Jim Tobin

Jim Tobin is president of Ignite Social Media, one of the nation’s first social media agencies. In that role, he and his team work with clients including Intel, Nature Made, The Body Shop, Comcast, UNICEF and more developing and implementing social media marketing strategies.

Jim is the author of the book, “Social Media is a Cocktail Party,” which reached the Amazon best seller list for marketing books just three days after launch (at #51 out of over 51,000). In fact, the book made the Amazon.com Top 100 bestseller list in multiple categories, including marketing, web marketing and e-commerce. Of course, the book launch was promoted solely with social media marketing. Once released on the Kindle, the book reached #1 among all direct marketing books and #2 among all advertising books, behind only Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point.”

With years of experience in marketing and public relations, Jim formed Ignite out of the need for businesses to better communicate with their customers through social media. He’s adept at translating marketing messages into content that will inspire social media conversations.

Jim is a frequent industry speaker, the co-founder of the Triangle Social Media Club and one of the most read authors on Social Media Today. He was named one of the 75 Internet Marketing Gurus You Should Follow on Twitter and one of the most influential bloggers in the business in January 2008. In October 2009, Jim was named a “Mover & Shaker” in the Research Triangle business community by Business Leader magazine.

Prior to founding Ignite, Jim was deeply involved in public relations and advertising. As a partner at Brogan & Partners Convergence Marketing, Jim grew the North Carolina office to over 20 people in just two years.