Marketing Archives - Page 20 of 37

19Aug 2015 by Bob Cargill

How 10 Beer Brands Rock the Social Media Scene

As the number of breweries in the United States continues to grow rapidly, so does the number of beer brands that are establishing a presence on social media, especially craft beer brands. Beer. It’s not just for the barroom or the ballgame anymore. It’s not just for radio and TV anymore, either. Beer has never been more ubiquitous. People are coming together for a cold one or two in real life and sharing those same experiences with their audiences on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Vine. Talk about social drinking. But seriously, it’s only natural that beer is making such a huge splash online. Beer is part and parcel of so many happy occasions and celebrations, the good times of our lives that we can’t help but want to share with…

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…

23May 2015 by Bob Cargill

12 Social Media Posts That Are Funnier Than Yours

Marketing, Social Media

It may sound like a cliché, but it’s absolutely true. Laughter is the best medicine. Laughter is good for your health because it’s known to lower blood pressure and stimulate the release of endorphins, a powerful set of hormones that can actually get in the way of pain and may even lead to euphoria. Laughter is good for business, too, because if people are smiling, they’re usually less guarded and more agreeable. Of course, marketers who know this go to great lengths to develop campaigns that are infused with a strong dose of humor. In seasoning their ads with reasons to snicker and snort, they’re putting customers and prospects in the mood to buy without employing anything even close to a hard sell. You might say they’re laughing all the…

19Apr 2015 by Bob Cargill

Social Media: 15 Ways You’re Doing It Wrong

Marketing, Social Media

Facebook was founded in 2004, Twitter in 2006. Even Instagram’s been around for almost five years. So you can’t say this stuff is new anymore. For some strange reason, however, more marketers and brands than not are still struggling to make heads or tails of social media. Whether they’re surprisingly misinformed or just plain lost, they’re wasting their time and missing the boat. They’re failing to take advantage of what may just be the biggest revolution in communications since the printing press. To say that’s unfortunate would be an understatement. After all, done right, social media marketing can be a big game changer. It can be an incredibly effective way to attract the attention of your target audience, engage with them and curry their favor. Far too many go into…

22Mar 2015 by Bob Cargill

20 Types of Selfies to Ask Your Audience to Share

Marketing, Social Media

It was the word of the year in 2013, and last year it reached the tipping point. Yup. The selfie is more than just a thing now, it’s kind of a big deal. No, really, the selfie is more than just a fad, a superficial exercise in narcissism. The selfie has gone from a silly little trend to a mainstream phenomenon, something almost everyone has embraced, from astronauts to athletes, Ellen DeGeneres to Tom Hanks, the president of the United States to the Pope. Sure, the selfie is still mocked and subjected to ridicule by laggards and luddites, critics and curmudgeons. But most people get it. Most people see the selfie for what it is, a fun way to capture the moment up close and personal, and share it with…

01Mar 2015 by Bob Cargill

5 Ways to Use Social Media to Make a Huge Impact in Real Life

Marketing, Social Media

As ubiquitous as social media in this day and age, more people are turning an apathetic ear to what brands have to say rather than hanging on their every word on these channels. That shouldn’t come as a shock to you, though. After all, like direct mail, email, print and broadcast, social media channels are far from immune to audience fatigue. Regardless of the medium, customers and prospects grow tired of a barrage of the same old marketing messages. They become skeptical, jaded and impatient over time. They turn off and tune out. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of ways to reinvent the wheel and take your social media program to the next level. Contests. Paid advertising. Bigger staffs. Better strategies. Those are just a few quick ideas. But what about…

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…

06Dec 2014 by Bob Cargill

How to Plan a Social Media Strategy in 12 Steps

Marketing, Social Media

Unless you’re a popular celebrity or a big, iconic brand, a lot has got to come together in order for you to succeed on social media. Not only do you need to have an engaged, loyal audience and something valuable to offer them, you need to be able to maintain a strong social presence by sharing timely, relevant content on a non-stop basis. There’s no rest for the weary on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and other such online communication channels. If you make the development of a solid strategy a top priority, however, everything else should fall into place. A comprehensive strategic plan articulates the action you’re going to take during the course of your campaign. It explains the who, what, where, when, how and why of what you’re going to…

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…

Category: Marketing