How Businesses Can Use TikTok for Marketing

Photo of a phone on TikTok's TikTok profile on the screen

There’s no denying that TikTok has become the social media platform that’s garnished the most attention within the past couple of years. And it looks like it will continue to be one of the B2B social media trends in 2023 that businesses should consider. Whether you personally love it or hate it, business leaders and marketers are wrestling with the question, “Does our company need to be on TikTok?” 

As with any social media platform, investing in TikTok for marketing really comes down to whether it can help you reach and cultivate relationships with your potential customers. It’s also important to note that TikTok will continue to change and evolve as more innovations roll out, so you’ll have to stay updated on the changes to this platform.

4 Ways Businesses Can Use TikTok for Marketing

As we’ve worked alongside clients to determine how they can use TikTok for marketing, we’ve found a few helpful tactics that seem to work best for businesses. If you’re looking for a way to leverage TikTok for your brand, here are a few ideas to consider based on the latest trends: 

1. Post Educational Content 

TikTok can be a great way to educate current and potential customers with helpful insights about your products, services, or industry. According to Vidyard’s 2021 Video Benchmarks report, the most common types of business videos are product demos, followed by how-tos and explainers. Because of its visual nature, TikTok provides a way for you to create informational videos at a relatively low cost. You don’t have to invest in expensive cameras or editing software if you have someone with an engaging personality who is good at keeping people’s attention and teaching your audience. 

2. Find Your Target Audience 

One of the unique features of TikTok is the subcultures and threads that have been created around specific industries and areas of interest. For example, #BookTok and #MoneyTok are two distinct subcultures that make it easy for users to connect with like-minded people who share their interests and passions. One of the best ways to reach new customers on TikTok might be to invest time in developing a presence in a particular subculture that aligns with your business or industry. 

3. Invest in Influencer Marketing 

Sometimes the best TikTok strategy isn’t creating your own content but instead partnering with influencers who have already built an audience. The platform has proven to be a creative incubator for rising thought leaders and industry influencers. If you recognize that there is potential in reaching your target audience on TikTok, but you don’t have the time or resources to launch your own channel, it’s worth exploring how to identify and connect with influencers to promote your brand.  

4. Share “Behind-the-Scenes” Content 

In addition to providing the opportunity to educate customers, TikTok is also a social media platform that can humanize your brand. While every social media platform was created to help humans connect with one another, content that businesses create for Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter can still feel very corporate and sterile. In many ways, TikTok opens the door to reconnecting with your audience in a way that feels authentic and not overly formal. You might consider sharing “behind the scenes” content for your brand or creating a “day in the life” video that features an employee. You can also collaborate with current customers or community members to feature their videos on your profile.

Social Media Best Practices when Using TikTok for Marketing

As with any social media platform, it’s important to understand what makes marketing on TikTok effective. Here are a few basic best practices to follow when creating videos for TikTok: 

1. Make sure your content is authentic and represents your brand.

Becoming a thought leader in your industry requires authenticity and approachability, but don’t take yourself too seriously. Humorous, light, fun content works really well on TikTok. 

2. Engage with your followers so they feel valued. 

One way to increase engagement is to interact with your audience directly on the platform. People love to feel valued and heard.

3. Use data to consistently evaluate your investment. 

While you may not experience instant success, it’s important to always ask yourself, “Is this helping us work towards our larger marketing goals and objectives?” Asking the right questions to evaluate your social media content is an important way to make sure you’re maximizing your ROI.  

4. Test often to see what works and what doesn’t. 

You may be surprised by which ideas work and which ones fall flat. Don’t be afraid to experiment. 

While we don’t recommend TikTok to every client, it might be the best way for your business to get outside of your comfort zone this year. Once you’re ready to dive in, don’t forget to use TikTok Analytics to evaluate the success of your social media strategy and identify the type of content that can get you the greatest results.

B2B Social Media Trends for 2023

Phone with Instagram Aanalytics on the Screen

B2B marketing is often a complex and complicated practice. This can especially be true when it comes to social media. As the social media landscape has evolved over the years, B2B marketers have to determine which social media approaches  to implement and which to leave out. As we look towards 2023, B2B marketers will still need wisdom when it comes to deciding how to use social media to connect with customers.

