Marketing Archives - Page 26 of 37

17May 2011 by Bob Cargill

Guess Who I Met at AMA Boston’s Connect Community Tweetup

If you haven’t joined the AMA Boston Connect Community yet, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. Created on the Ning platform by Myles Bristowe, AMA Boston Past President and CMO at CommCreative, this popular online network recently celebrated the fact that over 2,000 marketers – including yours truly – have now established a presence there. Indeed, to commemorate this milestone, a bunch of us pulled ourselves away from our desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones for a couple hours of good, old-fashioned socializing recently at the Connect Community Tweetup held at Performable, a marketing automation and analytics company in Cambridge. I was happy to catch up with a few good friends in the business, including Jamie Bradley and Lew Sabbag, as well as to meet a handful of people for the first…

18Apr 2011 by Bob Cargill

How a Tweet Led to a Sale

Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter

Even though Twitter recently celebrated its fifth birthday and there are now some 200 million users of this micro-blogging site, there's still plenty of skepticism among marketers regarding its viability as a sales channel. I understand. After all, those who are most successful on Twitter are those who are listening intently, sharing great content and engaging with others, not pitching their own products and services. And all that, well, socializing requires an investment of time and resources that many businesses have trouble justifying. But apparently not The Quaker Oats Company. Let me explain... One of the people I follow on Twitter is Dianna Huff, a very talented web marketing expert in the B2B world and someone I know quite well from my involvement in the New England Direct Marketing Association. After reading her March 27…

26Dec 2010 by Bob Cargill

My 218th Blog Post

Blogging, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Facebook, Fundraising, LinkedIn, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Twitter

Since my first post on February 17, 2004, I've written more than 91,000 words on A New Marketing Commentator, but these are going to be some of my last words here for a while. Yes, it's time to give this blog a rest -- again. I'm sure I'll be back soon, but I've decided it's time for another break from the blogosphere, similar to the one I took earlier in this blog's lifespan. In the meantime, please don't hesitate to check out my archives, especially the 2,700-word "10 Ways to Succeed in Social Media" and the 2,800-word "10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter," two long series of blog posts I've bundled together and published as long, standalone articles. Other relatively recent posts I've written that I'd like to single out include "The Importance of Character in Social Media," "50…

20Nov 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Parts 1-10

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Cause-Related Marketing, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Facebook, Fundraising, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Twitter

If you've been reading this blog for the last few months, you know I've been writing a series of posts on copywriting. Similar to the approach I took with my series on social media, I've looked at copywriting from a 30,000-foot level, focusing on the principles you need to be mindful of if you want to succeed in this profession. As I wrote about my own career in the very first post in this series... I may have worked for a number of different companies, developed new skills and taken on new responsibilities – such as creative direction, public speaking and social media – along the way, but I’ve also stayed true to my roots as a copywriter. And after all of these years writing headlines and subject lines, direct mail packages and email blasts, blog posts…

31Oct 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part 10

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media

10. Use social media. A copywriter's job is to use the written word to promote something or someone using a variety of media, anything from radio to TV, direct mail to email, websites to billboards, print ads to assorted signage, sky writing, you name it. And today, included among all that tried-and-true, traditional media are blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other popular Internet-based, self-publishing vehicles. The fact is, anyone working in the marketing, advertising, sales and PR fields who knows how to use social media tools and technologies will likely be much more successful amidst this new communications era. And those who earn a living writing copy have an obvious competitive advantage. After all, the better you write, the better chance you have of stringing together the right messages for the right occasions and making yourself heard loud and clear…

03Oct 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part Eight

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Cause-Related Marketing, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media

8. Be a team player. Most copywriters are accustomed to working alone, sequestered away from the rest of the team, doors closed, blinds drawn, working feverishly against time. It's what we do out of necessity, when there's no room for distractions and we just need to put our heads down to get the job done as soon as possible. Yet while it's certainly not unusual for a copywriter to do his or her thing in isolation, battling loneliness as well as the clock, it really shouldn't be the norm. Sure, to succeed as a copywriter, you need to be a self-starter, capable of working independently for long stretches of time. But you also need to be a team player, someone who works well with others – especially designers, creative directors and…

19Sep 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part Seven

Advertising, Branding, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media

7. Meet your deadlines. If you’ve been around the block once or twice as a copywriter, you know better than to think anyone's going to just give you enough time to do your very best work. You have to make the time. Yup. Over the course of my career, I’ve rarely seen a schedule that permits a copywriter the luxury of putting in the time he or she would really like to dedicate to a project. Every assignment is a rush. Everything is due yesterday. That's the nature of advertising and marketing, the bane of a copywriter’s existence. That’s the one thing you have to understand if you want to succeed in this business. Incredibly tight deadlines come with the territory. And those deadlines had better be met. That doesn’t mean you can’t ask for an extension if you don’t have enough…

05Sep 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part Six

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Marketing, Social Media

6. Exercise good judgment. A copywriter has meetings to attend and research to conduct, but the majority of his or her work hours are spent, well, writing copy – and often under the pressure of exceedingly high expectations and incredibly tight deadlines. Talent is important. But so is good judgment. Whatever you’re writing, you have to have both the experience and intuition to choose just the right words for the assignment time after time. You also have to decide for yourself when to let go of your work and share it with your colleagues and clients. As Roger von Oech writes on page 110 of his book, “A Kick In The Seat Of The Pants”… “The judge performs the evaluation function of the creative process. When you adopt this role, you…

16Aug 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part Five

Advertising, Branding, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Social Media

5. Keep your head out of the sand. It’s no coincidence that some of the best copywriters in the business have eclectic tastes and varied interests. When they’re not hunkered down on the job, sequestered under tight deadline pressure, they’re taking in all that life has to offer as both spectators and participants. They’re bookworms, moviegoers, sightseers and pop culture junkies, people with insatiable appetites for news and information. They’re social butterflies, night owls and day-trippers, free-spirited individuals who are curious by nature. They read everything from best-selling business books to celebrity gossip blogs. They watch everything from game shows to talk shows, Mad Men to Desperate Housewives, sitcoms to soap operas, reality TV to Glee. They do everything from hiking and biking to attending concerts, fundraisers, sporting events, museums and the…

Category: Marketing