How to Get More Out of Your Content Marketing

Business people laughing at a table with their laptops


Content marketing might be evolving, but it’s not going away anytime soon. According to the latest research, 82% of marketers report actively using content marketing in 2021, up 70% from 2020. Yet, the constant demand for content can be exhausting for businesses. Finding creative ways to get the most out of your content marketing is often one of the biggest challenges companies face in today’s marketing world. 

Recently, our senior content strategist, Skylar Wooden, had an opportunity to educate our team on the latest trends in content marketing. She highlighted specific ways our clients can continue to get more out of their content marketing efforts. We wanted to take a few minutes to share her key insights and takeaways in this post.  

How Today’s Audiences Are Consuming Content 

Businesses need to know the variety of formats that are driving most of today’s content marketing. A decade ago, most marketers focused primarily on written content, whether online or in print. Today’s businesses must consider the way content marketing has evolved. Here are the three primary ways today’s audiences are consuming content based on statistics  from a 2021 Hubspot report: 

  1. Written Content — This includes content like blogs, e-books, and articles. 61% of marketers are paying more attention to writing these. Of the written content formats, the top 3 content types are social media content (95%), blog posts (89%), and email newsletters (81%).
  1. Audio Content — Many businesses have turned to podcasts as a way to reach their audience in recent years and for good reason! In under three years, podcast listening in the United States has increased by more than 60%. The podcast market is expected to reach more than 2 billion by 2023, meaning that marketers are preparing to devote significant time and money to the channel.
  1. Video Content — Video is now the primary form of media used within any content strategy. According to the report, a video was the most commonly used form of content marketing in 2021, overtaking blogs and infographics. So, how do you get more out of your content marketing efforts in 2021 based on these statistics? Here are a few important insights we encourage clients to consider: 
  • Consider Your Audience’s Preferences — Meet your audiences where they are, not where you want them to be. This is the most important principle to keep in mind when developing content. An estimated 68% of Baby Boomers prefer traditional content formats such as news articles, research reports, blogs, e-books, and email content from commercial brands. If you want your content marketing to make the biggest impact, you need to meet your audience in the channels they use (social, email, etc.) with the types of content they prefer (written, audio, video). 
  • Remember that Video Covers All Three Content Types — One unique aspect of the video is that it allows you to diversify your content into all three formats. You can start by posting the video, pulling the audio for a podcast or recording, and formatting the transcript to create a blog post or infographic. As video becomes increasingly important, this is an easy way to reach your audience by repurposing and reformatting.  
  • Know that the Future of B2B Marketing is Audio — While the video might be the most popular format of content today, businesses should pay attention to the increased interest in audio content. According to statistics shared at the 2021 Inbound Conference, 57% of the American population listened to podcasts last year and weekly listenership doubled from 2020 to 2021. Additionally, more than half of consumers say they consider buying from brands they hear on podcasts.  

How to Diversify and Maximize the Content You Create 

With these trends in mind, it’s important to consider all three formats of content in 2022. We also recognize that creating a new piece of content from scratch can be time-consuming. So, how do you diversify and maximize your content? 

  • Supplement Blogs with Audio & Visual Content — Is there a way to include a video or audio podcast into the blog posts you create to maximize content? Find ways to integrate audio and visual content into the online content you’re creating.
  • Maximize the Reach of Podcasts through Show Notes & Additional Resources — If you’re creating podcasts, leveraging the show notes is a great way to maximize your content and drive your audience deeper into your content marketing funnel. Providing a way for your audience to download additional resources can also supplement your podcast efforts and increase engagement with your brand. 
  • Repurpose Resources into Shorter Audio or Social Content— You can easily repurpose, repackage or expand every piece of content that you produce to get the most out of your investment. For example, if you’ve created a piece of long-form content such as a video or e-book, consider how you can repurpose key ideas and concepts for other channels such as social media or email.

As content marketing continues to evolve,  brands need to stay nimble. Remember, the most important way you can get the most out of your content marketing efforts is to ensure you’re meeting your audience where they are. Taking these tips into consideration will help you stay ahead of the trends when it comes to creating content that impacts your bottom line. 

Need Help With Content Creation? 

Our strategic, full-service marketing firm can help you plan and deploy an innovative content marketing approach to court customers and build brand loyalty. Contact Green Apple Strategy today to schedule a consultation. Our team is happy to sit down with you to discuss your marketing goals and how we can help you achieve each and every one of them.

