Should I Hire an Internal Marketing Team or Outsource to a Local Agency?


Marketing is crucial to the success of a business. It helps you meet your sales goals, increase your brand awareness, and tell your story. Though many understand the importance of marketing’s role in growing a business, few are sure of how to go about it. Should you hire an internal team, or should you outsource to a local agency? For the most robust, effective marketing strategy, we recommend outsourcing. Let’s talk about why.

In this article, we’ll cover a few reasons to consider outsourcing, including:

  • Staying ahead of the curve
  • Getting more out of your marketing budget
  • Having a comprehensive marketing team without searching for employees
  • Focusing on your core business operations

With an outsourced marketing agency, you can…

Stay Ahead of the Curve

A marketing agency lives and breathes innovative tools and effective strategies. They are working daily to research new methods, test the effectiveness of a tactic, and identify the best way to connect with your audience. Not only do agencies stay ahead of the latest trends, but they also invest the time into learning about your internal operations and your target audience’s expectations and needs. 

Agencies live in the marketing mindset, whereas internal teams are living inside of your industry’s world. When you outsource your marketing, you know that you’re working with a team that will identify your vision, build a strategy, monitor that strategy continually, and do everything in its power to deliver results. 

Get More Out of Your Marketing Budget

Can you believe that hiring an external marketing team could actually make your budget stretch further? When you think of it in terms of overhead, you can skip hours of searching for an internal employee and the countless dollars you would spend hiring, training, and managing that new person. 

Having an agency on retainer also ensures that your marketing strategy will not be put on hold when someone leaves your team—allowing you to continue growing even during times of turnover. Finally, consider the continual training costs necessary for professional development, such as conferences and classes, and industry organizations’ membership costs.

All in all, agencies bypass your overhead costs and provide you access to a diversely talented and well-trained marketing team that always has a finger on the pulse. 

Have Access to a Comprehensive Marketing Team without Hiring 

An agency removes the need to hire someone to fill every role—content, digital marketing, graphic design, photography, web development, and so on. You will have access to each of these skills, all in one place. It’s as simple as that. In Green Apple’s case, we approach each new client strategy by handpicking a team of marketing professionals to fit your business’s specific needs. We serve as a full-service, one-stop-shop for all things marketing, and you’ll find that it takes the stress off your plate. Rather than piling marketing tasks onto your to-do list, you know that an agency is already five steps ahead of you. 

Focus On Your Core Business

Your business’s core operations are where you want to spend your time. If you’re a roofing company, for example, you don’t want to spend your days wading through marketing tasks, nor should you have to. When companies have the internal capacity to tackle their core focus, that’s when they reach their highest potential. An agency identifies that potential and makes sure that your marketing aligns appropriately. You, on the other hand, focus on what you know and what you love doing. We take care of the rest. 

Are you ready to take your business goals to the next level? Contact Green Apple Strategy today to schedule a consultation. To have marketing insight sent straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter—The Core.

7 Key Elements of Eye-Catching Content

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The internet is a vast sea of information. Search engines help us find what we need, but even when we’re searching for a topic, we have an overwhelming amount of options. If you’re looking for ways to improve your content marketing, for example, you will then be left to choose from around 12 different articles—and that’s just on the first page of your Google search.  Your audience is out there swimming right along with you, wading through the fluffy content to get to the good stuff. And they’re busy and skimming their content, just like you. So, how do you catch their eye? Grabbing your audience’s attention isn’t an easy task, but expertly crafted content can do the trick. 

1. Keep it concise.

We can’t say it enough: your audience is busy. They want to skim their content, because even when they do have the time, they want to spend it relaxing or enjoying time with their family. Give them what they want as fast as you can, and try not to overload with fluffy language that takes away from your point. Say what you need to say, and let it go.

2. Break it up.

You wouldn’t want to read a wall of text, and neither does your audience. What if you’re heading into an article about how to bake a cake, and you just need to know how to make the frosting? You’re going to want to jump to the end and find your answer. Give your audience a format that they can quickly jump around in. You may think, “Don’t I want my reader to stay on the page as long as possible?” Yes, you do; however, readers will leave your site if they don’t find what they want quickly, and they are much more likely to share your content with their peers if they find your content helpful or valuable. Use sub-headers, bullet points, and numbered lists strategically throughout your content to make it more digestible for the reader. And don’t be afraid of short, quick paragraphs!

