Bob Cargill’s Marketing Show

The Importance of Authenticity on Social Media in the Fake News Era

Fake news is all around us.

Turn on the TV. Listen to the radio. Read the newspaper.

Liars, cheaters and stealers abound.

Who knows who and what to believe anymore?

That’s why it’s more important than ever for businesses and brands to have candid conversations with their connections and constituents.

Honesty has always been the best policy, but today the truth will set you far apart from the competition and the clutter.

Today, the more transparent, authentic and immediate you are, the more successful you will be in business.

Use social media to engage with your audience as human beings, not logos and corporate colors.

Use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and the like to establish long-lasting, mutually-beneficial relationships with your customers and prospects.  

Keeping it real as never been more important if you want to succeed as a marketing, advertising or PR professional.

If You Snooze, You Lose on Social Media

You don’t want to be conspicuous in your absence on social media.

After all, you never really know when your connections, constituents and customers are going to be looking for you.

You want to have a strong, steady presence on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook...day in and day out.

You want to be easy to be found and available when they find you.

Share both written and visual content on a regular basis.

Show you have a personality, not just a pulse.

Put a face on your brand and a smile on your face.

Don’t rest on your laurels. Don’t fall asleep at the wheel.

If you snooze, you lose on social media.  

March to the Beat of Your Own Drum on Social Media

My sister, Cathy, and I used to make-believe we were rock stars.

This was a long time ago, when we were just kids.

We’d play along to records by bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Monkees.

She would strum her guitar and sing. I would bang my drum sticks on a stack of magazines.

We were being improvisational. We were being spontaneous. We were being ourselves.

That’s how you should be on social media.

You need to make some noise that stands out among the cacophony of competition.

You need to create content that is music to the ears of your audience.

You don't want to overthink it. You just want to do it.

You need to march to the beat of your own drum on social media.

Video Killed the Marketing Star

Do Things the Opposite Way on Social Media

Lead Your Own Tribe

In his 2008, Tribes, Seth Godin wrote, "The essential lesson is that every day it gets easier to tighten the relationship you have with the people who choose to follow you." That was in 2008. This is 2018. There are no excuses anymore for brands, businesses and business people not to be leaders of their own tribes on social media. What about you? Have you positioned yourself and your brand as a leader on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and the like? Do you have your own tribe?

What Marketers Can Learn from Taylor Swift

Last summer, Taylor Swift came out with a great new song called, "Look at What You Made Me Do." And on that song, she said something like, "Sorry, the old Taylor can't come to the phone

right now. Why, oh, 'cause she's dead."

Marketers, advertisers, PR people, social media people, business people in general...what can we learn from those lyrics?

A lot of her fans, including myself, took it to mean she had grown up...and she has as an artist, a performer, a business person. She has grown up in so many ways. She has evolved. She has changed with the times. She is better than ever.

And we need to be better than ever.

Sorry, our old marketing, advertising, PR, social media, business ways can't come to the phone right now. It's 2018. We need to be better. We can be better. We need to be like Taylor Swift.

A Copywriter is Like a Performance Artist

A copywriter is like a performance artist.

A good, experienced copywriter can go in many different directions. We are like actors and actresses. We wear many hats. We walk in others’ shoes.

We are versatile, agile, nimble and flexible. We are enlightening and entertaining, interesting and informative, persuasive and personable. We write in many different voices, tones, styles, ways, shapes and forms. We connect with our audience members on cue...whoever they are, whatever they do.

I’ve been writing copy for years. At various times during my career, I’ve specialized in writing both commercial (B2B and B2C) and nonprofit copy for direct mail, email, print ads, banner ads, catalogs, websites, white papers, landing pages, blogs, social media…you name it, I’ve written for it.

A copywriter is like a performance artist. Don’t typecast us. Don’t pigeonhole us. Don’t think there is anything we can’t write.

Social Media is a Marathon

Social media is a marathon for brands, businesses, marketers and advertisers, not a sprint. A blog post here and a few tweets there just aren’t going to cut it. You need to be in it for the long haul if you expect to see a return on your investment. You need to be everywhere your audience is as often as possible. Don’t underestimate the importance of passion, persistence and perseverance if you want to succeed on social media. You need to be active on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and the like day in and day out, always and forever.  There is no rest for the weary on social media. 

Don't Work in a Vacuum

Far too many businesses, organizations and teams of all sizes, shapes and forms have their people working in a vacuum. That's not cool. That's counterproductive. That's an easy way to eventually fail.