Category: Digital Marketing

PR 2.0: The AI Revolution for Strategic Communications

AI is quickly becoming embedded in our work and our lives. There’s a lot to keep up with as new developments are coming out almost every day. In the final days of 2023, the New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming millions of articles from the publication were used to train AI chatbot LLMs without authorization. This lawsuit is a clear sign that reform and regulation are coming for the AI market, but we’ll have to wait and see how the overall impact plays out.

Despite the evolving landscape, AI technology remains a powerful tool for PR professionals. The technology has played an important role in public relations work for years in a variety of ways, including;

Earned media and social media monitoring
Up-to-date journalist and outlet databases
Determining brand sentiment in earned media
Determining trending topics and types of content

More recent AI advancements, like deep learning and text and image generation, are changing AI’s role in public relations, reflecting the type of disruption seen in many other industries. But its efficacy depends on our ability to use it strategically and cautiously.

We sat down with Green Apple PR Strategist, Chris Song, to take a closer look at how AI is assisting PR professionals and why it will never replace them.

The Impact of AI on Strategy

Data and output from AI are really helpful for PR teams, especially for the strategic process. A recent study released by Muck Rack shows a majority (61%) of PR professionals are already using AI or are interested in using it. That’s a 40% increase since March 2023. The report shows the most popular use of AI among PR professionals is for copywriting. But it’s also helping PR pros like Green Apple’s Chris Song brainstorm ideas, conduct research, and monitor brands.

“AI is making it easier to keep track of our clients and their brands in real-time while also cutting out the “noise” produced by incorrect or duplicated results. Similarly, it helps us keep an eye on their partners, competitors, and industries as a whole, which can inform our marketing and PR efforts.”

When prompted with appropriate inputs, AI can assist with the copywriting process by generating creative ideas and topics in the brainstorming phase of an earned media campaign. It can also sift through large amounts of earned media content (e.g., headlines, social media posts, bylines, etc.) to help PR professionals do what they’re already doing—identifying trending content and connecting with journalists (and audiences) interested in their clients’ products and services.

The Human Element

AI can help make your job easier, but it can’t do your job for you. When it comes to PR, there’s a foundational communication skill that will always need a human touch: relationship-building.

“Good relationships are critical. A lot has changed over my time in PR—about 15 years—that makes that even more true today. More traditional news outlets have smaller staffs sharing the same workload as before, which means getting through to gatekeepers is a more complicated process. On the other hand, there are more media content generators and curators than ever, so the relationships we do have must deepen while we also pursue more contacts to build trust and credibility with new and emerging voices. That’s something that AI isn’t capable of doing.”

AI has many other limitations. Having a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips doesn’t guarantee accuracy, timeliness, or the effective application of that knowledge. Publicizing incorrect data and outdated information could erode trust between PR pros and their audiences while making brands vulnerable to criticism.

Beyond what AI does know, there are many nuances that it cannot understand: the appropriate tone and voice for a particular situation, the timing of any given earned media effort, or highly localized sensitivities based on current events and politics. Writing and creating content for people isn’t the same as writing for a search engine algorithm, and quality, human-centered writing requires both heart and hand.

Best Practices for Utilizing AI in Public Relations

The storytelling element of PR still requires an emotional intelligence that only humans can provide. AI can help us get away from blank stares at the screen, acting as a great brainstorming tool. We’ve outlined a few best practices to keep in mind when using AI for marketing in our recent blog and have listed a few more below.

Double-check everything.
Get specific. Just like a Google search, the more information and content you put in, the more you’ll get back.
Don’t copy and paste.
Don’t allow AI to write your press releases.
Don’t become overly reliant on AI for ideas.

The Bottom Line

Artificial intelligence is not something to fear. Instead, it’s an exciting opportunity to improve efficiency and creativity! The concept of AI “competing” with PR comes from a misunderstanding of one or both subjects. Even in the foreseeable future, AI can only supplement the work of a PR professional. Inevitably, some professionals will rely too heavily on it, while others will ignore its utility to the disadvantage of themselves and their clients. In the end, how ethically and effectively AI is used in PR work is up to you.

An Innovative Marketing and PR Agency

Our team of experts at Green Apple are using the latest tools and innovative approaches to tailor the marketing we do for our clients. If your business could use an updated approach to branding, marketing, and PR, we can help. Reach out to us to discover more effective ways to connect with your audience.

Wrap It Up: The Year’s Top Marketing Trends We’re Taking into 2024

Whew! What a year it’s been for the digital landscape! Platforms changed their names, viewers were glued to restock videos, and social commerce soared. Despite ebbs and flows in online trends, the need for a solid digital presence remains the same. It’s critical to a brand’s success.

To make planning your digital strategy a bit easier, we’ve done the heavy lifting and developed a list of the top video and social media marketing trends in 2024 that will make an impact in the new year.

Social Media Marketing Trends in 2024

User Generated Content and Micro-influencers

Influencers with several million followers have had their day. In a surprise marketing shift, brands are turning to micro and nano-influencers, who have anywhere from 500 to 100,000+ followers. Audiences find micro and nano-influencers to be genuine and tend to relate better to their niche content. As a result, followers are more likely to purchase products or services promoted by this type of influencer.