3. Focus, focus, focus.

The more specific you are about your topic, the more receptive your reader will be. General articles don’t grab as much attention because we are often on the lookout for exactly what we want. For example, if you want to learn how to make icing for a German chocolate cake, you’re not going to click on How to Make Cake Icing. You’re going to click on How to Make the Best German Chocolate Cake Icing You’ve Ever Had. Even if you feel like specific topics may alienate parts of your potential audience, know that someone is looking for that particular idea. When your content is aligned with what that person is looking for, they will stay on your website longer and share it with others who they know need the same information.

4. Diversify your content throughout different platforms.

When we think of content, our mind often goes to blogging, but it doesn’t stop there. We must also consider social media, email, webinars, podcasts, and any other way that we communicate with our audiences. The beauty of solid, engaging content is that you can mold it to fit these different purposes. For example, if your company created an excellent podcast episode that others need to know about, add it to your next email newsletter, post about it on social media, and summarize the points into a blog article. Good content is a great front-end investment that will provide you with excellent returns.

5. Use imagery.

People are visual creatures. We’re intelligent, and we want to learn new information, but there is still an element of “Look! A pretty picture!” that catches our attention. We want to see beauty in our world, and the internet is no exception. When you’re doing research for work or learning about a hobby, you’ll most likely click on the article that uses visual elements. Not only do we love the way it looks, but visuals make information easily digestible for our brains. For this reason, infographics are an incredible tool that our audiences enjoy reading and sharing.

6. Put the content within your audience’s reach.

We all have friends who use one platform for their information more than others. Whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, email, or another outlet, make sure that your content is ready and available to your audience whenever the mood strikes. Work with your web developer to ensure that your resources page on your website is as user friendly as possible.

7. Look for creative angles wherever you go.

Creative content inspiration is everywhere we turn. We can find ideas in our daily conversations with clients and coworkers. We can find them in other content that we’re reading or something we see on television. We may even ask pointed questions to clients and others to determine what they want to learn about. You are out to propose new ideas, solve problems, and provide your audience with inspiration and solutions. Remember that as you go about your day, and you will organically collect potential topics to share with your audience.  We can help you create and manage content that your clients can’t take their eyes off of. Contact Green Apple Strategy today to schedule a consultation today!

7 Reasons You Shouldn’t Cut Your Marketing Budget in a Recession

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“But, we have to cut something.” You may be feeling as though marketing is the easiest line item in your budget report to slash. We get it. As we’ve worked through this recession, Green Apple has made cuts of our own to ensure that we’re financially strong enough to serve our customers. We’re right there with you. However, cutting your marketing budget can hurt your business long-term, even when it might help it slightly in the immediate future. 

To ensure that your business can continue serving its customers, you must consider a few key points. Here are seven reasons to reconsider reducing your marketing budget in a recession.

1. What if your competitors don’t?

You may consider cutting your marketing budget, but if your competitors don’t, where does that leave you? When you reduce your marketing budget, you decrease how and how often your customers see you—allowing your competitor to move in.

2. Your marketing team can help your customers support you.

The return on investment for your marketing strategy is still valid during a recession. While things are “normal,” your strategy is to drive sales and build relationships; however, during a recession, you are more focused on the relationship-building side of things and can keep your customers invested in your success. They love you as much as you love them, and they don’t want to see your business struggle. Your marketing team can help you show the right amount of vulnerability and transparency, while still sending the message that you are here to help.

3. Your marketing team protects you.

Clients often think about marketing as advertising, but it’s so much more. Your marketing team is telling your brand’s story, and that story must be shaped to align with the social climate—so as to not be insensitive or offensive. Using COVID-19 as an example, companies needed to quickly shift their messaging strategies to be sensitive and empathetic. Having a team on your side that can help shift and shape your message allows you to support your audience, while keeping your brand top of mind.

4. You don’t want your customers to feel abandoned.

Your marketing strategy strengthens your relationship with your audience. A reduction in your budget can leave your customers wondering where you went—or worse, if your business is in jeopardy of shutting down.

You will, of course, be there for your audience in a different way during a recession. Your messaging will focus on how you’re taking care of customers as the tides change. Marketing can tell your audience what you’re doing to keep their best interests in mind, strengthening their trust in your brand.

5. It may be time to launch that new product.

You have less competition during a recession, as other companies are focusing on staying afloat. They aren’t putting their time and effort into launching new products or growing their business. If you are in the position to, and you have ideas ready to launch, work with your marketing team to put your new product out into the world.

