In the ever-changing industry of digital marketing, it takes passion and drive to stay ahead of the game. For Greteman Group and our clients, that’s where our digital strategist Cory Capps comes into play. Cory joined our team last fall and hit the proverbial ground running, providing invaluable insights and top-notch digital marketing skills. Cory graciously broke away from his analyzing and optimization efforts to answer five quick questions. He’s a guy you want to know.
1. What attracts you to digital marketing?
The fast-paced, always-evolving nature of the industry. When I was starting my internship during my last year of college, I remember feeling extremely unprepared since there were already new strategies and tactics from what I had just learned in my classes. That motivated me to learn as much as I could. I realized I would always need to continue learning to stay ahead of it. I like that challenge.
2. What is your favorite thing about digital analytics and reporting?
Measuring effectiveness and discovering insights. Digital marketing provides so much data to measure, it can be overwhelming to sift through everything to find meaningful nuggets. I enjoy drilling down and gaining an understanding of which efforts are (or aren’t) performing well and producing actionable strategies that improve overall ROI.
3. What has been a career challenge that you experienced and conquered?
With how much this industry changes, I’d be hesitant to claim that I’ve conquered any aspect. But I continue to strive for proficiency in data integrity. Data accuracy and consistency create the foundation to building robust reports that deliver valuable insights. It isn’t easy to set up sophisticated tracking abilities across a variety of marketing channels to holistically observe KPIs. That’s where the magic happens.
4. Which insights do you feel are the most important when reporting performance to clients?
Whatever aligns with their business goals and objectives. Ultimately, we need to answer “What’s working?” “What isn’t working?” and “What are our next steps?”
5. What is your favorite part about working on our team?
I have two: working with and being surrounded by such talented colleagues, and having interesting and fun clients to support and help succeed.
I’ve had some wild new-business calls in my time, but one I received several months ago ranks at the top. A client referred the founder of Anchor Risk Group to us for possible branding and website support. What made the call so out of the ordinary? I was told that we couldn’t use the founder’s name. There would be no team bios. We couldn’t include any service, product or location specifics.
What?
Uncovering and sharing market-leading points of difference is our forte. How could we do our best job with our hands tied this way?
But as we talked, I quickly understood why. Lives could be at stake if we divulged too much.
Sharpening Skills at the Top
The founder won me over fast. Listening to his story gave me chills. I was talking to someone who has put his life on the line time and again. Who has literally made history. Yet he took no credit. Wanted no accolades.
Soon our writers were on the phone interviewing active duty military and special missions unit team leads who’d trained with Anchor Risk and volunteered to provide testimonials and background. Like the founder, we found them to be dedicated warriors laser focused on the mission. And they were believers. They’d seen how Anchor Risk’s training affected outcomes in the field. They wanted to lend their voices, albeit anonymously, to Anchor Risk’s cause.
We became believers, too, and tackled this challenge with singular passion. Developing compelling visual assets. Sourcing photography. Creating a stylized, branded look unique to this incredible team. Maybe we couldn’t share details, but we could convey emotion. And this site does.
You don’t see faces, but feel the tension created by high stakes. Remote landscapes. Harsh weather. Small teams. Or one man. Alone. We also share the immersive, all-inclusive nature of the training. The private, secure properties where instruction happens even in quiet downtimes and rest-and-recovery day activities from swift-water rafting to horseback pack trips. Everything works together toward one purpose: preparing elite teams for virtually anything.
A Mission-Focused, Critical-Thinking Approach
Many people have military experience, but translating that into effective training is a completely different skillset. One Anchor Risk’s founder has mastered. His highly customizable, proprietary process – called mBED™ – gave us a lot to work with in the site content. It emphasizes not just the pieces of the training puzzle, but how they assemble to reveal the big picture even in high-stress situations. The process also manages to decrease learning time while increasing long-term retention.
