list. The point being that without a decent audience, you may as well forget about it. You may have a great product or service, but unless you have a long list of people who are at least prospective customers, even the best marketing efforts in the world probably won't be able to sell it. That's how it is in social media, too. You can spend a ton of time and money in creating content that absolutely rocks, but if you aren't reaching enough people, your efforts will be in vain and you won't have a chance of going viral. You'll be like the proverbial tree…
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20Jul 2014 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways Your Brand Can Stand Out on Twitter

Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter
With over 241 million active users on Twitter, more and more brands are realizing that establishing a presence there is no longer an option. It’s a must. The good news is that it’s relatively easy to get up and running on this social media channel. Building a substantial audience that hangs on everything you’re saying in 140 characters or less? Not so much. Success on Twitter takes time as well as a deep knowledge of the best practices that only comes with experience through trial and error. Keeping an eye on what others are doing on the channel is an excellent way to learn the latest strategies and tactics as well. To monitor how brands are using Twitter to capture the attention of their constituents, I’ve compiled a list of…
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22Jan 2014 by Bob Cargill

Using Signage to Drive Social Media Traffic

Advertising, Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media
In this day and age, most businesses and brands realize the importance of having a presence on social media. However, far too many still don’t know how to attract an audience to these channels. They either mistakenly subscribe to the notion that if they build it, they will come, or they simply have no idea how to drive such traffic. The good news is there are countless ways to generate more likes, followers, fans and friends. You can cross-promote your Twitter account on Facebook and vice versa. You can put your social media credentials on your customers’ receipts. You can promote your social channels on your own website, on your business cards, in your email signature, in a company newsletter and even in paid advertising campaigns. But perhaps the easiest…
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07Dec 2013 by Bob Cargill

How I Was Surprised and Delighted by Pretzel Crisps on Twitter

Advertising, Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media, Sudbury
Anyone in marketing knows what it means to surprise and delight your customers and prospects. It means to reach out to members of your target audience in an unexpected manner, providing them with a positive brand experience out of the blue that leaves them with a favorable impression of your products and services. It’s a proven, age-old strategy that every brand and business should leverage once in a while, one that I was on the receiving end of recently, compliments of Pretzel Crisps. That's right, several weeks ago – November 11, to be exact – I received an unsolicited tweet from Pretzel Crisps complimenting me on my Twitter bio and offering to send me a free gift pack. I didn’t know what I had done to deserve such a treat,…
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23Nov 2013 by Bob Cargill

An Outdoor Ad That Stopped Me in My Tracks

Advertising, Branding, Marketing
My friends and followers know how much I like to share pictures on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, many of which I take during the course of my long runs. These pictures are taken almost everywhere I go, from the trails of the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Sudbury, one of my favorite places to run, to the streets of Boston, where I log plenty of miles after work during the week. Honestly, if I had my druthers where to run and shoot pictures, it would have to be a toss-up. I like the variety of my routes. I see as much color and scenery while running in the city as I do in the country. One of the pictures I took in the city recently was of this wicked…
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08Nov 2013 by Bob Cargill

Do You Thank Your Customers Enough?

Branding, Business, Marketing, Public Relations
As a longtime Boston Red Sox fan, I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the 2013 Major League Baseball season. After all, my beloved Red Sox not only became the 11th team in history to go from worst to first in the division the very next season, they won their eighth World Series title, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in a riveting, unforgettable six-game duel for the ages. Not to mention the fact that I was there to see the historic series-clinching game in person with my brother, Tom, at Fenway Park last Wednesday night. Talk about unforgettable memories. But as closely as I was paying attention to the Fall Classic this year, there was something else that stood out to me while I was glued to the TV…
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