Brands also benefit from user-generated content that customers make about their personal experiences with a brand. Again, it’s the authenticity that leads to peer recommendations, satisfied customers, and brand-new customer acquisitions.

Social Commerce

We’ve all made our share of purchases made through social media, and this method of shopping is expected to grow in popularity. In-app purchases and shoppable posts will make it easier for customers to buy directly from their social media feeds. Ensure a successful approach to social commerce by optimizing your social media platforms for sales, creating content that encourages purchases, and implementing a seamless buying process.

SEO-Powered Content

Using keywords for search engine optimization is still critical to getting your web content to display in Google’s search results. Now, it will also play an important role in social media content. As more and more users treat social media like search engines, SEO keywords will help them discover your clever content more so than hashtags. The right keywords can also contribute to the virality of posts, which will be influenced by SEO and not just hashtags.

Social Listening

Evaluating campaign success usually means evaluating quantitative data and analytics, but brands are also seeing the benefit of monitoring social media for qualitative customer feedback, experiences, and opinions. Responding to these comments can help build your and increase customer engagement. Social listening and garnering feedback from social media can also lead to customer-friendly improvements in support, marketing campaigns, and products.

Video Marketing Trends in 2024

Video Content and Captions

Video content will continue to flourish in 2024 because it’s a powerful way to connect with customers, share brand stories, and showcase products. Short-form video content will also remain popular, as it is easy to consume on certain social media platforms.

As you’re creating content, be sure to add captions to all videos. More and more viewers are watching videos without sound, and adding captions makes your content more accesible. Include keywords in your social media captions to make your videos easier to find. Social media is now serving as a search engine for users, and a descriptive caption can help them find your content.

AI-Generated Content

Artificial intelligence is making waves in many industries, including marketing. AI-powered technologies can help you analyze large amounts of data effectively and efficiently. You can use it to uncover new approaches to strategy and tactics or even to automate mundane tasks, freeing up your time to tackle larger endeavors. Customers can also benefit from AI-based bots that can answer questions about a product or service and serve as a first touchpoint of a brand.

Increases in Consumer Privacy

Consumers are concerned with privacy protection and want to know they can trust your company with their personal information. A study by PwC found that 83% want more control over their personal information. You can help your customers feel secure by being transparent in your data collection efforts, asking for their consent, and following all privacy and compliance regulations.

Streaming and CTV

CTV, also known as connected TV or smart TV, continues to grow. Consumers will continue to use streaming platforms via CTV to watch their favorite programs, movies, and shows. Stay on top of its popularity by incorporating a marketing strategy for CTV into your plans for 2024.

Marketing Strategy is Always On Trend

Trends come and go, but planning will continue to be the little black dress of marketing strategies in 2024. Green Apple can help you decide which marketing approaches will work best with for your B2B or B2C brand. We also collect data measure the results, optimize what’s working, and scale with you as you grow. Reach out to our team today to see how we can make today’s marketing trends work for you.

Your Comprehensive Guide to Annual Marketing Planning

Annual planning can feel like a balancing act for most small to mid-sized businesses. On one hand, small business owners and marketers recognize its necessity for long-term success and sustainable growth. On the other hand, developing an annual marketing plan can seem like an obstacle course (at best) or an exercise in futility (at worst). Can we develop an annual marketing plan that works? More than that, is it possible to enjoy the process of creating one?

After more than a decade of walking businesses through our approach to building a marketing strategy, our team has learned several valuable lessons regarding annual planning. We’ve discovered how to ensure your yearly plan is aligned with other critical areas of your business—from supporting business development efforts to coordinating with operations. We know the common pitfalls that prevent businesses from gaining traction.

As we prepare for the new year, we wanted to offer helpful insights for annual planning and ideas for businesses requiring a more needs-based approach to marketing planning. In this article, we’re highlighting some of the principles for effective yearly marketing planning and a few essential questions that your strategy should be able to answer.

5 Principles for Effective Annual Marketing Planning

Here are a few essential principles we utilize when developing annual marketing plans:

Embrace proactive planning.

Effective annual marketing planning requires ample time and consideration. This keeps you from feeling rushed and avoids the obstacles created by the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

At Green Apple, we typically initiate the planning process for clients in Q4, but the ideal timing may vary depending on the client’s industry and specific needs. For some clients, an earlier start may be necessary based on the scope of planning requirements and implementation deadlines.

Align long-term vision with short-term execution.

One of the temptations of developing an annual plan is that you may come up with dozens of great ideas but need help implementing them. While it’s essential to incorporate a long-term vision, you also want to be realistic.

Balancing long-term vision with execution helps you evaluate your brand holistically and get a clear picture of where you’re headed. Then, you can break those goals down into more manageable steps. For example, your company might know where you want to be in three years. By balancing that vision with short-term execution, you can create an annual marketing strategy that fits into your overarching company goals.

Collaborate with various departments and key stakeholders as needed.

Effective annual marketing planning requires buy-in and participation from all relevant departments, including sales, operations, and customer service. This collaborative approach ensures that marketing efforts are aligned with the broader business strategy and contribute to achieving common goals.

For instance, at Green Apple, we want to make sure we know our clients’ sales and operational goals for the next year. With this information, we can ensure their marketing and advertising plans for the next year can help them reach those objectives. When objectives and departments are overly siloed, your marketing strategy won’t be as successful.