Before we get into the trends, it’s important to remember a key principle: Consider social media marketing trends carefully and identify the best platforms to engage customers and foster customer relationships. Does your company need TikTok? Maybe. You should only be on a platform if it helps you connect with your customers. 

Here are a few social media trends for 2023 to be mindful of: 

Trend #1: User-generated content continues to produce engagement. 

Sharing content from customers or followers has become an increasingly popular tactic because of social media’s increasing role in cross-channel B2B marketing. This content is known as user-generated content (UGC). Currently, 85% of consumers find UGC more influential than branded content. This includes testimonials, case studies, reviews, or other assets produced by your customers. 

So how do you go about obtaining and sharing user-generated content? Here are a few ideas for reaching out for testimonials or content ideas from customers. 

Trend #2: Find creative and unique ways to partner with influencers.

One of the biggest B2C trends that made its way into B2B successfully has been influencer marketing. But identifying the right influencers to partner with is essential. The good news, especially for B2B marketers, is that you don’t need to find an influencer with millions of followers. Instead, consider the voices in your industry that customers trust. Don’t discount the importance of micro-influencers.

Trend #3: Continue to create shorter, more visual content. 

The average human has an attention span of just 8.25 seconds, according to recent studies – 4.25 seconds less than it was in 2000. This is evident if you take one look at your social media feeds. 

At Green Apple, we’ve been exploring ways to create shorter, more visual content for our clients. The social infographics we’ve created have generated significant increases in reach and engagement. 

Trend #4: Be strategic with your social advertising budget.

As attention on social platforms becomes increasingly competitive, paid advertising will play a more significant role in B2B social media marketing in 2023. According to recent studies, 84% of B2B marketers use paid social for their content marketing efforts.

Most businesses still have a limited social media advertising budget, so it’s important to invest your money wisely. The good news is that you can be incredibly targeted with your ad spend on popular B2B platforms. As you advertise on platforms like LinkedIn, be sure to use targeted ads based on data like location, industry, company, and job title.

Trend #5: Focus on metrics that matter. 

Measuring social media efforts has always been important, but determining the true impact of social media is key. Measuring the right metrics is key. In addition to tracking metrics such as follower growth, engagement, and reach—consider the more qualitative insights such as relationships that have been developed or customers that have been served through social media. 

New B2B social media marketing trends surface every year. Some trends have been there for a long time but have evolved. As a B2B marketer, you need to be prepared and ready to adapt to new changes in your industry. Hopefully, this post helps you get up to speed!

How to use SEO Best Practices to Get More YouTube Views

Video is no longer just another tactic to help you get the most out of your content marketing. It has become an absolute must if you’re serious about getting your product or service in front of the right people. According to a recent Hubspot report, video was the most commonly used form of content marketing in 2021, overtaking blogs and infographics.  However, simply creating videos doesn’t mean your customers will find or watch them. Developing a strategy to increase YouTube views is just as important as creating videos. This is where understanding YouTube SEO best practices come in handy. YouTube SEO, as the name suggests, is optimizing your videos to rank higher on the YouTube search engine. 