5 Qualities of an Effective Marketing Agency

business meeting with people looking at computer screen

Marketing agencies exist to be a guide that meets your business where it is and helps you get where you want to go. Whether you’re looking to build a brand, increase awareness about your product, services, and mission, or drive sales through more effective marketing tools, your agency should be a partner who understands your industry and can provide ideas, tools, and resources to help you achieve your goals. 

For the past decade, Green Apple has worked with dozens of clients in a variety of industries. We’ve also partnered with other marketing agencies to help our clients achieve their specific goals. With that experience in mind, we’ve identified five qualities you should look for when selecting a skilled marketing agency.

1. Quality Relationships Across the Agency

At its core, the partnership between you and your marketing agency is a relationship. But that partnership is built on numerous individual relationships: between you and the agency representatives, between employees within the agency, and between your agency and their vendors. If there are relational issues or breakdowns, your results have the potential to suffer. 

Behind every successful marketing agency is a great team of people who have both the skills to execute strategy and a positive attitude that makes for a streamlined workflow. That includes the leadership level and those responsible for executing the day-to-day project management tasks.

2. They Understand and Can Support Your Greatest Needs

Marketing agencies come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Each has its own unique philosophy, approach, style, and strengths. One important factor we constantly focus on as an agency is our ability to truly understand what our clients need and ensure we can support them. 

This is why an agency needs to get to know the ins and outs of your business. What are your biggest challenges? What would others in your company say? Making sure your marketing agency is aware of what’s happening across your business and communicating your goals will help them identify the best ways to support it.

3. They Communicate Expectations Clearly and Mistakes Quickly

Effective agency partnerships involve constant communication. This is why asking specific questions before hiring a marketing agency can be helpful. It’s essential to know how an agency communicates with clients. It’s also important to understand how they expect you to communicate with them. Clarity is key. 

An agency should also be able to proactively and quickly own up to any mistakes. There isn’t an agency out there that doesn’t make mistakes. We’re human. But effective marketing agencies can communicate mistakes quickly and provide quick resolutions.

4. A Robust Team that Can Grow or Adapt with Your Needs

The marketing world is ever-changing, so it’s important to partner with an agency that is agile and able to adapt as your business evolves and changes. This is one thing that makes our approach at Green Apple unique. We don’t believe your business fits into a marketing mold. Instead, we mold our marketing practices around your business to help you be successful. Then, as more data comes in, we pivot, adjust, and adapt those strategies to be more effective over time. 

Often, our clients engage with us for one or two services, and our relationship grows to cover several different areas over time. For example, one of our clients started with social media and website support services. That quickly evolved into SEO and branding needs as they expanded into new markets. Now, we also assist with additional internal marketing and onboarding procedures for new employees. 

A Proven Track Record of Creating Results  

The goal of every effective marketing company should be to deliver positive results for their clients. When considering a partnership with an agency, look for case studies and testimonials to see how they’ve made their clients successful, and ask about measuring ROI. Marketing agencies exist to help brands, businesses, and nonprofits achieve something they can’t do on their own. But there are a lot of factors that go into making that happen. 

If you’re curious about how Green Apple can help you achieve your goals, schedule an exploratory consultation with our team. We would love to learn more about your business and see if we’re the right fit for you!

Does Your Company Need TikTok?

Phone with tiktok opening screen
Should your brand be on TikTok? The answer to this question, like all marketing strategy approaches, varies widely based on the brand you’re trying to promote. Diving into a new platform can give you an advantage, but an anemic posting or uniformed content creation may do more damage to your brand integrity than not engaging at all. Above all: you shouldn’t be on TikTok simply to be on TikTok. Instead, you should analyze your audience, assess your brand identity, and consciously decide if marketing on TikTok can help you increase your revenue or your brand’s reach. As you make that decision, here are a few factors to consider.  

Consider TikTok For Your Brand if You Have a Young Target Audience

A full 47.4% of TikTok’s users are under the age of 30. If that demographic is your target audience, you should consider having a presence on TikTok. If you’re not yet ready to dive in, you can create an unbranded investigatory account to gain awareness of and facility with the platform and to begin following other users. If you have an intern or a younger worker on staff, you may want to tap them to start the account or conduct research on how you could utilize the platform. This person could also provide an audit of your account if you’ve already established one. 