Start with a comprehensive understanding of your current marketing plan.

The foundation of effective annual marketing planning lies in a thorough assessment of current marketing efforts. This includes identifying successes, challenges, and areas for improvement.

During annual planning with our clients, we ask insightful questions that help us evaluate their marketing efforts from the previous year. This includes identifying everything the client needs to be doing. All of this information is used to help us determine what strategies are working, what can be improved, and what efforts aren’t providing sufficient ROI.

Use data to inform your strategy.

Developing a data-driven approach to marketing is essential. Data analytics can help you identify the most effective channels and messaging for reaching your target audience. Continuously refining your understanding of that target audience is also essential for deploying effective marketing campaigns. By understanding your target audience’s demographics, preferences, and behaviors, your marketing efforts can be tailored to resonate effectively and achieve your desired outcomes.

7 Questions Every Annual Marketing Plan Should Answer

Once you’ve developed your annual marketing plan, here are seven critical questions you should be able to answer. Recognizing these before you get started can help you as you go:

What is your overall marketing budget for the year? How will you allocate your budget across different marketing channels and tactics?
What are your marketing goals, and how will you track and measure your progress toward them on an annual, quarterly, and monthly basis?
Is every marketing tactic connected to a goal, and do you clearly understand how each strategy will help you achieve that goal?
What specific tactics and content will you create for each marketing area of marketing, including email, paid advertising, social media, and PR?
What new marketing initiatives do you plan to launch in the next year? How will you promote and launch each new initiative?
Do you understand what’s being implemented monthly and who executes each marketing initiative?
How will you adapt your marketing plan based on insights you discover through data or changing market conditions?

By answering these questions, you can develop a comprehensive marketing plan to help you achieve your marketing goals.

Let Green Apple Strategy Help You Develop Your Annual Plan

Need some help getting started on developing your annual marketing plan?

Our team can help you build an effective strategy to help your business achieve its goals—and actually enjoy the process! Learn more about our approach or connect with our team to start a conversation.

Sleighing Social Media: How to Keep the Spirit Alive During the Holidays

The holiday season is a time when social media comes alive with festive cheer. Businesses are vying for attention while also trying to capture the holiday spirit. If done well, holiday marketing on social media can be some of the most valuable content you produce.

We’re here to guide you through some simple yet highly effective ways to enhance your social media efforts during the holidays. Read on for some tips to capture the festive spirit and give your brand a competitive edge in your social media posts.

Create a Holiday-Themed Content Calendar

Planning in advance is key to successful holiday marketing. Create a holiday-themed content calendar for the days, weeks, or months you want to focus on, and plan a number of posts to celebrate the season. Not only does a content calendar help you stay organized and consistent, but it’s particularly helpful in planning ahead during a season when many of your employees are taking time off.

Ensure you’re utilizing the right social media marketing tools to help guide your strategy toward success.

Drop the Hard Sell Approach

We know the holiday season is an opportunity for many businesses to boost sales, but there’s more to it than just pushing products. Take a step back to think about how you can soft-sell your product during this season. Here are a few ideas:

Share user-generated content
Share stories about your team members or any holiday traditions at your company
Share customer stories, testimonials, and reviews
Take a conversational approach

By focusing on meaningful non-sales content, you can make an impact and build a deeper connection with your audience, giving your brand greater resonance even after the holidays.

Be Inclusive of All Holidays

There are billions of people on social media, all with different beliefs, traditions, and customs. By showcasing your awareness of this fact, you can appeal to a much larger audience and show current and potential customers that you’re an inclusive company. Add all of the upcoming holidays to your content calendar and embrace the spirit of the season through the beauty of diversity and inclusivity!

Design Gift Guides and Highlight Gift Ideas

Instagram is a popular social media platform for holiday marketing because of its visual nature. You can enhance the visibility of your best deals, promos, and events by showcasing them in your bio links and highlighting them in shoppable posts. Create content that focuses on gift ideas or holiday shopping guides relevant to your products or services.

Showcase a Charity or Nonprofit Organization

Share the love this holiday season and showcase a cause you and your audience care about. Shine the spotlight on the nonprofits you support by sharing photos and videos of your team volunteering and infographics about the organization’s impact. Don’t forget to tag the nonprofit on all platforms for additional organic reach!

Engage Your Audience

Social media platforms offer a variety of engagement features you can use to help show your brand’s personality. Organize fun and engaging contests or giveaways, or schedule holiday-themed polls, questions, and quizzes on your stories to encourage user participation. Infuse a little joy, playfulness, and holiday spirit into your content, and your audience will respond positively.

Share User Generated Content

User-generated content is a great tool to boost interaction and build an authentic connection with your audience. It also doesn’t take much legwork. Repost or retweet user-generated content that showcases your product or service being used during the holidays. If you don’t have much user-generated content to choose from, ask followers to share their holiday stories, photos, or ideas related to your product or service. This is a great way to build a library of content that you can use all year long!

Collaborate with Influencers

Incorporating influencers in a planned holiday campaign could help you reach a wider or even untapped audience. Influencer marketing is a proven and reliable method for generating brand awareness year-round. According to a Q3 Sprout pulse survey, 89% of marketers agree influencer marketing impacts their brand awareness. The authentic content micro-influencers (influencers with 10,000–100,000 followers) are known to produce is just one benefit of working with them.

