In this episode of the Iowa Tech Podcast, host Kaylee Williams welcomes Tara Seible, founder and CEO of In the Green Marketing, a digital agency that has carved a niche serving community banks. Seible shares her journey from the demanding world of newspaper publishing to launching her own firm, building a specialized team, and now preparing to scale nationally—both with her agency and a new software product poised to disrupt bank marketing.
Tara reflects on her 16 years at a major publicly traded newspaper company, where she led digital transformation during a time when print media was fighting for survival. That pressure-cooker environment helped forge her into a data-savvy strategist, one who now helps banks make the leap into modern, measurable marketing. “I consider sales as a byproduct of being a really great problem solver,” Seible explains. It’s this problem-solving mindset that she has embedded into her agency model.
In the interview, Tara walks through the evolution of In the Green Marketing, from serving a wide range of clients to zeroing in on community banking—a sector she says is overdue for transformation. She describes her team’s hybrid model of core employees and specialized contractors, offering flexibility and depth in a rapidly changing marketing landscape. “It’s what we call the T-shaped model in marketing, where you’re marrying the generalist and the specialist in a meaningful way,” she says.
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She also reveals her roadmap to launch a standalone SaaS product focused on data and automation for bank marketers. The software will offer a Digital Maturity Assessment—currently used in onboarding—as a lead generation tool. While still in early stages, Tara hints at venture capital as a likely path, describing it as a strategic move to accelerate growth. “There is a two-year plan where I will spin off a software part of our enterprise,” she confirms.
Kaylee and Tara discuss the unique challenges and inertia in the banking sector, the difficulty of overcoming outdated marketing practices, and the importance of building trust in traditional environments. Despite not coming from a banking background, Tara believes that’s a strength: “I fancy myself a bit of a disruptor in the banking industry… I might be a little tainted if I had worked at a bank.”
Tara’s story is one of resilience, strategic evolution, and thoughtful innovation. Whether you’re a bank executive, a startup founder, or a small business owner, her approach to marketing and business growth offers both inspiration and practical insight.