4 SEO Tips to Get More YouTube Views

If you’re looking for a way to increase your YouTube views, here are four SEO best practices as you add and upload your videos:
1. Incorporate Keywords Strategically
Keywords play a valuable role in any SEO campaign. Whether you’re optimizing your website or uploading videos, identifying the right SEO keywords for your business is the first step. When it comes to YouTube, there are several places you want to strategically incorporate keywords for your videos. You want to include your keyword in the video title, description, tags, and file name. It’s helpful to identify one or two main words that describe your video and feature them prominently in your description and title.
2. Add a Custom Thumbnail Image, Cards, and End Screens to Your Video 
The video itself also plays a key role in SEO for YouTube. A custom thumbnail image for your video can make a drastic difference in the click-through rate.  Cards and end screens are also helpful images to create and add to your video. YouTube cards are preformatted notifications that encourage people to take desired actions during your video. End screens appear after a video finishes and tell a viewer what they can do next. Both cards and end screens can optimize the viewing experience and encourage viewers to watch another video or take further action when they’ve finished.
3. Use Subtitles in Your Video
Using subtitles and closed captions is another tip for success in YouTube search. Both subtitles and closed-caption files contain the text from the video in a transcript. This is where using keywords while talking is important. By including keywords in your video and adding subtitles, you’re able to reach our audience and increase your rankings. Make sure you provide accurate captions and subtitles and don’t indulge in keyword stuffing.
4. Creating Engagement and Ask for Comments to Increase Rankings
Engagement is one of the biggest factors in your video rankings. Comments on videos also appear to be an influential ranking factor. As you create your videos, consider how you might ask for feedback or comments. Another thing you can do to increase engagement is directly replying to comments on your videos. Responding and creating a dialogue will help you create a community from the ground up.  All these components may seem a bit complicated, but they’re incredibly easy to deploy. Remember: there’s a huge audience on YouTube, and when you optimize your videos for YouTube, you also increase your chances of your brand reaching your target demographic. Discover our unique approach to helping small businesses optimize their SEO efforts through Green Apple’s SEO Silo.

7 Ways to Elevate Your Personal LinkedIn Profile

There’s no denying that LinkedIn is one of the most powerful social media platforms for marketers and business development professionals. If you’re a B2B brand, LinkedIn is no longer an optional platform. With more than 310 million monthly active users, it’s becoming harder to cut through the noise. The good news is that it doesn’t take a lot of time or energy to elevate your personal LinkedIn profile. 

7 Ways to Elevate Your Personal LinkedIn Profile

Taking the time to encourage employees to optimize their personal LinkedIn profiles can make a tremendous difference for your company. As we’ve helped clients optimize LinkedIn as a marketing tool, here are a few tactics we encourage them to pass along to their employees:   
  1. Create a Compelling Headline
LinkedIn provides an opportunity for people to quickly explain what they do at the top of their profile. While most people use this as another way to highlight their job title, it can be a quick and easy way to boost your profile’s impact. Think about your headline as a way to explain your current role, what it means to you, and how you could help someone who might be visiting your profile. 
  1. Focus on your Impact in your Descriptions
Your description is often the second place people look to learn more about you. This is another opportunity to be intentional about capturing attention. Rather than summarizing your resume, think about what people might want to know. How have you made an impact in your industry? What are some specific ways you help people? Answering these questions in your description is a great way to make your profile stand out from the general descriptions that most people write. 
  1. ​​Regularly Post Engaging Content 
LinkedIn marketing requires consistency, creativity, and originality. Take a look at your LinkedIn home page and evaluate the posts that receive the most engagement. Most likely, it’s an interesting mix of helpful insights, personal updates, and engaging questions. While you don’t need to post on LinkedIn every day, it’s important to share updates if you want to maintain a high engagement rate on LinkedIn.
  1. Add Awards or Accomplishments
Bragging on social media can sometimes get a bad rap. But taking time to highlight your awards or accomplishments can be an effective marketing tactic, especially for sales professionals. You want your prospects to know that you’re capable of getting them the results they’re looking for. LinkedIn provides a natural place for you to highlight your awards and accomplishments without seeming overly boastful. 
  1. Ask for Recommendations 
Recommendations are key to making your LinkedIn profile stand out. Employers and potential business partners want to know that you have a positive reputation and that others have benefited from your work. Think of one or two customers who might validate your work and ask them to write a quick recommendation. Consider writing on their profile to help them out as well. 
  1. Strategically Use Hashtags to Expand Your Reach 
Hashtags are a completely underused feature of Linkedin. These short phrases do more than summarize what your particular post is about. They’re also a way to connect with other people who are interested in that topic. Best practices say to use about three to five hashtags per LinkedIn post and ensure they’re all relevant to the topic.
  1. Interact with Content in Your Industry
Are you following leaders in your industry? Keeping up with individuals who post thought-provoking content is a great way to discover and connect with others in your industry. It also enables you to stay on top of industry trends and share relevant information with other prospects. 