Consider TikTok If Your Brand Is Highly Visual 

Note that the word here is visual, not visible. A visual brand is any brand that can promote itself effectively through videos, which is TikTok’s primary content type. B2C products have the upper hand on TikTok, but B2B products are in the running as well. Everything from balloon sculptures, to food, drink, and clothing brands are easy to build content around. Service-based are harder to showcase, but not impossible. A skilled content creator can make service-based TikToks that engage viewers as well. Party planners, financial planners, and automobile detailers can all share their businesses on TikTok.   

Consider TikTok if Quick Tips are your Go To 

Some brands lend themselves to quick tips that are easily captured in video. The possibilities here are myriad. Do you manufacture a new green cleaning brand that can give quick tips on efficient tidying? Are you a food product brand that can be used in easy, visually appealing recipes? Or do you own a skincare brand that can offer a moment of serenity as users scroll through videos? Whatever your brand, if you can illustrate its efficacy quickly via a playful video, TikTok might be the social media platform for you. 

Consider TikTok if You Could Benefit From Influencer Marketing

As is the case with Instagram, influencer marketing is a huge part of the TikTok ecosystem. While direct content from brands isn’t always welcomed by Gen Z, subtle nods to your product or service via influencers are expected. Using influencer marketing can get your brand in front of a new generation of eyes without the need for heavy-handed marketing techniques. 

Intimidated by New Platforms? Let Green Apple Strategy Lead The Way

Our marketing assessment can help you decide where to put your marketing dollars – and which approaches might have the greatest ROI. From blogging and SEO to PR and social media management, Green Apple Strategy can craft a marketing approach to help you attract and retain qualified leads. Reach out to us today for a consultation.

Our Readers’ Favorite Blogs of 2021

Lady working a laptop with a cup of coffee
When it comes to powerful marketing tools, we’re a huge proponent of the power of blogs. A successful blogging strategy can provide a huge SEO boost for your website, scale up your Google ranking by providing more content for the algorithm to sort, and can strengthen your brand identity. We practice what we preach, and our 2021 blogging strategy has brought us an increase in website visitors, new qualified leads, and content to use on several different marketing channels. Here are our readers’ favorite blogs of 2021: 

1. Four Factors for Creating a Customer-Centric Culture

In this blog, we give our top suggestions for building a brand culture that focuses on bringing your best to your customers. By animating your team, centering on your purpose, and understanding who you’re serving, you can bring unparalleled experiences to your clients and customers. 

2. Meet Our Owner/Chief Strategist Samantha Pyle

Our second most popular blog this year served as a quick introduction to Green Apple’s leader Sam Pyle. Her extensive experience in marketing and PR gives her the vision and clarity to guide our team. We love working with Sam every day. Through this introduction, you just might see why!   

3. 7 Key Elements of Eye-Catching Content

There’s no question: more eyes on your content means more leads and more engagement. How can you craft content that captures and keeps attention? These seven tips can serve as a guide when you’re planning future content.  

4. Enneagram and Marketing: How Type Ones Accelerate Your Strategy

We love all that Type Ones bring to our team, including organization, prioritization, and an eye for detail. Type Ones can also be a significant asset when you’re building a marketing strategy—here’s how they can activate your approach. 

5. Green Apple Goes Hybrid

This update on our move from in-person to a hybrid work model explores the benefits of switching to a more flexible working model, especially as the workplace changes in response to the pandemic. 

6. Enneagram and Marketing: The Creative Beauty of Type Fours

Types Fours are creative, original, and insightful. They’re wonderful for bringing new ideas to a team’s approach and process, which makes them valuable in any industry—including marketing. Take a deep dive into all that the Enneagram Type Fours can offer in the workplace through this blog.

7. Enneagram and Marketing: How Type Threes Move Mountains

It’s not a surprise that another blog on the Enneagram and marketing made it on our top ten list. This article explored how Type Threes energize and motivate when they’re implementing a marketing strategy. Our fearless leader, Sam, is a Type Three (as is our Marketing so we get to see (as is Senior Content Strategy, Skylar). We love to watch how Type Threes bring the best of their talents and skills to marketing. 

8. 5 Books to Read When Looking for Your “Why” in Marketing

There’s so much research out there that suggests that purpose is essential when it comes to finding motivation for your work. The same is true in marketing. In order to successfully share the benefits of your brand, you’ve got to dig deep into why you’re in business, what you can offer your customers, and how your purpose animates all that you do.

9. How Enneagram Type Sevens Bring Energy to All they Do

Enneagram Sevens are known for their extraversion, optimism, and verve, and they bring all these traits to the workplace as well. If you work with a Type Seven, they’ll feel a natural draw towards processes they can reimagine, clients they can woo, or venues where they can serve as a spokesperson for your brand. 