Anchor Risk supports U.S. special operations forces with training designed to overcome emerging security threats, hone sniper and reconnaissance skills, and build teams known for high performance, reliable execution and unfailing precision. It also works with product designers and manufacturers to develop ground-breaking, next-generation defense tools.
The newly launched site doesn’t begin to convey the fullness of Anchor Risk’s offerings. But it does what it needs to. To share enough that the person looking for special mission support takes the first step to partnering with Anchor Risk by responding to the online call to action.
The client gave us the response we had hoped for. He proclaimed his new site, “Bad ass!”
Tap into the show-stopping power of motion and sound. Amplify the emotion they bring to your message. We not only preach the benefits of video marketing to our clients, but use it ourselves. Video reinforces our brand values, builds rapport and enhances our outreach. It keeps our brand top of mind – and tracks conversions. Which is no small thing.
Brand Your Videos to Create an Immediate and Lasting Impression
Our Greteman Group brand personifies stellar creativity, and storytelling. For our videos, we developed a playful, distinctive, graphic style that carries our brand out into the world with consistency and charm. In fact we’ve become known for these wonderful breaks in the usual scrolling boredom.
Own Your Content
We use video to capture attention, especially in social feeds where they autoplay as viewers scroll past. We work hard to make them compelling enough to entice viewers to stop and watch. We may punctuate your day with a lighthearted message, or a thoughtful sentiment. Either way, we try to make you think and feel. And prompt you to share.
Celebrate our country’s independence with fireworks delivered from an airplane.
Salute our veterans’ sacrifice as a field of poppies fills the screen.
Feel sassy and sexy with a Valentine’s tango.
Fill yourself with gratitude for Thanksgiving’s bounty.
Encourage others to Do Good. Promoting pro bono projects, especially around the holidays, hopefully spurs additional support that makes our world better.
Share your wishes for happiness with a New Year’s Eve ball drop.
Increase Engagement with Video
Vision is the most dominant of our five senses, so it’s not surprising that 54% of consumers want to see more videos. Tweets with video increase engagement by 10%. Videos on Instagram generate more engagement than any other content type.
Google Rewards Video
Video increases time on site. This longer exposure signals to search engines that your site has good content. YouTube is the second most popular social network, and Google owns YouTube so make the connection work for you. Social media algorithms prioritize the content users see in their feeds based on the likelihood of what they’d actually like to view. These algorithms consistently push video content up to the top. Incorporating video marketing in your social outreach becomes a commonsense no-brainer.
Video Is Shareable and Trackable
HubSpot reports that 50% of consumers would rather see a video than any other content. 76% say they would share a branded video if they found it entertaining. This shareability means video offers prime opportunities for data collection, enhanced targeting and personalization. So set up those analytics, leveraging UTM codes and hashtags. Video can generate solid traction.
Plan It and Make It Happen
Planning and executing video should be an integral part of your marketing plan for ongoing brand awareness. There is nothing like a hard, fast deadline to get the creative juices flowing. Experiment and try new things. A planned content calendar and style guide maximizes our efforts and gives us structure. We build in dedicated time to develop innovative concepts, try out unique new illustration styles, discover cool new music sources and sharpen our storytelling.
Video and Mobile Go Hand in Hand
Mobile usage is rising fast with 90% of mobile users watching video on their device. U.S. adults spend approximately 15 minutes daily accessing video apps through their smartphones. And those numbers are going up. All. The. Time. Who doesn’t want to watch a video while waiting in line. Maximize that time and capture those eyeballs.
Deploy Your Video to a Variety of Channels
Short, powerful video grabs attention and evokes emotion like nothing else. Use :15 to :30 clips as the perfect length for the various social channels and if you’re feeling adventurous longer for Instagram reels. We like square or vertical sizes to capture optimal real estate in the social feeds. Also, don’t forget about email. If you are already creating the assets, spread the love over a variety of channels and adjust it slightly for the various audiences.