Leverage LinkedIn for Personal and Professional Growth

LinkedIn is a powerful sales and marketing tool that’s easy to use. If you’re looking for a way to optimize your profile or your employee’s profile, consider using LinkedIn’s Profile Level Meter to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your profile. Then, take some time to check out some lessons we learned from doubling Green Apple’s LinkedIn profile presence.

How to Become a Thought Leader in Your Industry

Climbers approaching mountaintop

Becoming a “thought leader” is an elusive goal that many business leaders and executives strive for. While some people may think of it as just another marketing buzzword, the reality of having a positive reputation for helping others with your knowledge and insight is important for every business leader.

We’ve been sharing content on thought leadership for years. The channels might have changed, but the opportunity to become a thought leader in your industry is just as possible today. 

Can Anyone Become a Thought Leader?

Before we dive into how to become a thought leader, let’s address a common misconception we hear from people: “I don’t have the time or connections to become a thought leader in the industry.”

While becoming a thought leader takes time and intentionality, the reality is that anyone can become a thought leader in their specific industry or niche. All you need is a willingness to do the work of codifying what you know and have the patience to build momentum over time.

4 Best Practices to Become a Thought Leader in Your Industry

So how do you become a thought leader? Here are a few simple best practices we encourage our clients to consider: 

  1. Stick with Your Message

The most effective thought leaders are known because they stick to a specific message. This makes it easier for people to discern what they do and why they’re doing it. Think about the key message you want to share, one that you would want to maintain as a consistent plumbline over the years. If you’re having trouble determining your unique message, you might want to consider the next point. 

  1. Discern Your Niche 

While you’re thinking about your brand, finish this sentence: The kind of presence I want to have when helping others is ____________________. The thought leaders who make the greatest impact are those who are committed to helping others achieve their goals. Think about what makes you unique and how you can leverage that as you develop your platform.

What’s your unique personality? Are you a generous encourager who wants to champion people in their work? Or are you a disrupter of the status quo who loves to challenge assumptions?

Are you better at providing long, drawn-out explanations? Or are you good at creating quick one-liners that get people thinking? Would you be open to speaking in public, or do you shrink at the idea?

Understanding your unique gifts and strengths will help you determine the way you build your thought leadership platform.

  1. Choose the Right Platform  

If you want to get the most out of your thought leadership content, it’s important to consider how your audience consumes what you share.  To create the greatest impact, you need to meet your audience on the channels they use (social, email, etc.) with the type of content they prefer (written, audio, video). Don’t be afraid to use a mix of platforms and content types as you’re discerning this. The level of engagement you see can help you discern where your audience is and how they prefer to interact with your brand. 

  1. Share Genuine, Authentic Reflections

The thought leaders we celebrate most aren’t the ones who know it all, but the ones who show us they’re human and that they care. As you consider what to share, don’t be afraid to show your humanity by highlighting mistakes you’ve made and lessons you’ve learned. 

  1. Embrace (Effective) Storytelling 

Storytelling should be at the heart of every piece of thought leadership content you create. Telling a story engages your audience by giving them a specific example with measurable stakes. Stories also help your audience understand how your company’s products and services could help them solve a problem. It’s important to tell stories your customers actually want to hear. If your audience can’t see themselves in your brand’s story, it won’t resonate with them.  

Position Your Brand as An Industry Leader 

When it comes to becoming a thought leader, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. However, these tips will help you develop a strategy you can use to reach more people. Any effort will be worth it as it gives you a chance to help others, build your audience and grow your business. For more help positioning your brand as an industry leader, reach out to us to schedule a strategy session. 

Does Your Company Need TikTok?

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

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

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

Consider TikTok If Your Brand Is Highly Visual 

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

Consider TikTok if Quick Tips are your Go To 

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

Consider TikTok if You Could Benefit From Influencer Marketing

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

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

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

How to Turn Customer Reviews into Solid Marketing Content

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If you have raving fans, it’s great to let potential leads know it! Customers take online reviews seriously, and the role it plays in consumer decisions continues to increase. Research from BrightLocal shows just how seriously potential customers take online reviews. 84% percent of buyers give online reviews the same weight in decision making as personal referrals.  Online reviews are now starting to eclipse referral-based business. as Northwestern University finds that consumers are 270% more likely to buy a product or service with 5 positive reviews than a product or service with no reviews. That’s hugely significant! In order to harness the power of these reviews, use them in your marketing efforts to increase consumer trust and boost sales.