6. You will not bounce back as easily.

If you reduce your marketing efforts, it leaves you in a difficult position when you’re ready to bounce back. You’ve spent a great deal of time and money growing your brand’s reach. Rather than scaling back, discuss a strategy with your marketing team to find ways to keep your reach consistent. Once the economy is on an upswing, you will appreciate not having lost months—or years—of progress.

7. It can take you off course to meet your goals.

Even amid a recession, you still want to move forward. Your marketing team can help you keep your goals in mind and find new strategies to meet them. Don’t underestimate a marketing team’s versatility and the potential to keep your business growing, even when the economy is less than ideal. 

Talk Strategy Before You Make Cuts

Before you decide on your budget, discuss all the options with your marketing team. They can likely work with you to achieve your goals, even with necessary budget accommodations. Your relationship with your marketing team should be transparent—they want to see you succeed, too, and will do everything they can to make that happen. 

Ready for a marketing team with your best interests at heart? Contact Green Apple Strategy today to schedule a consultation.

How to Empower Employees to Create Content for Your Marketing

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Empowering employees to help create content for your marketing might seem like a big risk, but it can also create one of the biggest rewards for your business. That is why I encourage businesses that their marketing department should own organizational culture. Marketers that understand the power of employee advocacy can empower them to create content that improves brand awareness, educates buyers, increases search engine visibility, and creates more meaningful connections with potential customers. 

How to Empower Employees to Create Content for Your Marketing

Here are four specific ways you can begin to empower employees outside of marketing to help you create content to attract the attention of your potential customers: 
Invite employees to contribute to podcasts or webinars as subject matter experts.
Your employees likely have a deep level of experience that could be beneficial for potential customers. Empowering them to become thought leaders in your industry by inviting them to create content is one of the simplest, yet most effective ways to maximize their knowledge for business development. It could be something as simple as hosting monthly webinars that put your employees in the spotlight or creating a podcast where you interview employees about how to overcome specific challenges your audience is facing. 
Make it easy for employees to share content they care about.
Having your employees share your content—whether it’s emailing it to a prospect or promoting it on social media—is the perfect way to increase your reach. But just because you create the content (and even ask them to help promote it), doesn’t mean they will share it.  That’s why it’s important to create marketing content employees actually want to share.  It could be a story about your employee or one of your clients or a tutorial related to your product. 
Equip and reward employee advocates.
According to recent research, 31% of fast-growing companies have set up an employee advocacy program. These businesses recognize that employee advocacy encourages their workforce to expand their role from “employee” to “brand ambassador.” And, this type of approach can create tremendous dividends for the overall health and success of your company.
Let employees take over your social media for a day.
Instead of paying thousands to influencers and brand ambassadors, let your employees leverage their social media influence to increase awareness of your products and services. Give them the resources, tools, and leeway to develop their expertise in the niche. While you might have one person who owns the responsibility of improving your brand’s social media presence, making sure he or she isn’t doing it alone is critical to success. Leveraging employees to help create content for marketing is an incredibly valuable way to humanize your brand. Employees might be your most effective content creators because they know the challenges your customers face every day and have a deep knowledge of your product, service, and industry.  Contact Green Apple Strategy to discuss how you can leverage content marketing to improve SEO, develop your brand story, and generate leads.

4 Steps Your Small or Midsize Business Can Take to Improve SEO

If there’s one thing we know about small business leaders, it’s that they are incredibly busy people. While many small business leaders recognize Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as an important marketing tactic, most don’t have the knowledge or bandwidth to execute everything that needs to be done to optimize their website for search. At the same time, most small businesses have limited digital marketing budgets. SEO is a game-changer for small and midsize businesses. It’s what makes small, local companies able to compete with the big companies. No matter what industry you’re in or the size of your business, consumers are looking for brands like yours online every day. Investing in SEO, or at least having a working understanding of the basics, is one of the best ways to reach these potential customers.