10. What Makes an Enneagram Type Five a Marketing Asset

At Green Apple, we use the Enneagram for team building, during the interview process, and to understand what roles and responsibilities are a natural fit for our team members. This guide to Enneagram Type Fives explores a Type Five’s drive for mastery and excellence, and how that can benefit a marketing team.

Harness The Power of Blogging For Your Brand

Want to learn more about how a keyword-driven blogging strategy can activate the power of your brand? Let Green Apple Strategy craft an innovative approach to your brand’s blog so that you can start targeting and attracting customers today.  Reach out to us today for a consultation.

Having Trouble Hiring? Here’s How to Market to New Employees

This must be the place in neon lights


With job creation up significantly and unemployment at a 50-year low of 3.5%, a full 51% of small businesses are unable to fill jobs as 2022 begins. There’s no question that in this climate, it can be difficult to find the right person for the roles your company may be trying to fill. Hiring looks different than it did, even just a few months ago. With many companies competing for the same talent, brands must go above and beyond to appeal to potential candidates. So how can you attract qualified individuals to your organization, streamline the hiring and onboarding process and increase worker retention? We suggest following these four guidelines to help build a solid team. 

Offer a Remote Work Option

To stand out in a tight labor market, improving the benefits you offer to potential candidates is a surefire way to make your job listing more attractive to a potential candidate. In 2022, that means considering the possibility of offering fully remote or partially remote work, allowing for flexible work schedules or filling several part-time roles. Research shows the most talented and skilled candidates will opt for a remote position over a traditional position. Green Apple Strategy is a fully remote company. While our origins, heart, and investment are in Tennessee businesses, we’ve brought in talent from Colorado, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Alabama. Offering this flexibility to workers means that we received applications from qualified candidates all over the U.S.

Network Proactively 

While tools like LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, and ZipRecruiter have made finding qualified candidates easier, intentional networking (online or in-person) is hard to beat for connecting with vetted candidates you can trust. Interact with candidates on LinkedIn, follow leading HR firms, and connect with local colleges, universities, and trade schools in order to increase both the quantity and the quality of your hiring pool. 

Create An Apprentice or Internship Program 

Bringing in young, talented individuals is always a good idea, as they can provide a fresh perspective and are often eager to start their career with a bang. When you run an apprenticeship or internship program, you’re cultivating a qualified hiring pool and building relationships with potential new employees. Even if your program doesn’t end in a full-time hire, participants will receive experience and education and you will expand your talent network. It’s a win-win. 

Improve Your Benefits Package

In lieu of remote work, or to supplement that offering, consider making changes to your benefits package. In a crowded labor market, anWWi attractive benefits package can help your job listing stand out among other, similar roles. Changes to benefits don’t have to be huge but see if you can get creative in what you offer. Could you extend health care coverage to part-time employees? Increase the 401K match you offer by a percentage point or two? Offer a coworking space stipend to remote employees? Increase PTO by a week or move to an unlimited PTO option, as many tech companies do? Candidates weigh the pros and cons of each position they consider, and it can sway a candidate towards accepting a particular role.

Research Your Hiring Competitors

It’s tough to offer a competitive job listening if you’re unaware of what other roles your potential candidates are vying for. Make use of LinkedIn to research similar roles to the one you hope to fill. After all, your candidates will be viewing many of the same listings. And don’t forget to look outside your local hiring market. Candidates today have access to national and international job listings. Have a good sense of the salary, benefits, and responsibilities that the role you are hiring for entails. It will help you to craft a more informed and competitive job listing that’s likely to attract attention from candidates. 

Start Attracting Qualified Candidates Through Targeted Marketing

A strong presence on hiring sites like LinkedIn is one of the best ways to position your brand to attract new and skilled talent. Let Green Apple Strategy craft an innovative approach to your social media channels so that you can start targeting and attracting new team members. 

Reach out to us today for a consultation.

How to Create a More Customer-Centric Culture

Cashier on squarespace register and lady customer


It’s obvious when companies genuinely care about their customers, not just as purchasers but as people. As a customer, you want to feel valued and reassured that your purchase, experience, or service is satisfactory. Building consistent and reactive communication helps you develop long-term and loyal consumer relationships. So, how do you do this? You put the customer first. A customer-centric culture revolves around making the customer happy before, during, and after their purchase, ultimately earning established loyalty and higher growth. This strategy means listening to your customers and implementing what you learn from them. Not only does this practice make consumers satisfied, it helps you stand out from the competition for potential customers. While there are several methods of the approach, we’ve gathered a top five for you to review while you begin to design a customer-centric approach in your organization.