Use Customer Reviews To Enhance Your Website SEO

There are a few ways to do this. The first is simply to embed the code for Google Reviews in your website so that Google Reviews. This is a good option if the majority of your reviews are positive. Google’s search engine algorithm will recognize the embedded rating system and is likely to rank your site more highly as a result. 

The second way to utilize customer reviews is to include them on your website, either by using parts of the review text directly or by including graphics of the positive reviews on your site. (Don’t forget to change the alt text on these images so that they’re search-engine friendly) Google and Yelp hold a high trust cache with consumers, and citing positive reviews can help your brand leverage that trust. 

Use Customer Reviews on Social Media

You may also have the advantage of. Keep an eye on videos or posts that tag your brand. If you have a social media manager, have them proactively research any posts where your product or service is tagged. They can use tools like BuzzSumo or Mention to help with this. If they come across a positive review, have your team DM the content creator to ask if the review can be used  in marketing materials.  Some reviewers are happy to offer their thoughts gratis, while others work as part or full-time product influencers. Both types of social media reviews can be helpful to weave into your marketing strategy. Screenshots and re-posts of positive reviews can build brand awareness on multiple platforms.  

Let Negative Reviews Spur Institutional Changes

Online reviews through Yelp and Google provide business owners with what they say they want most: anonymous feedback close to the point of sale. But business owners are also human, and harsh or negative reviews can leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth. After you take some time to feel frustrated, see if you can find the kernel of truth in their words. The frustration may be about an inefficient process, an unhelpful team member, or a product flaw.  Rather than stew in frustration, take specific actions to address the issue. However, don’t revamp your entire process over one negative review. Reflect and ask your employees if they’ve also seen evidence of what the review mentions. If it comes up several times, it may be time to analyze and address a potential pain point. 

Be Proactive about Interacting With Reviews

If you don’t have a Google My Business account or haven’t updated the account you have, you could be missing out on major opportunities to shape how your brand is perceived. One of these ways is by interacting with online reviews. Brands that interact with customers on Google cultivate a reputation for being proactive and conscientious. Plus, interacting with reviews often can allow you to pinpoint and identify possible customer needs or frustrations before they go viral.  In the world of online reviews, negative feedback begets negative feedback. It shouldn’t go unaddressed, or you may see more of it. Instead, if you see a review that’s unfair or lacking context, you can provide that in your response to an online review. You can also offer to make it right, which goes a long way in securing customer loyalty. It says to potential buyers, “Even if we make a mistake, we will correct our error.”

Need Help Utilizing Your Positive Reviews?

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

B2B Companies: How to Get the Most Out of Your LinkedIn Presence

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Are you struggling to get engagement or reach on LinkedIn?  Social media strategies aren’t what they once were. The formula for success is no longer simply “post more often,” or “interact with your content,” which we’re sure you’ve heard countless times. Especially for B2B companies, social media is a different animal—it doesn’t play by the same rules as its B2C counterparts. Not to worry, though. With a well-planned LinkedIn strategy, you can increase your following, engagement, brand awareness, and even encourage teamwork among your employees.   Here’s what you’ll need to get the most out of your LinkedIn presence: 
  1. A current and engaging business page
  2. Digestible content that speaks to your audience’s pain points
  3. Diligent and proactive engagement with your audience
  4. An employee-centric content and engagement strategy
  5. A budget for strategic paid ads