4 Steps Your Small or Midsize Business Can Take to Improve SEO

While SEO can seem overwhelming, there are four steps we typically encourage small businesses to consider—from simple basics to more complex tactics:
Step 1: Create a website (that’s optimized for search).
One of the reasons small businesses struggle with SEO is because their website isn’t built with search in mind. Sure, your website might look good, but if it’s not structured correctly, you can lose out on a significant amount of search traffic. In case it helps, here are some of the most important local SEO factors for small and midsize businesses.
Step 2: Optimize the meta-descriptions on each page to reach local customers.
More than likely, you already have a website. But making sure it has relevant keywords that matter to your customers—and therefore search engine results—is an important second step. The next step for SEO is to make sure all of your primary landing pages are optimized for the keywords you discovered. In other words, you must utilize the appropriate keywords in your titles, meta descriptions, and body content for each page. Also, ensure that every page on your website has a unique meta description and title. Pro tip: It’s helpful if your metadata description doesn’t exceed the length at which Google begins to truncate the text. In addition, try to make sure that the description will entice users to click-through to your site. If you need to optimize your meta-descriptions and website content for search, here are a few details and rules you’ll need to consider.
Step 3: Set up and optimize your Google My Business page.
Google My Business should be a focal point for any small business, especially if you want to maximize the power of search. It’s incredibly simple to set up your Google My Business page, and it can make a big impact. As a small business, you should leverage every element of Google My Business pages to your advantage—images, videos, Q&A, reviews, and posts you publish.
Step 4: Look for creative opportunities to increase reach outside your city or region.
Many businesses serve clients across the country or region and are looking for ways to rank high in searches outside their cities. One of the most common questions we get as an SEO firm is, “How do we rank beyond the city where our headquarters is located?” This is where you can begin to get creative with your SEO tactics and strategies. You might consider creating content focused on specific cities or regions. Taking this approach allows you to build up the authority of your site with quality external links, and you could increase your search rankings for location-specific keywords. If you want to rank high outside of your business’ physical location, here are a few specific tips to help you rank in searches conducted outside your area. You don’t have to execute every step mentioned above, but if you’re looking to take advantage of everything SEO can offer your small or midsize business, I’d encourage you to take the next step. SEO success doesn’t happen overnight for any business. That’s why it’s incredibly important to take action to address the basic issues and then tweak as you go.

How Marketing Can Create Company-Wide Collaboration

a round wood table in a warm lit room with three men gathered sitting with white papers scattered
Creating a culture of teamwork and collaboration is one of the most important things you can do for your business. Here are a few reasons why…
  • 75% of employers rate teamwork and collaboration as “very important.” (Source)
  • 86% of employees and executives cite lack of collaboration or ineffective communication for workplace failure. (Source)
  • Collaborative teams are 5x higher-performing because they feel motivated towards a common goal. (Source)
And, while every leader agrees that collaboration is important—creating a culture of teamwork has gotten increasingly difficult in a world where employees can work from anywhere and open offices don’t seem to be working. How Marketing Can Create Collaboration Across Your Company Creating a collaborative team environment is no simple feat, but it’s possible. Here are a few ways in which marketing can play a unique role in supporting this effort:
  1. Constantly remind employees of your mission and vision.
Your mission and vision statements won’t sink in if you promote them once or leave them on your website for others to read. Employees need to be constantly reminded about why they show up to work every day in order to increase teamwork and collaboration. Marketing can support this by looking for creative and engaging ways to keep your mission and vision top of mind for employees.
  1. Encourage creative problem solving and brainstorming.
Collaboration and teamwork works best in environments where creative brainstorming is a regular part of the business. Because of where they sit in the organization, marketing can lead out in this by pulling together leaders from different areas of the company to address issues your company is facing.
  1. Share knowledge, insights, and resources across your organization.
Does your account services team know everything that’s happening in marketing? Does your sales team know all the impressive results you’re getting for clients? Marketing can help bridge the gap by collecting all this information and dissemination throughout your organization.
  1. Celebrate the impact your company is making.
When morale is low, productivity suffers and collaboration decreases. Marketing can play a role in improving morale by regularly celebrating the growth and success your company is experiencing. Celebrating the exciting things that are happening across your business on a regular basis is a great way to create a culture where people are on board and excited about the things that are happening. Whether you’re a large corporation or a small startup—these are a few simple ways your marketing team can play a role in creating a more collaborative culture. Collaborative companies are more productive companies. Leaders who know this invest time and resources in creating environments that are conducive to teamwork.

7 Steps to Develop Your Go-to-Market Strategy


You have an idea for a great new product or service. You might have already invested time and money developing the solution. But, how do you get the word out?

Whenever launching a new product or service, the last thing you want is to waste time and resources investing in marketing tactics that don’t work. To avoid this, it’s important to craft an intentional plan that will help you rise above the noise and reach potential customers.