Analyze and Adjust

Take a step back and look at the analytics. Your data from the previous holiday season can equip you with meaningful insights that guide your future content. Understand what performed best and adjust your strategy accordingly. A thorough analysis can help you plan for seasonal content for next year and beyond.

Let Us Help You Reach Your Goals

At Green Apple, we help our clients build effective campaigns for the holiday season and all year round. If you need some guidance and support from marketing and PR experts, we’d love to discuss your goals and figure out how we can help you reach them. Contact us anytime to start the conversation. You can also subscribe to The Core, our monthly newsletter, to get the latest marketing insights and inspiration delivered directly to your inbox. Happy holidays and happy social media marketing!

How to Set Achievable Marketing Goals

When we’re creating a marketing strategy for a new client or presenting a new approach to a client on our roster, everyone feels the excitement about launching a new initiative. Successful marketing can really move the needle on brand identity, audience reach, and total profits. Clients who are ready to invest in marketing usually know their brand, are aware of their audience, and want to take their company to the next level.

While it’s tempting to dive straight into planning, it’s wise to take a beat and set marketing goals that are clear, measurable, and realistic. With these three components in place, you can lead your team to success.

Set Realistic Marketing Goals

One of the first things we counsel our clients on is setting expectations for a marketing strategy out of the gate. Like any first expedition into a new territory, an initial marketing strategy is exploratory. It involves assessing an audience, testing out different marketing messages and platforms, and identifying the approaches that work. It can even mean figuring out which metrics to track in order to confirm that the marketing strategy is having an effect. This takes time and patience, but the results are worth the upfront effort.

Get Clarity and Seek Precision

The good thing about setting vague goals is they are hard to measure. How does anyone prove whether a restaurant does or doesn’t sell the “Best Burger in Town?”

On the other hand, if you can’t measure goals, how do you know if your efforts are truly paying off?

Instead, set marketing goals that can be quantified and measured. Rather than improving the company website, aim to improve website traffic by 10% and conversions by 15%. With numbers added, checking your progress and determining exactly how close you are to meeting your goal becomes much easier.

When building your marketing strategy, setting deadlines alongside your goals is key. How will you know if you are making progress without a due date? Consider the website example above, which mentions improving web traffic by 10%. As it is written, the goal could be met at any time and still be considered a success!

For true growth, indicate a timeframe. As you get closer to that date, you can check your progress and make adjustments if you aren’t gaining the traction you need in the allotted time.

Keep Your Budget in Mind

Although it’s essential, marketing is only one part of a company’s budget. Staffing, materials, technology, and overhead are all part of the balance sheet as well. It’s critical to consider what you can achieve with the resources you have, including time, staff, and budget. While marketing goals can be ambitious, they should also be realistic. A small non-profit may be unable to afford a media placement that costs thousands of dollars of media placement. Likewise, a two-person start-up can’t undertake a massive event marketing campaign that requires available staff. Success will look different for every business, so set goals that won’t overtax your budget or your team.

Connect with Leadership

We’ve all had the experience of pitching an idea to someone who was not as enthusiastic about it as we were! Help mitigate that response by connecting with leadership before setting your marketing goals.

Because leadership is responsible for directing the organization’s mission, vision, and values, they are always looking at what should be done. Having a solid understanding of your boss’s point of view can ensure you stay on the right track when setting marketing goals.

Green Apple: Your Partner in Goal Setting

Goal setting is a critical step in developing any successful marketing campaign. Green Apple Strategy can help you put the right plan in motion to meet your marketing goals. Our team has experience setting strategic goals, executing tactics, measuring progress, and shifting when needed to ensure the best possible outcome.

We invite you to learn more about how our strategic solutions and services can help your business grow.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Event Marketing: Lessons Learned from Our Experiences

There’s nothing quite like an event to boost enthusiasm and excitement around your brand. Virtual and in-person events each serve a unique purpose for connecting with your target audience. While events are effective, they can also consume a lot of staff time and financial resources.

Effective event marketing strategies can help you get the best return on your investment. Using our experience as professional marketers and event planners, our team at Green Apple Strategy has put together a list of practical tips to ensure your next event is successful.

The Do’s

Do Set Goals (and a Budget!)

When it comes to strategic event planning, always begin with the end in mind. Before you set a date, reserve a venue, or book entertainment, you must determine the goal of the event. Is it to position your brand as a stakeholder in the community? Is it to tell a story about your brand? Or is it to generate leads and make sales?

Once you set your goal, be sure to set your budget. Your event will look very different if you have a $5,000 budget versus a $50,000 one.

Knowing the answer to these questions—and staying true to them—will guide you when making choices about venue, food, entertainment, marketing, and more. It will set you down the path of pulling off a successful, cohesive event that meets your strategic goals.

Do Amplify Partnerships

Most events require partnerships with third-party vendors and sponsors such as entertainment, catering, AV equipment, corporations, and more. Capitalize on these partnerships by highlighting them on social media or in a company email newsletter. Showcasing your business as a collaborative brand is great PR because it demonstrates your involvement and investment in your local community. Additionally, tagging these vendors in your social media posts can expose you to new audiences.