When you need a brand boost, a powerful way to connect quickly and with attitude – from playful humor to somber respect – consider video. It’s an integral and results-generating part of our clients’ marketing plans and our own. It works.
My path to marketing started with listening. Turns out, that’s not a bad place to begin. When I was a kid, my brother and I used to pretend we had a radio show. And it wasn’t just a hum-drum radio show where we recorded songs to a mix tape and bantered in between them, oh no. We had segments, special guests and planned topics. The proof is in the cassette tapes that are probably in storage at my parents’ house back in Oklahoma.
If you would have told me back then that I would do something so similar as a grown-up, I probably would have fainted with shock.
In 2017, my friend Megan Powers asked if I would be interested in hosting a podcast with her. The idea was to host special guests on each episode to highlight all of the different facets of the marketing industry. This was something that I’d never seriously considered before. However, I was already hosting two weekly Facebook Live shows, so I figured it couldn’t be much different than that, right?
A Platform for Learning From this, Making a Marketer was born. We’re currently in our fifth season and we’re about to record our 100th episode with with a very special guest. Over the last few seasons we’ve covered all sorts of topics: customer experience with Dan Gingiss, captivating Clubhouse with Judi Fox, accessible marketing with Alex Heinrich , productivity with Erik Fisher, igniting innovation with Duncan Wardle and many more.
With every episode we record, I become a better marketer. When we dive deep into a conversation with a featured guest about a topic that I may not be very familiar with, and later come out of the recording so motivated and inspired, I can only hope our listeners feel the same way.
Recently we recorded an episode with customer experience master Dan Gingiss about creating shareable experiences. As a human whose passion is building community around brands, this discussion about creating a space for fans to WANT to be a part of something ignited my soul and reminded me that I truly am living my passion.
Join in the Fun I encourage you to listen to Making a Marketer as a way to examine different areas of marketing that you may have overlooked in the past. The casual, yet enlightening, conversations make for an easy listening experience, and the caliber of guests is phenomenal.
Co-hosting Making a Marketer has been such a growing experience for me. I know that it’s helped me to become a more curious person, a stronger and more deliberate marketer, and also a better listener. One of my favorite experiences from this has been witnessing our listeners tweet out about their favorite episode or reading their posts about takeaways that have inspired them in their marketing efforts.
If you feel inspired to listen, we’d love to know which episodes inspire you and why. Making a Marketer is available on Podbean, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Ashley Bowen Cook, vice president at Greteman Group, a marketing communications agency in Wichita, the Air Capital.
I helped the Wichita Aero Club make history at its recent gala. The evening marked the official start to my tenure as the first woman to serve as chair of its board of directors. Growing up with a father in aviation, I had a front-row seat (often at 30,000 feet) to this dynamic industry. There were few women. Standing in front of the crowded ballroom, I was filled with gratitude and no small amount of wonder at how far I and aviation have come. The impressive turnout for the evening included state and local elected officials and aviation legends and past trophy honorees Clay Lacy, Paul Bowen and Jeff Turner.
Founder of International Jet Aviation Lynn Krough; 2020 honoree legendary aviator Clay Lacy; Chief Pilot for Clay Lacy, Scott Patterson; and 2017 honoree legendary aviation photographer Paul Bowen.
I follow some impressive predecessors. They include, most recently, John O’Leary, Airbus Americas Engineering vice president and general manager; Jeffrey Peier, Klenda Austerman managing member; Patrick Tuttle, then ADR CEO and now Delta Dental of Kansas COO; back to our first chairman, Robert Stangarone, then Cessna Aircraft Company vice president of corporate communications and now New England Air Museum chairman and president.
I consider each of these gentlemen industry friends and mentors. As the first woman to sit on the Wichita Aero Club executive committee, the first to serve as vice chair and now to chair, I’ve never felt anything but warm welcome from fellow board, committee members and Club President Dave Franson (who was also my first boss in my Bombardier Learjet intern days). Their encouragement has meant everything. And so has this club.
