10Apr 2017 by Bob Cargill

Five Great Storytellers on Social Media

Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media
What would we do without social media? Seriously, do you know how little trust consumers have these days in advertising, marketing and PR? Not to be the bearer of bad news, but people really don’t believe many of our taglines, headlines, subject lines and claims to this, that and the other thing anymore. Especially millennials. But they do believe what we say on social media. Well, not everything we say there. To be fair, the writing has been on the wall about traditional media for a long time now. As authors Rick Levine, Chris Locke, Doc Searls and David Weinberger said in their landmark book, The Cluetrain Manifesto, around the turn of this century... “Corporate firewalls have kept smart employees in and smart markets out. It’s going to cause real…
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19Mar 2017 by Bob Cargill

Don’t Think Twice About Doing Video on Social Media

Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media, YouTube
Andy Warhol was right when he said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” On second thought, maybe he was putting it too mildly. The future has arrived, and thanks to social media everyone now has the opportunity to be famous for an indefinite period of time, not just 15 minutes. Look at Casie Neistat. Or King Bach. Then there’s Amber Mac. Kim Garst. And Jay Baer. I could go on and on. Funny. Serious. Amusing. Smart. The list of people who have become famous thanks to the emergence of social media is as long as it is varied. Each of these people has done what every corporate brand and business should be doing on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and the like. They’ve leveraged both written and visual…
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26Feb 2017 by Bob Cargill

10 Mistakes Businesses and Brands Make with Social Media

Branding, Marketing, Social Media
With social media reach and engagement rates having dipped so precipitously over the last year or so, paying to play is almost not an option anymore. But what about businesses and brands that can’t afford to advertise on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like? Not everyone is willing, never mind able, to carve out the budget necessary to keep their content in front of a critical mass of relevant followers on a regular basis. Those organizations can be particularly creative or incredibly persistent, but the most effective strategy they can embrace may be to get all hands on deck in the form of an employee advocacy program. Of course, to go in this direction, every team member needs to be on board with their new tack, despite an abundance of…
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05Feb 2017 by Bob Cargill

Cats, Dogs, Brands and Social Media

Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media
It was absolutely hilarious, if you ask me. It was just a few weeks ago, on a Tuesday night (October 4). Two men vying for the second highest office in the land, Mike Pence and Tim Kaine, were debating each other before an audience of millions and frankly, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I was looking at a Facebook Live video being broadcast on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s Facebook page that was showing the television broadcast of the event. However, in front of the screen was a large pen full of cute, little kittens divided by two separate carpets, one red and the other blue, with a box of kitty litter in the middle labelled, “Undecided.” I was literally laughing out loud. If you’re looking…
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07Jan 2017 by Bob Cargill

Paying to Play on Social Media

Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media
Rumors to the contrary, it’ll cost you if you want to run a successful social media program. It’ll cost you both time and money, not to mention all the skills and experience you’ll need to help ensure a positive outcome. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no more gravy train when it comes to social media success. There is simply too much competition among businesses and brands for eyeballs and wallets for any of these channels to be able to afford to give you a free ride. Organic reach has declined precipitously. Algorithms rule. You’ve got to pay if you want to play – and win – on social media. Seriously, have you looked at the statistics lately? Unless you’re paying to promote them, you’re…
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09Dec 2016 by Bob Cargill

Six Reasons Why Direct Marketers Should be Swooning Over Social Media

Direct Marketing, Marketing, Social Media
I’m not going to lie. I get it. I really do get it. As someone who earned a livelihood for many years writing copy almost exclusively for direct mail and email, I totally understand why some dyed-in-the-wool direct marketers are still on the fence about using social media. Tweeting, blogging and sharing selfies on Instagram just doesn’t have the same appeal to them as launching one of their own targeted, timely campaigns with a strong offer geared toward a qualified audience to which quantifiable metrics can be applied. They’re concerned about ROI and reputation. They’re afraid of the risk. I understand. I feel their pain. After all, I had the same questions and doubts myself when I began blogging in 2004. I wondered how social media was going to blend…
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11Nov 2016 by Bob Cargill

3 Reasons Why Snapchat is Such a Big Social Media Hit

Branding, Marketing, Snapchat, Social Media
Don’t look now, but the last bastion of social media for millennials, generation Z and anyone else in their teens or early twenties has pretty much reached the tipping point. Yup, Snapchat is about to go mainstream. Founded four years ago by three Stanford University students, this mobile photo and video messaging app earned a rather edgy, even controversial, reputation along the way to mass acceptance, but those days are gone. Snapchat has grown up. You heard me. Once associated almost exclusively with teenagers and risky behavior in front of the camera, Snapchat is now being used by businesses and brands as a cool, contemporary way to call attention to their existence in an increasingly crowded and competitive marketplace. The numbers alone are staggering. Over 150 million people use Snapchat…
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09Oct 2016 by Bob Cargill

3 Things Marketers Can Learn from Lokai on Social Media

Branding, Marketing, Social Media
If you think social media is a big deal now, you’ve seen nothing yet. Social media is poised to take over the world, or at least it’s heading in that direction. By 2018, projections are that some 2.44 billion people will be using social media in one way, shape or form. That’ll be about one third of the world’s population. Yes, indeed, whether you’re talking about Facebook or Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram, social media user sizes are huge. You? Not so much. You’re just one lone brand, personal or professional, in a vast sea of accounts, each and every one of which is trying desperately to stand out among a cacophony of content. With the half-life of a tweet less than a half hour and complex, ever-changing algorithms on most…
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12Sep 2016 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Beef Up Your Social Media Program

Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media
Where’s the beef on social media? In 1984, an 81-year-old woman by the name of Clara Peller starred in an incredibly popular advertising campaign for Wendy’s, in which she demanded to know “Where’s the beef?” at a make-believe fast-food restaurant. The question went viral, becoming a commonly used catchphrase whenever anyone was looking for more of pretty much anything. Well, the same question Clara Peller had about hamburgers back in the day is the question I have now for brands, businesses, marketers, anyone and everyone who uses social media for professional reasons. Where’s the beef? Not to be a curmudgeon, but I have to say that far too many of you are mailing it in when it comes to publishing and sharing content on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social…
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