1. Invest In Your Team

Imagine you want to make a complaint about a bad experience. If you encounter a less-than-helpful person when expressing your concerns, you likely won’t return to that business. That’s why you want to hire employees who understand the value of customer relationships. 

While these customer-facing individuals do drive revenue based on customer experience, that’s not their primary duty. More than anything, team members who work directly with customers ensure the customer is understood and satisfied with their experience. To avoid disconnection between customer service and other departments, strategically merge other divisions or schedule regular meetings. Customer service shouldn’t be only certain employees’ responsibility– it should be everyone’s. Though customer service isn’t the only factor in adopting customer-centric ways, hiring and collaborating with excellent people are guaranteed ways to make your customers feel more secure.

2. Have Empathy for Your Customers 

Responding with empathy is essential when developing a successful customer-centric approach. These responses consist of implementing progressive thinking, understanding emotional needs, and genuinely caring about the individual’s concerns. Empathy is a learned and valuable skill for your team members to possess.

According to a PwC study, only 38% of U.S. consumers say the employees they interact with understand their needs. That is a monumental opportunity for your company to specialize in empathetic proficiencies and automatically outshine your competition.

3. Be One Step Ahead

When planning your customer-centric strategy, think of previous customer experiences, including:

  • Frustrations
  • Clarity issues
  • FAQs
  • Miscommunication
  • BONUS: “What If” scenarios

As a team, compile these trouble spots and either solve the hiccups or list the solutions on your website so your existing and potential customers can have their questions asked as soon as possible. You learn these areas of improvement by listening to your customers and are rewarded by their appreciation and extended business.

4. Prioritize Your Relationships First

Did you know that customers who have a good experience are 5X more likely to recommend your product or service than if they have a very poor experience? Relationships and customer satisfaction matter. Whether it’s fun communication through social media interaction or substantiating trust in B2B discussions, you want to know what your customers’ needs and priorities are before all else. Maybe it’s the way you respond or how you market toward products that create customer attraction to your brand. Research and listen to what your audience specifies; you’ll continue to build mutually beneficial relationships.

Ready to Build Your Customer-Centric Culture?

If you’re interested in learning more about how your business could thrive initiating a customer-centric business strategy, contact us today for a consultation! We’re excited to investigate the precise approach for you and your audience.

6 Guidelines for Planning a Virtual Event

zoom meeting on a laptop
At this point in time, half of all businesses conduct virtual sessions 20 to 30 times a year. Virtual events are low friction, with fewer barriers to attendance. (No more driving in the snow or paying for parking.) They can also extend the reach of your event far beyond your local circle while having almost no overhead costs. Online events are also recordable, which is incredibly valuable from a marketing collateral perspective. Key moments from an event can be repurposed and used on social media channels to bring additional attention to your brand. If you want to optimize the events you’re already holding, or dive into the virtual space for the first time, we have a few tips for planning a virtual event.

1. Promote Your Virtual Event

In marketing, a multi-pronged approach is always best. Make use of your active email list by sending out an engaging email explaining the value proposition of the event. Advertise the virtual event on social media channels, and consider providing an incentive to attend. (Gift cards are perfect for this since they’re easy to send and easy for participants to use!) Ideally, you should build a separate landing page on your website with a sign-up functionality so that you can point potential attendees to it. Drop the link into any promotions you do so that guests can RSVP easily. This will not only give you an accurate headcount for the event, but it will also help you make the event more secure by tying invites directly to RSVPs

2. Set an Agenda

Even if you’re a freewheeling type, virtual meetings aren’t the right time to indulge your spontaneous side. If participants have a sense that you don’t have a game plan, you may lose out on their attention and their buy-in. You can even send an agenda out to attendees to keep them informed about how the event will progress. One tip: keep your timestamps loose unless you’ve had several dry runs. A simple order of events is enough to serve as a guideline. 

3. Prep Your Audience

While you may be busy with administrative preparation and planning, priming your audience or participants for the event can really pay off. This pre-involvement can be comprised of sending out a poll in advance of the event, collecting comments they may want to share, or gathering questions for a Q and A. If you’re really feeling ambitious, consider sending out swag or small branded gifts to increase both event buy-in and attendance rates.