Do Use Text and Email

In today’s multi-channel, digital world, you have to meet your audience where they are. This means connecting with them on their phone and in their email inboxes through personalized, well-thought-out, and well-timed text messages and emails. Text messages are a great way to send key event information that doesn’t require a lot of copy. At the same time, an email drip campaign can spark interest and move your target audience to attend.

The Don’ts

Don’t Limit Your Focus to Ticket Sales

Yes, you want to sell tickets to your event. Besides, you can’t have an event if no one comes! However, be careful not to focus your messaging only on ticket sales. Your audience needs to know where to buy tickets, but they also may be interested in what to wear, nearby hotels, or participating vendors. The purpose of all of your event-related content will be to drive ticket sales, even if some of it takes a more subtle approach.

Don’t Set It and Forget It

We love strategy so much that we included the word in the name of our business! But just because you have a strategy doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible if needed. When marketing your event, be sure to pay attention to all the analytics you have access to. Some numbers to look at are email open rates and click-through rates, social media impressions, and engagement levels. If you aren’t getting the desired results, adjust your approach to capture greater interest from your target audience.

Don’t Forget to Follow Up

Congratulations! Your event is over, and your work is done! Well, almost. Post-event follow-up offers another opportunity to connect with your target audience. In fact, it’s so important that we consider it one of our best practices for event planning! After the event wraps, send out surveys to gather meaningful feedback that can be used to assess the event’s success and plan future gatherings. You can also use this time to connect with new leads and thank vendors and sponsors to further deepen your working relationships.

Get Started on Your Next Event

Ninety-five percent of marketers believe that in-person events can have a positive impact on achieving their company’s goals. Green Apple Strategy understands that events can boost awareness, community connections, and revenue. But we also know they can take time, resources, and staff to pull off.

Our team is here to help! Reach out to us today, and let’s talk about the benefits that the right special event can bring to your business.

From Chaos to Clarity: How Process-driven Operations Keeps Marketing on Track

Everyone who’s worked in marketing knows what it’s like when things don’t go according to plan. It could come in the form of a last-minute request from a client or realizing you need to rush ship an important resource to an upcoming industry tradeshow. There are days — sometimes seasons — that feel like your marketing job description should include being a part-time firefighter. While you may not be able to completely prevent chaotic moments, having a process-driven approach to putting out fires and staying on track with responsibilities can ensure you (and your marketing team) can keep moving forward with clarity and confidence.

Recognizing there will be chaotic moments and proactively developing a plan to address them is one of the most important lessons we’ve learned over the past decade at Green Apple.

The Most Common Chaos Creators for Marketing Teams

Here are a few of the most common disruptors that marketing teams and agencies must learn how to navigate:

1. Last-Minute Requests

Every company has sudden requests from other departments or higher-ups that require immediate attention. These can obviously disrupt planned marketing activities and require an extra measure of attention and focus. To navigate last-minute requests, it is helpful to have a system in place for prioritizing and tracking them and to be clear with stakeholders about expectations and deadlines.

2. Lack of Clear Objectives or Change in Direction

When marketing teams lack clear goals and objectives, they may struggle to prioritize tasks and may get sidetracked by less important activities. That’s why it’s essential to establish clear marketing goals that align with your overall business objectives. In some cases, new opportunities may arise or your company might change directions on a particular product or go-to-market strategy. In these cases, there may be opportunities to pivot your marketing without abandoning your entire strategy.

3. Technology Issues

Technology difficulties can create an enormous amount of disruption in your day-to-day activities. Technical glitches or failures with marketing tools and platforms can disrupt campaigns and lead to chaos. As a hybrid marketing agency, we’ve had the opportunity to learn how to manage our workload virtually to stay connected and productive. Every person on the team knows what to do if technology issues occur and how to implement a backup plan if communication tools aren’t working.

4. Human Error

Even the best-laid plans can go awry due to human error. It could be anything from a typo in a press release to a missed deadline. That’s why it’s important to have clear processes and procedures in place for catching and correcting errors. It is also important to create a culture of accountability and transparency, where team members feel comfortable admitting their mistakes and learning from them.

Process-Driven Best Practices to Keep Marketing on Track

Here are some helpful best practices that a marketing agency could implement to create a process-oriented approach. Implementing some of these approaches can help keep things running smoothly.

1. Create your marketing plan with involvement from key stakeholders.

Every good marketer starts with strategy. But one of the ways to prevent many of the stressful back-and-forth or navigating changes of direction is to involve key stakeholders to shape your marketing strategy as you build it. This has become an essential part of our approach to building marketing strategies for our clients over the years.

2. Establish clear workflows for status meetings and specific deliverables.

One of the most important factors for a successful business and agency partnership is defining clear and documented workflows for different marketing activities. This includes outlining roles, responsibilities, and timelines for expected deliverables. It’s important to ensure everyone on the team understands and follows these processes.

3. Set realistic deadlines.

Saying “yes” to every request is one of the quickest ways to derail your marketing efforts. As you identify new marketing ideas and make a plan to execute them, you want to ensure that deadlines are reasonable and achievable. Managers should avoid overloading the team with too many tasks within a short time frame.

4. Implement a foolproof quality control system.

An important part of marketing project management is implementing thorough quality control processes to catch and rectify errors before campaigns or projects go live. One of the benefits of working with a marketing agency is that they often have proven quality control measures in place — primarily because of the volume of campaigns we’re running at any given time.