How to Get the Most Out of Your LinkedIn Presence

1. A Current and Engaging Business Page
When was the last time you revisited your LinkedIn business page? Chances are, a lot has happened in your business since you first created the page. On top of that, standards for what makes a good business page have changed. Review your page to ensure that all your information is up to date.  You may also consider switching up your “About” content to speak directly to your audience. Rather than a simple description of what your business does, capture your audience’s attention by telling them how you can solve their problem specifically. Tell them who you help, what you do, and what your differentiators are. This allows your audience to quickly identify that you’re the right fit. Tip: LinkedIn only shows the first two lines of your description without the user having to click to read more. Make those two sentences count!
2. Digestible Content that Speaks to Your Audience’s Pain Points
This is always the tricky one, right? Engaging your audience through eye-catching content. You must find a way to speak to your audience’s needs, while also giving them content that they can quickly digest. That may include graphics, original blog content, thoughtful insights, or shared content from other reputable sources. Try to create (or find and share) content that your audience can learn something from very quickly as they scroll through their feed.  Tip: Always tag any relevant people or businesses in your posts. Also, make good use of your hashtags to help users find your content.
3. Diligent and Proactive Engagement with Your Audience
We know you’re busy and have very little time to watch over your social accounts. But, engagement is one of the most important elements of your LinkedIn strategy. Ensure that you always answer comments or proactively engage your audience in conversation by asking a question in the first comment on your post. To further encourage engagement, you may also consider tagging someone in the comment who you feel may have particularly good insight on the subject.   Tip: Set a calendar reminder to help you remember to check your LinkedIn and engage at least twice per day. 
4. An Employee-Centric Content and Engagement Strategy
Involving your employees is a great way to build teamwork, making your team feel more connected to your audience and to each other. Here are a few of the ways you can encourage your team’s help with your LinkedIn strategy: 
  • Request that each team member spends ten minutes per day engaging on LinkedIn
  • Tag team members in content they helped create or contributed to
  • Create branded cover photos for your team’s profiles 
  • Share content congratulating team members on their accomplishments
  • Tag team members to ask insightful questions 
Tip: Ask team members to create content of their own that they would be proud to share with their LinkedIn connections. 
5. A Budget for Strategic Paid Ads
Organic reach is always the goal, but in today’s social media environment, you often have to pay to play. Consider your business’s primary goals, and set a budget for each that you can use for paid LinkedIn ads. If that’s hiring, for example, you may boost a job advertisement. If it’s brand awareness, you may put your money behind case studies. Whatever you choose, make sure that your ad spend correlates with your team’s goals. Tip: To get the most out of your ad spend, you may prefer to hire someone to help you with this area of your strategy.

Ready to Build a Lead-Generating LinkedIn Strategy? 

Your LinkedIn content has the power to paint a picture for your clients, prospective employees, and anyone coming in contact with your brand. Let’s make it count. Contact Green Apple Strategy today to schedule a consultation. Our team is happy to sit down with you to discuss your goals and how we can help you achieve each and every one of them.

How to Find the Angle for Your Next Marketing Campaign

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Have you planned your next marketing campaign?  Your brand’s growth is reliant on a comprehensive set of tactics to educate and engage your clients. How you plan your campaign, and how you execute that campaign, will make all the difference in your brand awareness, sales, and customer retention. But, how do you find the best angle? How will you catch your audience’s attention?  We’re here to help. When you sit down to plan your next marketing campaign, use the following tips and points to guide your strategy. 

Find Your Audience’s Pain Points

When you put yourself in your audience’s shoes, you can begin to determine what their pain points are. Try to identify what motivates them to buy your product or service and what problem of theirs you’re trying to solve.  At the foundation, your campaign should speak to those pain points to show your audience that: 
  • You understand their issue
  • You’re here to solve it, and 
  • You can do it better than your competitors. 
Before you can present yourself this way, you must first thoroughly understand how your audience is feeling. If you’re having trouble putting yourself in your customers’ shoes, try building a customer profile with these 20 questions. 

Lean on Your Analytics

The numbers don’t lie! Your analytics can serve as a guide as you build your campaign. Review your numbers across all tactics (e.g., email marketing, blogging, website visits, social media, etc.) to analyze what is working, what isn’t, and where there are untapped opportunities.  From these numbers, you can see which topics and conversations garnered the most interest from your audience and what fell flat. Are your customers most interested in a certain area more than others? Maybe that’s a good place to start when planning your next campaign. 