4. Check Your Tech

Running a tech rehearsal of your event can help you prevent long silences, pixelated images, weak connections, or other online event woes. The apparent ease of a virtual event can trick some event coordinators into scaling back their planning. (Don’t I just open up my laptop and go?) In reality, because of all that can go awry in a virtual event, meticulous planning becomes even more essential. When you’re doing a dry run of the event, double-check the functionality of technology for all the hosts, including mics, lighting, and sound. You’ll also want to check the permissions of the platform you’re using. Decide if you want to auto-mute participants or require video. For presentation elements, check screen sharing and hosting capacities. Finally, check your event link to make sure it directs to the correct location. While it may feel tedious, a technology dry run is the best way to ensure a professional, streamlined virtual event.

5. Secure Your Event

Incidences of Zoombombing have dropped since online event platforms have beefed up security. However, unwanted or unexpected intrusions are the type of occurrence that can completely derail an otherwise successful event. To help prevent this, set a password for every single event you host. You can also limit screen sharing to administrators and auto-mute participants so they can only unmute with administrative permission. If you do use the auto-mute function, you should assign a specific team member to unmute participants as necessary. This job will require their full attention, so it should be their sole task during a virtual event. 

6. Send Out Your Event Link!

When you’re ready to launch the event, it’s time to send out the event to link to participants. While there are several schools of thought on when to send an event link out, we don’t advise sending it out too far in advance. Email links sent out too early will get buried in the crunch of an already full email inbox. Participants may have difficulty locating the link when they’re ready to attend the event. Links can also be forwarded to anyone via email. If you want to add another layer of security to your event, sending out a link no more than 30 minutes to an hour before the event can help you keep your guest list exclusive. Sending out a link right before an event can also serve as a gentle reminder to those who have push notifications turned on. 

Green Apple Strategy: Innovative Marketing In Every Industry

Our clients have used virtual events to connect to their customers and promote their brands. It’s one tool of many that can be used to enhance your marketing goals. If you’re ready to enhance your marketing goals, connect to your audience more efficiently, and increase your brand awareness, contact Green Apple Strategy. We can help you build an innovative marketing strategy to attract and retain qualified leads. Reach out to us today for a consultation.

The 4 Best Ways to Capture Your Audience’s Attention in the New Year

3 girl friends pointing a laptop screen

Ten seconds doesn’t seem too long, right? Based on the latest study, humans have an average attention span of eight seconds. On a first date, you usually tend to give someone the benefit of the doubt if things aren’t working out exactly to your standards. With social media lifestyles today, though, there’s no obligation to give anyone even an extra second of deliberation if the content is subpar or unreliable. To keep your audience engaged, you need to connect with them instantly, so they don’t lose interest—no second chances or “dates.” So, how do you stand out with your target audience? Regardless of the type of platform that you’re utilizing to gain listener retention, here are the four best ways that you can capture your audience’s attention in your new year marketing strategy. 

Speak to Your Audience’s Pain Points

For your audience to refrain from daydreaming or continue scrolling, they need to know that you are undoubtedly speaking to them. When you know your audience, you know their needs, anxieties, intentions, etc. When you focus on your target’s pain points, you confirm that you have solutions they need, which further results in increased view time, subscriber or follower rate, and customer loyalty. Today’s society and algorithms don’t allow non-relatable content to take up our space or time. Get to your point quickly by being specific, inspiring, and genuine to grab their attention immediately. 

Share Relevant Content

By relating to your ideal client, you build reliability, likability, and certainty. Put yourself in the shoes of your ideal customers or audience so that you better grasp what matters to them, therefore, what they want to see or experience. Consider these questions about your audience when creating your content calendar:

  • Why did they attend your event? 
  • How did they receive your targeted ad? 
  • What makes them interested in your content?
  • Why are you the solution they need?

By answering these questions and determining the basis of why your audience is “following” you, you’re able to speak to their emotions and cultivate connections, better yet, relationships. Test out relevant, inspirational quotes, current events, success stories, industry statistics, or even humorous content to see what your audience favors. According to Forbes, customers with a positive emotional association with a brand are 8.4 times more likely to trust the company, 7.1 times more likely to purchase more, and 6.6 times more likely to forgive a company’s mistake. As you can see, once you capture your customer’s emotions, you also gain their loyalty. 

Help them Imagine the Possibilities

Using the word “imagine” or placing your audience in “what-if” scenarios automatically transports them to your desired mindset. It allows them to mentally see themselves in an imaginary world, whether you choose to make that a good or a bad place. 