7 Steps to Develop Your Go-to-Market Strategy

Here are seven steps you can take to develop your go-to-market strategy for a new product or service:

  1. Identify your specific decision-makers and buyers. First and foremost, it’s important to define who you’re trying to serve (and who you’re not) with this new product or service. Knowing your ideal customer is foundational for marketing in ways that resonate with them. Everyone on your sales and marketing teams should take time to identify as much information as you possibly can about your target audience.
  2. Determine the specific pain points and messages that resonate with buyers. Knowing your ideal customer and their pain points are essential for determining the messages that will resonate with them. Before you launch your product, your sales and marketing should know (and agree) on exactly who you’re trying to reach and how you are uniquely positioned to help them.
  3. Understand your buyer’s journey. Intentionally considering the experience you’re creating for potential customers during the buying process is one of the most valuable things you can do before launching a product or service and is one of the best ways to spend your time. Not only will this help you create a buyer’s journey that potential customers actually enjoy, but it will also help you define the processes and systems you’ll need to create it.
  4. Define the relationship between sales and marketing. Marketing and sales teams should work together to achieve your goal. Without absolute clarity on the business objectives or specific products/service lines you want to grow, both sales and marketing teams are left guessing what will actually move the needle. This is true for businesses at any point in time but is especially important when launching a new product or service.
  5. Generate interest and develop a plan to increase brand awareness. Once you’ve laid the initial groundwork, it’s time to start thinking about your specific marketing tactics. Whenever you’re thinking about brand awareness, don’t neglect the simple but often overlooked ways to reach customers. Take time to learn from the successful campaigns and mistakes other brands make when it comes to brand awareness.
  6. Create content that connects emotionally with potential customers. How do you create content that cuts through the noise and actually gets read? Consider how you can use content to create emotional connections with potential customers. Begin weaving these strategies into your marketing efforts to appeal to their emotions. Brands and products that evoke our emotions—such as Apple, Disney, and Google—are always effective when launching new products or services.
  7. Determine how you will leverage data to evaluate and optimize your efforts. Now that you have a plan in place, the final question is: How are you going to measure and optimize along the way? Creating a data-driven marketing culture is essential for the long-term success of your product. Without knowing what you will measure before you start, you won’t know how to improve your marketing efforts along the way.

Without taking the time to think through these seven steps, it’s impossible to know if you’re chasing the wrong audience, you’re too early or too late to the market, or the market is already too saturated with similar solutions.

Here’s Why Your Marketing Probably Isn’t Working

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As the leader of a marketing agency, I have the opportunity to constantly meet business leaders who have questions about marketing or curious about our work. Almost every conversation starts with… “Our marketing strategy isn’t working…” or “We need a new marketing strategy that will help us reach more customers.” Once we dig a little deeper, there’s nearly one common reason why most companies struggle to generate success through their marketing efforts — they define marketing by thinking about tactics instead of strategy. Marketing Tactics vs. Marketing Strategy Let’s take a step back and look at the difference between strategy and tactics. In marketing terms…
  • Strategy = defining the space where the business decides to engage, and how it plans to win in the market.
  • Tactics = identifying the tools and executions deployed in order to deliver on that strategy.
A strategy is an overall framework that is filled in by the tactics you use. It is essential for determining which tactics will be most effective. When most businesses say their marketing strategy isn’t working, what they typically mean is that the tactics aren’t effective. When this happens, it’s likely an indicator that they didn’t take the time to develop a strategy in the first place. The reason their marketing strategy isn’t really working is that there wasn’t really a strategy to begin with. How to Develop a Marketing Strategy At Green Apple, there are a few key components we encourage brands to consider when developing a marketing strategy:
  • Define your target market and buyer personas. If you want your marketing tactics to work, you need to have absolute clarity about your ideal buyer and how they operate. You need to know their challenges and pain points. Defining your target audience and evaluating the buyer’s journey are essential for an effective marketing strategy.
  • Identify your unique value proposition. What makes you better than your competitors? Answering this question is imperative for your marketing strategy. Your value proposition is a unique value that a buyer desires and will receive from your company, product, or service. Think of the word “only” and how you can apply it to your business, products, and services.
  • Determine how marketing will support your larger business objectives. In order to develop and implement an effective marketing strategy, you need to be absolutely clear on what you’re trying to achieve. What are the larger business objectives your marketing strategy is supposed to support?
Once you’ve addressed each of the issues above, you need to start asking which tactics you should use to reach customers. It’s only after your target market and buyer personas have been defined that you can decide which kinds of tools and processes might be deployed to reach them.