Ashley Bowen Cook speaking as the first female chairperson of Wichita Aero Club.
An Aviation Club Slow to Take Off
While the origins of the Wichita Aero Club date back decades, the club never took flight. It wasn’t until 2008 in the depths of the recession that Wichita’s aviation community pulled together to get the club off the ground. You could say its platform had me at hello. To foster and promote aviation. To provide a forum for key issues. To gather lovers of flight. To deepen relationships. To further cooperation. These are my people.
A big part of the club’s appeal is how it provides a way to lift each other up and to celebrate those who have elevated this industry. Each year at the gala, we honor one of our own. For this trip around the sun, the spotlight shone on Ron Ryan, a respected leader, pilot, airline founder and philanthropist.
The always eloquent Franson said it best: “Ron’s vision and unwavering commitment made him not just a great pilot but a true force in the local aviation community and around the world. He embodies creative, resourceful, undaunted entrepreneurship.”
Past honoree Jeff Turner was one of a few close friends who honored Ron during the evening. Turner shared that unless Ryan is out of town for his annual birthday trip or sick, you always know you can depend on him to attend a board meeting for the various organizations he serves in the community. Turner went on to talk about Ryan’s contributions as a board member, “You never wonder what he’s thinking,” which got a good laugh from the crowd.
Our Trophy Winner: Ron Ryan
Ryan has done it all. From Learjet captain to owner/operator of the United States’ largest charter airline. He fantasized about growing up to be a pilot. Even as a young boy in a small Iowa town, he maintained a laser focus on that dream, eventually obtaining his private, commercial, and instrument pilot ratings in only six months, while working as a mechanical engineer at Western Electric. It wasn’t long before he took his first full-time flying job, as chief pilot of a military charter company. In 1966, he added a Learjet type rating and took a job as a pilot with Mid-West Lear Jet in Kansas City, Kansas.
The Wichita Aero Club gala honoring Ron Ryan was held Saturday evening, Jan. 29, at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, Eisenhower National Airport.
Moving to Wichita in 1968, he became chief pilot for DeBoer & Associates, owned by developer Jack DeBoer. In 1973, Ryan helped transition the company’s flight department into a jet charter service company specializing in corporate executive travel. In 1974, Ryan started flying for George Ablah, another legendary Wichita developer, and the two formed Ryan Aviation Corp., which started as a charter flight operation and cargo carrier. In 1976, he purchased the company and began operating a fueling and maintenance center for aircraft at what is now Eisenhower National Airport.
In 1981, Ryan International Airlines was formed to operate large aircraft and Ryan Aviation upgraded its FAR Part 135 certificate to a Part 121 air carrier certificate. He eventually grew the airlines to an international charter and cargo service with more than 2,500 employees and over $350 million in annual sales. He sold it in 2004 and funneled his tremendous energy into many worthwhile causes.
He tirelessly advocates for military personnel and their families, serves as honorary commander of McConnell Air Force Base’s 931st Air Refueling Wing, is a longtime benefactor and board member of the Kansas Aviation Museum and DOC’s Friends. His broad list of accomplishments and generous philanthropy led to his selection as the 41st Admiral Windwagon Smith for the 2014 Wichita River Festival. He’s the only Admiral Windwagon to show up at a River Festival event in a Learjet. Don’t you just love that?
Ryan has logged more than 30,000 flying hours piloting 30+ kinds of aircraft. He helped set an around-the-world speed record in a Boeing 747SP. His recently published autobiography, “Making Money Out of Thin Air,” chronicles many of his adventures. Even while giving his acceptance speech Ryan was encouraging attendees to purchase his new book with proceeds from the evening going to Wichita Aero Club. Ryan’s longtime legal counsel and longtime friend, Jack McInteer, commented, “He’s the best salesman I’ve ever seen in my life.”