5. Have a backup plan for emergencies.

There will always be situations or scenarios that are completely out of your control. It could be a major PR crisis or a single social media comment that needs to be addressed. Whatever the scenario, it’s crucial to develop clear protocols for handling last-minute crises before they occur. You should also designate a point person who is responsible for evaluating the appropriate action plan and prioritizing the next steps.

6. Use project management tools.

Technology provides a variety of tools that enhance our communication and collaboration. At Green Apple, most of our days are spent collaborating in Google, Basecamp, and Airtable. These tools can help our team track progress, manage deadlines, and communicate with team members.

7. Maintain documentation of your processes.

Well-documented processes can help to prevent errors by ensuring that all of the necessary steps are taken. It also helps when onboarding new team members and provides a reference point for resolving issues. Based on our experience, we’ve learned that it’s essential to document your processes for areas like campaign planning, content creation, social media management, email marketing, campaign evaluation, and website management.

8. Be flexible.

While processes are essential, it’s also important to cultivate flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances or seize unexpected opportunities. Things don’t always go according to plan, so be prepared to make adjustments as needed.

Minimize the Marketing Chaos with Green Apple Strategy

At Green Apple, we’re proud of our track record for helping clients take advantage of new opportunities while minimizing chaos and disruption to their daily operations. We have a deep understanding of the changing marketing landscape and know how to help our clients stay ahead of the curve. We also have a team of experienced and dedicated professionals who are passionate about helping our clients succeed.

If you’re ready to build momentum through an effective marketing approach, you can learn more about our process or schedule a consultation with our team.

From Story to Strategy: Leveraging Your Brand Narrative in Marketing Campaigns

In today’s crowded marketplace, it’s more important than ever for businesses to have a strong brand story. A well-told brand story can help companies connect with their target audience emotionally, build trust and credibility, and ultimately drive sales. From our experience, creating your brand story is the easy part. Weaving it into your marketing campaigns in a way that shares a consistent message and creates an emotional connection with your audience is more complicated.

At Green Apple, we understand the challenges of building a solid brand identity and connecting with your customers on a deeper level. A few months ago, we took a deep dive into how to develop a memorable brand story. In this article, we’re moving from idea to implementation by unpacking the valuable best practices for communicating your brand narrative throughout your marketing efforts.

How to Use Brand Storytelling in Your Marketing Campaigns

Be Consistent

Once your brand story is in place, the challenge becomes integrating it into your marketing efforts. Consistency is key here. Whether you’re creating social media posts, email newsletters, or full-blown ad campaigns, be sure to weave a consistent brand narrative throughout. This doesn’t mean telling the same story repeatedly but finding creative ways to reinforce the core message and values that define your brand.

In addition to your overall voice, tone, and messaging, use consistent visual branding elements as well. This includes using the same colors, fonts, and design elements across all campaigns. Visual continuity reinforces your brand’s identity and narrative, making it instantly recognizable to your audience.

Client Example: Silicon Ranch, one of the fastest-growing developers, owners, and operators of solar energy plants in the U.S., recognized the need to strengthen its branding to reflect its position as an industry leader. They also wanted to elevate their digital presence. We partnered with them to execute a comprehensive brand refresh, design a new website, and plan a trade show event to help them stand out in the competitive solar market. A key focus throughout the project was maintaining consistency across every platform and channel—from the visual design of the website to the messaging used in trade show materials—ensuring a cohesive and recognizable brand experience at every touchpoint.

Tailor Your Story to Meet Different Personas Where They Are

While consistency is crucial, it’s equally important to adapt your brand narrative to suit the preferences and needs of your target audience. Every audience is unique, and what resonates with one group might not work for another. As a marketing agency, we recognize the importance of understanding your audience’s demographics, pain points, and aspirations. By tailoring your brand narrative to address these specifics, you create a more personalized and engaging experience.

Client Example: As a long-time marketing partner of The Gardner School (TGS), we’ve had the privilege of helping them launch several locations in new cities and markets. For each new school, we take the time to develop specific target personas and tailored messaging based on the unique needs and challenges of families in that area. For example, when launching a new location in an urban setting, we emphasize the convenience of extended hours and proximity to workplaces, while in suburban markets, we focus more on community involvement and enrichment programs. We carefully balance these localized messages with TGS’s overarching brand narrative to ensure consistency across all locations while meeting each audience where they are.

Tell Your Story Through Meaningful Experiences

Marketing campaigns that truly resonate aren’t just informative; they’re immersive. This could include unforgettable event marketing or surprise and delight campaigns. You can also tell your brand story through digital experiences such as engaging videos such as YouTube Shorts or user-generated content campaigns that encourage active participation. These experiences reinforce your brand narrative and make your audience feel like an integral part of the story.

Client Example: We recently had the opportunity to help Crain Construction celebrate their 90th anniversary. To honor their legacy, we created an event that reflected their brand story by highlighting the people who shape their relationship-driven culture while celebrating their commitment to craftsmanship. The event was held at one of their standout projects, the Ferrari Dealership in Nashville, blending storytelling with an immersive brand experience.