If you’re working on promoting your services for B2B interactions, you could ask, “What if your revenue could grow x amount in 6 months?” or “Imagine having x purchases made by the end of the year.” Positive options like these give your audience something to look forward to with their future with you. 

Enhance your Visual Content

People process visual content more quickly than they process words. Additionally, 67% of consumers consider clear, detailed images to be very important and carry even more weight than the product information, full description, and customer ratings. 

If you’re strategizing your social media content, create enticing graphics that speak to your target audience. Better yet, incorporate videos that tell a story. According to HubSpot, 54% of people want to see videos more than any other content in the future. Develop a connection with your audience first thing by giving them the content that they want to see.

Ready to Jumpstart Your Marketing Strategy?

The truth is, our attention spans aren’t getting any longer. Try implementing these strategies so that you can stand out from your competition and win over your target audience. 

If you’re looking to enhance your marketing goals, connect to your audience more efficiently, and increase your brand awareness, Green Apple Strategy is here to help. Contact us today for a consultation.

What Your Marketing Team Wants You to Know

cup of iced coffee and hands working at a laptop
So, you’ve hired or are thinking about hiring a marketing team. How exciting! Marketers are experts in organic website growth, targeting, customer journeys, algorithms, etc. to help your business escalate and stand out from the competition. You’ve answered the baseline questions, and you’re ready to enhance your marketing efforts. We’ve gathered a few tips from the marketer side to help you gain the absolute most out of your working relationship. Here’s what your marketing team wants you to know.

Agencies are an Extension of Your Team

When you hire an agency, you’re adding to your team. These are professional and skilled marketers who help you with strategies, measurement, content, and more. You need to have open communication and keep them frequently updated. Sharing what’s on your marketing agenda will introduce creative brainstorming processes, establish comradery, and save you time. Sample information to share:
  • Company events
  • Internal marketing strategies and goals
  • Target audiences
  • Internal and external company changes
  • Industry norms

Understand What Your Marketing Team is Doing

If you’re currently working with an agency or have an internal specialist, you have likely established the foundation of your goals, visions, and target audiences. That’s great! However, you don’t need to leave it at that. Keep yourself educated and informed about what is behind their strategies and judgments. Actively contribute your thoughts and knowledge about your industry. You’re an expert in your company, and your marketer is an expert in helping your company succeed. Truly grasping the process helps you long-term when establishing future objectives and goals–not to mention grants you confidence in your decisions and approvals.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions

Yes, communication is key. If you have questions about certain decisions, proposals, or processes that the marketer is executing, ask them! You hired them, and they want to help you understand how the strategies work and what the results mean for your business. Marketers don’t hesitate to find out what your pain points are—don’t be afraid to ask what you want to know!

Results Don’t Happen Overnight

While marketers would love to deliver your expectations immediately, it’s not that simple. Behind the success is deliberate campaign building, extensive researching, tailored design, and, in some cases, trial and error (especially in strategies such as inbound marketing).  Include key team members early on during the onboarding process so that your marketer can hit the ground running with solutions. While there’s no guaranteed timeline for success, beginning with critical details or concepts helps save time and money in the long term.

Not All Marketing Plans are The Same

While it’s good to scope out similar businesses’ marketing efforts, don’t obsess over what other companies are doing. You shouldn’t tell your marketer to implement a campaign just because you see your competition doing it. If you’re working with an agency specifically, each of their clients has unique marketing plans depending on several factors.  Some of these may include:
  • Marketing goals
  • Business needs
  • Company values
  • Allocated budget
  • ROI expectations
  • Target audience

Invest in a Marketing Agency, and They’ll Invest in You!

Odds are, you interviewed at least a couple of candidates or agencies throughout the hiring process and you decided on your final choice for a reason. Whether you were impressed by their case studies, felt a genuine connection when chatting, or liked their answers to your concerns, you wanted them as a part of your team.  You’re investing in them, and they’re investing in you by driving results through SEO, sales funnels, social media marketing, website design, etc. Once any concerns are addressed and the onboarding process is complete, your marketing team or individual will know what direction to take, and with open communication, clarity is high.

Hit the Mark: How to Align Your Marketing Goals with the Big Picture

pen and coffee

Setting annual marketing goals can often feel like a game of darts in the dark. You might have a general idea of where you want to aim, but without a clear understanding of the big picture, it’s easy to miss the mark. For many small to mid-size businesses, identifying the right goals is challenging. Goals might not align with overall business objectives, or silos between departments leave marketing disconnected from the company’s bigger picture.