Talk to Your Audience

Market research is now easier than ever, thanks to social media platforms and survey strategies. When planning your campaign, look to your audience to learn what they want to see from you and what they would benefit from. Depending on your social media platform of choice, this will look different. For example, if your audience frequents Instagram, you can easily set up a series of stories that poll your followers. However, on LinkedIn or Facebook, that may look more like starting a conversation with those in your industry. 

Take a Look at Your Competitors

Though you don’t want to emulate your competitors, you do want to make sure that you have a good understanding of what they’re offering your audience. This analysis helps you see what you can improve upon and how you can take your offering a step further. 

Put Your Differentiators at the Forefront

Your brand’s differentiators are what sets you apart from the crowd. It’s crucial that they’re at the forefront of your campaign, as these are your primary selling points. No matter how this campaign takes shape, ensure that your audience is always aware of what makes you different and how those differences serve them. 

Have Fun with It

Create a campaign that they’ll love! Your customers have enough of the mundane in their lives. By creating a marketing campaign with an element of surprise and delight, you can engage your audience and make them excited about the customer experience—and set them up to look forward to what they can expect from your brand in the future. 

Need Help Planning and Executing Your Next Marketing Campaign?

Are you looking for a strategic, full-service marketing firm to plan and execute your next campaign? Contact Green Apple Strategy today to schedule a consultation. Our team is happy to sit down with you to discuss your goals and how we can help you achieve each and every one of them.

Should Your Business Be on Every Social Media Platform?

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Quality over quantity. It’s a phrase that’s said so often that it sometimes loses its meaning. However, the reason that it’s said so often is that it’s overwhelmingly true. As it does in every area of marketing, quality over quantity applies to social media, too.  So, in short, no. Your business should not be on every social media platform. This is always good news to businesses trying to juggle upwards of three platforms at once, seeing lackluster results across the board. The key is to focus on the platforms that give you the most return so that you aren’t wasting precious resources. So, how do you decide which platforms to put your effort towards? We have a few tips to guide you. 

How to Identify Which Social Media Platforms to Use

1. Identify where your customers are spending their time. 
Depending on your product or service, it’s likely that your customers are using one platform more than another. Many marketers find that this could largely depend on the customer’s age. For example, for brands marketing to the younger generations, it’s reported that 73% of Gen Z prefers that brands reach them through Instagram. On the other hand, 78% of Baby Boomers reportedly prefer interacting with the brands they like on Facebook. You may also consider your customers’ interests and professions when identifying which platforms they frequent.  Identifying the social platform that will provide you with the most exposure to your audience is the most important part of this tactic and will be a great foundation for building your social strategy.  Here are a few simple ways to help point you in the right direction: 
  • Poll your customers in a review survey to see how they found you. 
  • Ask customers as you interact with them.
  • Review your metrics across the platforms that you’re using.
2. Determine what kind of content you have to share. 
The types of content that you create may heavily influence the platform that you choose. Each site has its niche, and if you go against that niche, you may not see the engagement you’d like. Take Instagram, for example. To be successful on that platform, you must have eye-catching photography or video content with thoughtful captions. On the other hand, LinkedIn relies more on informational content, such as videos, slides, and articles. So, before you begin sharing, consider where the content you already have would make the most impact. 
3. Consider which platform you have the most experience with. 
Your level of comfort factors into this decision as well. If you use a particular platform most often, you know what the trends and expectations are for that site already. If you find that your audience isn’t on this site, enlist the help of a social media marketer or a marketing agency to curate and post your content. 
4. Analyze your metrics across your current platforms. 
The numbers don’t lie. Take a look at your metrics on each platform to see which is performing the best. This is a great way to identify where your return on investment is the highest. Once you’ve chosen the best performing site for your brand, begin building a social media strategy that addresses the types of content you will share and the goals you want to reach. Don’t forget to include paid advertising as part of your strategy! This can help you ensure that your audience sees your most important content. 

Do You Need a Strategic Social Media Plan? 

If you feel like you aren’t getting the return you’d hoped for on social media, consider partnering with a marketing agency to create a strategic plan. We can help! Contact Green Apple Strategy today to schedule a consultation.