Test, Iterate, and Stay Adaptable

While consistency is important, don’t be afraid to adapt your brand narrative as your business evolves. Regularly assess how effectively your marketing campaigns are communicating your brand narrative. Collect feedback and analyze metrics to understand what’s working and what needs improvement. You can use these insights to refine your approach in future campaigns. As you introduce new products, services, or values, ensure your brand story remains relevant and aligned with these changes.

Client Example: While working with CaringWays on their initial brand identity and website, the team identified a new opportunity to partner with companies and healthcare organizations, offering their platform as an employee benefit. This shift was a game-changer, requiring agility and close collaboration to evolve their brand narrative. We quickly adapted their messaging to reflect this new direction, ensuring it resonated with both corporate partners and healthcare providers.

Tell a Story that Resonates

Your business can build trust, credibility, and loyalty by telling a compelling story that resonates with your audience. These are fundamental factors for driving sales and achieving your marketing goals.

If you’re looking for help crafting a brand story that will resonate with your audience, we’d love to connect. Our team can help you identify your brand’s unique story, develop a compelling narrative, and create marketing campaigns to help you share that story with the world.

You can learn more about our strategic planning services, get a behind-the-scenes look at our process, or reach out to our team to schedule a time to chat.

Marketing Outside of the Office: 5 Ways to Be A Successful Marketer Without Being Stuck at a Desk

Can you be a marketer without working a traditional 9-5? The answer is a resounding “YES!” Today, more and more marketers are finding success—for their careers and for the brands they represent—without spending all day behind a desk.

Modern, untraditional marketing initiatives take many forms, including influencer, affiliate, guerilla, stealth, and street. I’ll unpack each of those in this blog post so you can learn more about how the marketing landscape is changing to include new techniques that largely occur outside of the office.

Influencer Marketing

If you’ve spent time on social media, you’ve encountered influencer marketing. This type of marketing is highly effective, relying on endorsements and product mentions from individuals with a dedicated social following who are viewed as experts within their niche.

For example, a popular fitness vlogger may be asked to post a video on TikTok promoting certain supplements or athletic gear. She then creates content around the product and shares it with thousands or even millions of followers. Because they already trust her expertise, they will be more likely to purchase the product she is advertising.

Influencer marketing is effective because it relies on the relationships the influencer has previously established with her audience. Instead of the brand building trust with the audience directly, the influencer’s endorsement does that for them, quickly creating a bridge between the audience and the brand.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing refers to sharing a link to a good or service on your website or blog and earning a commission each time someone purchases the product from that shared link.

This type of marketing involves little to no startup costs, as most affiliate programs are free to join. Plus, there are several different paths to choose from as you’re getting started, including promoting your link in search results or through email marketing, developing your own influencer program, or creating a website based on product reviews or coupons.

Guerilla Marketing

Less intense than its namesake guerilla warfare, guerilla marketing relies on the element of surprise to create wonder and awe in the day-to-day lives of potential consumers, both in person or online. It requires less upfront costs than many traditional marketing methods. But, what guerilla marketing lacks in costs, it makes up for in hands-on execution and creativity.

Consider Bounty’s surprise gigantic messes in the streets of New York City – think an oversized popsicle and a huge spilled coffee cup – to advertise the effectiveness of the paper towels. Out-of-the-box ideas like this are noticeable and thought-provoking, meeting potential buyers where they are and leaving a memorable and positive impression.

Stealth Marketing

In contrast to guerilla marketing’s eye-catching techniques, stealth marketing aims to fly under the radar. Brands want to showcase a product or service, but in a more indirect campaign that drives awareness more than sales.

A popular form of stealth marketing is product placement (i.e. when a product is strategically placed in a T.V. show or movie). However, it can also occur via reviews, company partnerships, and web content produced or endorsed by a third party. The most important part of a stealth marketing campaign, or any marketing campaign, is to be genuine or risk ruining your reputation.

When done well, stealth marketing can create excitement and conversation around a brand. It can make a brand more memorable and help potential customers feel empowered in purchasing decisions.

Street Marketing

Street marketing is the close cousin of guerilla marketing. Like guerilla marketing, effective street marketing can be accomplished on a low budget if it’s big on creativity.

A key difference is that while guerilla marketing occurs in person and online, street marketing is limited to just that: the street and other public places like sidewalks and transit stations.

Street marketing includes tactics like placing static ads in unexpected places, such as an ad for Roto-Rooter on a manhole cover or using enthusiastic brand ambassadors to pass out product samples.

Develop the Best Marketing Strategy

Our team at Green Apple has years of experience developing modern strategies for brands throughout the United States. If you’re ready to move your marketing outside of the office, reach out and let our team put together a plan that will stop your audience in their tracks.

How to Audit Your Digital Marketing Strategy

You’ve invested time, energy, and resources into your digital marketing strategy. But how do you know if it’s actually working? Are you seeing the results you expected? Are you falling behind competitors despite your best efforts? These are the questions that many small to mid-size business owners ask themselves as they navigate the ever-changing digital landscape.

At Green Apple Strategy, we believe developing data-driven strategies and keeping tabs on the latest marketing trends is essential. No matter the size of your brand or how successful your current strategies seem, marketing is always evolving. Regular audits help you stay ahead of the competition, adapt to digital marketing trends, and ensure you’re getting the best return on your investment.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the why, when, how, and what of digital marketing audits. We’ll also share insights we’ve gained from over a decade of experience working with businesses in nearly every industry.