3 Strategies to Take Your Trade Show Marketing to the Next Level

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Marketers have a love-hate relationship with conferences and trade shows. On one hand, conferences and trade shows are a lot of work. There are logistical challenges that seem to happen at every single event. Determining the ROI of having a booth in the exhibit hall or advertising in the event guide can seem impossible. Despite the challenges, having a presence at trade shows and conferences is still one of the best ways to connect with your target accounts’ key decision-makers. According to a recent study, 82% of trade show attendees are directly involved in their teams’ purchasing decisions. The question becomes…how do you maximize the opportunity of each trade show or event to generate some truly meaningful traction for your sales and marketing efforts? 3 Strategies to Take Your Trade Show Marketing to the Next Level Here are three strategies and mentalities to consider as you prepare for the trade shows or conferences you’re attending this year:
  1. Promote an experience, not your product or service. The best way to stand out in a noisy exhibit hall is to create an experience that makes people want to stop and spend time at your booth. Creating an experience that surprises or delights attendees enables you to make much more of an emotional impact than selling them a product ever would. These experiences also make for a great word-of-mouth marketing opportunity since visitors will be more likely to tell other attendees to stop by.
  2. Treat everyone as if they’re already a customer. Your brand will make hundreds of new first impressions during a trade show or conference. One of the best ways to make sure it’s a positive one is to consider every person you meet as someone who’s already a customer of yours. This mindset will transform the way you interact with attendees and help create impressions that lead to connection. You never know when a seemingly unqualified prospect could get a new job and turn into a coveted lead. And, you’ll never get the chance to make another first impression with them.
  3. Find creative ways to grab the attention of companies in attendance. If you know a particular company or decision-maker will be at the trade show, consider how you can create intrigue with them. Whether it’s reaching out to them beforehand to stop by the booth to pick up an exclusive gift or grabbing their attention by mentioning how your service can help their specific brand, there are a lot of creative ways you can design your booth to attract specific target accounts in attendance.
If you’re looking to take your trade show or conference marketing strategies to the next level, we hope these ideas can spark some creative ideas.

Why Empathy is More Important Than Ever for Marketers

The rate at which technology has evolved over the past few years has impacted every industry — especially marketing. Today, businesses are trying to find ways to leverage technology to reach more customers. Marketing automation, search engine optimization, business intelligence, chatbots, and voice search have become important topics for many marketers. However, in a world where information is a commodity, you need to be more than a source of facts and figures. This is why it is more important than ever for marketers to understand, embrace, and incorporate empathy. 3 Ways to Gain & Incorporate Empathy Into Your Marketing The good news is that empathy is something that can be learned. Here are three exercises you can use to cultivate your empathetic skills and incorporate them into the ways they engage with potential customers:
  1. Get face-to-face with the prospective client. Most marketing teams don’t get a lot of face time with current or potential customers, but their entire job is to create messaging and campaigns that resonate with these people. Taking time to actually sit down with a potential customer can be extremely valuable for marketers. It helps them understand what a “typical day” looks like for them. It provides insights into what really motivates them to make decisions, rather than guessing. Face-to-face conversations allow for the fullest interaction, and the closer you can get to one, the more effective you’ll be.
  1. Don’t be afraid to find out why you didn’t win the business. When it comes to knowing why a prospect didn’t buy from you, most marketers have to rely on insights from the sales team. However, salespeople don’t always get the real reason. Being a little further removed from the sales process often provides an opportunity to gain valuable insights. This is a valuable way marketing can play an active role in truly understanding the real reasons and motivations of why a prospective client didn’t buy from you.
  1. Consider what their real problem is. Here’s the difference between great companies and good companies: Great companies solve the real problems facing the customer. Think about Chick-fil-A versus a typical fast food restaurant. One provides a transactional experience, the other does everything they can to go above and beyond to make life easier and more enjoyable for the customer. Chick-fil-A understands that they’re doing more than providing people lunch. The real problem they are solving is making the act of eating more enjoyable and a less stressful part of life—and everything they do is centered around this objective.
By taking the time to gain and incorporate empathy into your marketing efforts, you’ll be much more skillful at creating messaging that resonates with your audience. Once you can understand their emotional motivations, you’ll be able to market more effectively and efficiently.