At Green Apple, we believe that effective marketing goal-setting requires a holistic approach: evaluating what’s worked before, collaborating with key stakeholders, and aligning your goals with broader business strategies. The following secrets will help ensure your annual marketing plan stays focused and realistic.

Pro Tips for Building Smart Marketing Goals

1. Get a Clear Understanding of the Previous Year

Reflecting on the previous year is essential. Start with a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) to review which campaigns performed well and where there were gaps. Use data and performance metrics to understand what drove success—and more importantly—what didn’t. This will help you avoid mistakes and double down on what worked.

For example, if email marketing campaigns generated the highest ROI, you’ll want to incorporate them into your updated strategy. If social media ads fell short, dig into why. Was it the platform, targeting, or creative? Reflection is key to building smarter goals.

2. Make Sure You Understand the Big Picture

Marketing doesn’t exist in a vacuum—every part of your business affects (and is affected by) your marketing efforts. Your marketing goals need to align with key business objectives in order to be successful. Think about how marketing connects with operations, customer service, and product development. For example, if the business aims to scale operations, marketing needs to focus on lead generation or brand awareness campaigns in a way that can support sustainable growth.

It’s essential to align your marketing goals with what’s happening across departments. When marketing, operations, and customer service are in sync, it’s easier to ensure a seamless customer experience and create a brand that customers love.

3. Review Your Mission and Vision Statements

Everything you do should reflect who you are as a company. Ask your team and yourself questions like, “What do we value?” “What differentiates us from the competition?” or “Why do we exist?” It can be easy to get caught up in following trends, but don’t forget about what makes you stand out from the competition. Your annual plan should always incorporate concepts that demonstrate your differentiators. 

4. Get All Stakeholders Involved in the Process

You don’t want too many cooks in the kitchen, but it’s critical to involve the right people when setting marketing goals. Collaborate with decision-makers who can offer input on key priorities. This includes leaders from other departments—like sales, operations, or customer support—who can inform your strategy.

Additionally, make sure you have buy-in from the leadership team. It’s frustrating to finalize a marketing plan only to discover the CEO’s vision wasn’t factored in. Involving stakeholders from the start ensures alignment and makes it easier to execute your plan with confidence.

5. Set Realistic, Achievable Goals

Ambitious goals are great, but it’s essential to be mindful of your resources—such as team size, budget, and time. A single marketing person wearing multiple hats won’t be able to launch a robust, multi-channel campaign without proper support.

Set specific, measurable marketing goals that stretch your team without overwhelming them. Use the SMART framework—goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. A good example might be, “Increase website traffic by 15% in Q1 through targeted content marketing efforts.”

6. Think Beyond Sales—Focus on Engagement and Brand Awareness

While revenue is often the end goal, not all marketing campaigns need to focus on immediate sales. Some of the most effective strategies aim to build brand awareness or increase customer engagement. If your business is planning to enter a new market or launch a product, creating awareness might be more important than direct conversions.

Consider how marketing efforts like thought leadership, social media presence, or community involvement can contribute to long-term success. These types of campaigns build trust and loyalty, which will ultimately drive future sales.

7. Stay Flexible and Adapt Throughout the Year

No matter how well you plan, things will change. Market trends shift, new opportunities arise, and unexpected challenges can disrupt even the best-laid strategies. Build flexibility into your plan so you can pivot when needed.

One way to stay agile is by setting quarterly check-ins to evaluate your progress and make adjustments. If a campaign isn’t delivering the results you expected, don’t hesitate to tweak it or try a different approach. Flexibility ensures your goals remain aligned with both business needs and market conditions.

Five Questions to Fine-Tune Your Marketing Goals

Here are some questions to help you align your marketing goals with the big picture:

  • What worked well last year and what didn’t?
  • How do your marketing goals align with the company’s broader business objectives?
  • Are there any operational or customer service challenges that marketing can support?
  • Which stakeholders need to be involved to ensure alignment and buy-in?
  • What metrics will you track to measure success throughout the year?

These questions will help you identify gaps, refine your goals, and ensure that your marketing efforts support your company’s larger goals.

Closing the Gap Between Marketing and Strategy

Setting annual marketing goals that align with your business strategy doesn’t have to feel like guesswork. With thoughtful reflection, collaboration, and a focus on realistic, actionable goals, you can build a marketing plan that supports both short-term wins and long-term growth.

Need help aligning your marketing efforts with the big picture? Contact Green Apple Strategy today to learn how our strategic planning services can help your business grow and thrive. Let’s work together to build a plan that makes next year the best one yet!