What is a Digital Marketing Audit?

A digital marketing audit is a comprehensive review of all the strategies, tactics, and channels your business uses to promote itself online. It provides an overarching view of your digital presence and helps determine whether your current marketing efforts align with your business goals.

A good audit doesn’t just highlight what’s working—it also uncovers gaps, inefficiencies, and opportunities for growth. By regularly evaluating your digital strategy, you can make data-driven decisions to maximize marketing success.

Why Are Audits Important?

Digital trends shift constantly—almost as quickly as a viral TikTok challenge. What worked last quarter might not be effective today. That’s why conducting regular audits is crucial. Here’s how an audit can benefit your business:

Keep Up with Industry Changes: Marketing platforms frequently update their algorithms, best practices, and audience behaviors. Without regular audits, your strategy can quickly become outdated.
Optimize Performance: Audits reveal what’s working and what’s not, helping you refine your approach to improve engagement, conversions, and ROI.
Outperform Competitors: Benchmarking your efforts against competitors can uncover opportunities to gain a competitive edge.
Ensure Data Accuracy: By assessing analytics and tracking methods, you can ensure your decisions are based on reliable data.

For example, in a recent mid-year audit, we noticed that changing the size and type of social media graphics for a client significantly boosted their engagement—simply because we adapted to shifting platform algorithms.

When Should You Conduct a Digital Marketing Audit?

The frequency of audits depends on how heavily your business relies on digital marketing. However, we recommend assessing your efforts at least quarterly or mid-year. Digital marketing moves fast, and regular check-ins help you pivot quickly.

Here’s a good rule of thumb to consider:

Quarterly audits help fine-tune tactics and make small adjustments.
Mid-year audits allow for bigger shifts in strategy.

Annual audits provide a broad overview and long-term planning insights.

How to Conduct a Comprehensive Digital Marketing Audit

A digital marketing audit takes a deep dive into your online presence, analyzing what’s working, what’s not, and where you can improve. Here’s how to get started.

Your Website: Is It Helping or Hurting Your Brand?

The first step in a digital audit is to take a good look at your website. It’s often the first impression potential customers get of your business, and 75% of a website’s credibility comes from its design. Ask yourself: Is it easy to navigate? Does it load quickly? Is the messaging clear and compelling? A well-structured, user-friendly website helps turn visitors into leads, so make sure yours is working for you, not against you.

Here are a couple of resources as you start looking at your website:

SEO Check-Up: Are You Ranking or Sinking?

Next, audit your SEO. Search engines are constantly evolving, and your strategy needs to keep up. Review your keyword rankings, meta titles and descriptions, and on-page content to ensure it all aligns with current best practices. Check for broken links, slow load times, and mobile responsiveness—Google prioritizes sites that offer a smooth user experience. The goal is simple: make it as easy as possible for your audience to find you.

These resources can help get a better understanding of your approach to SEO:

Content Marketing: Is Your Content a Conversation Starter or a Snoozefest?

Now, let’s talk content marketing. A solid content strategy should attract, engage, and retain potential customers. Take a step back and analyze which blogs, videos, or case studies are performing best. What topics resonate with your audience? Which pieces drive the most traffic? If some content isn’t pulling its weight, consider repurposing or optimizing it based on your findings. The key is to create content that adds value and aligns with your business goals.

Here are a few resources our team has created to help you audit your content marketing efforts:

Social Media: Are You Winning the Feed or Getting Lost in the Scroll?

Social media is another major player in your digital strategy, so give it a thorough review. Are you posting consistently? Are your engagement rates where you want them to be? Look at which platforms are driving the most interaction and consider shifting your focus accordingly. Social media algorithms change frequently, so staying adaptable is key to keeping your brand visible.

These resources can help you evaluate and enhance your social media efforts:

Email Marketing: Are Your Emails Getting Opened or Ignored?

Finally, don’t forget about email marketing. Despite being one of the oldest digital marketing channels, email still delivers impressive ROI—when done right. Audit your open rates, click-through rates, and conversion metrics for the best chance of success. If engagement is low, test different subject lines, adjust your send times, or evaluate your email automation journeys for customers. The more personalized and relevant your emails are, the better they’ll perform.

Here are a few tips, tools, and tricks to take your email marketing efforts to the next level:

A comprehensive digital marketing audit is about uncovering opportunities. By regularly evaluating these core areas, you can fine-tune your strategy, stay ahead of trends, and ensure your marketing efforts are driving real results.

The Value of a Deep Dive & Diverse Perspectives

At Green Apple Strategy, we believe a marketing audit should be a team effort. That’s why our audit process involves multiple experts, each bringing a unique perspective to the table.

In addition to our full-time team, we collaborate with specialized freelancers—our network known as “The Orchard”—to ensure that every aspect of the audit is analyzed with expertise. Our collaborative approach provides a holistic view of your marketing strategy and delivers actionable insights tailored to your business.

Ready to Take Your Digital Marketing to the Next Level?

A well-executed digital marketing audit is a strategic advantage. By regularly assessing your efforts, you can stay ahead of trends, improve performance, and ensure your marketing strategy aligns with your business goals.

If you’re ready for a fresh perspective on your digital marketing efforts, our team at Green Apple Strategy is here to help. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and start optimizing your marketing strategy for success!