Marketing vs The World | Marketing strategy, business growth and more

Are your events creating experiences people actually remember, or are you still hoping the connections will take care of themselves?In this episode of Marketing vs. the World, I sit down with Rachel Locke, founder and CEO of Virtual Approval and its sister brand VA Events, to talk about how to stop hosting boring events. Rachel shares how she went from moving meetings online at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to delivering virtual, hybrid and in-person events. We explore the shift towards smaller, more frequent events, how AI is changing the live experience, and why the moments in between matter more than most organisers think.What You’ll Discover- Designing for Connection, Not Just the Stage: Why the conversations attendees have with each other often make the biggest difference, and how facilitated breakouts, reflection moments and space for quieter voices can cost almost nothing.- How AI Is Changing Events: How live transcripts, instant translation and AI matchmaking are opening events up to wider audiences, and freeing organisers from spreadsheets to focus on experience design.- Budgeting With Intention: How Rachel's SPARK framework starts with the stakeholders and the strategy before any budget is set, and why first-time organisers should start small, gather data and grow from there.Building a truly memorable event requires looking beyond the stage to the whole attendee journey. By getting into the mindset of your audience, designing for different levels of engagement and putting real effort into the pre- and post-event experience, you can create events people want to come back to.Marketing vs The World is brought to you by Monday Clicks, the Content First SEO and GEO agency. We help ecommerce brands grow through smarter SEO, content, and AI-driven search. Connect with us on LinkedIn or, if you’d like to chat about how we can help you, get in touch.Marketing Vs The World is produced by Urban Podcasts.

Are you focusing your digital PR efforts on the right domains, or are you missing the hidden sites that AI actually trusts?In this episode of Marketing vs. the World, I am joined by Sophie Moore, Digital PR Strategy Director at Bottle. We dive deep into the evolving world of digital PR, exploring why traditional editorial coverage is no longer enough and how large language models (LLMs) are changing the search landscape. Sophie shares her insights on the "unattended domains" influencing AI search results, the importance of brand mentions over links, and why collaboration between PR and SEO teams is more critical than ever.What You’ll Discover- The Rise of Unattended Domains: Why up to 60% of the sites cited by AI models in certain sectors aren't traditional editorial outlets, and how to influence these comparison, regulatory, and community platforms.- Attention, Authority, and Accuracy: A practical framework for ensuring your brand is part of the conversation, trusted as a reliable source, and consistently represented across the web.- The New Metrics of PR: Why brand mentions are beginning to outweigh traditional links, and how to measure your digital PR success through share of voice and share of search rather than outdated metrics like AVE.Building a meaningful digital PR strategy in the age of AI requires a shift from simply chasing high-authority links to understanding the broader ecosystem of trust. By focusing on real people, genuine brand authority, and cross-team collaboration, you can future-proof your brand for whatever the search landscape throws at you next.Marketing vs The World is brought to you by Monday Clicks, the Content First SEO and GEO agency. We help ecommerce brands grow through smarter SEO, content, and AI-driven search. Connect with us on LinkedIn or, if you’d like to chat about how we can help you, get in touch.Marketing Vs The World is produced by Urban Podcasts.

Are you just using AI to speed up daily tasks, or are you actually transforming your marketing department from the ground up?In this episode of Marketing vs. the World, I sit down with Sneha Mittal, Senior Communications Manager at Philips, to discuss why so many marketing teams are getting AI wrong. Instead of chasing the latest tools or treating AI as a simple shortcut for drafting content, Sneha shares her practical roadmap for moving from "AI activity" to true AI transformation.What You’ll Discover- Problem-First, Not Tool-First: Why you must stop asking which model to use and start identifying the real friction points in your current workflows.- The Power of an AI Buddy: How finding a peer to share micro-learnings, test failures, and practical use cases can dramatically accelerate your team's AI literacy.- A Practical Transformation Roadmap: A step-by-step guide to moving from initial testing to a 90-day pilot, all while keeping data governance and ethics at the forefront.Building a truly AI-transformed marketing department requires taking a step back to redesign your processes around clear business outcomes. By starting small, setting a baseline, and keeping a spirit of experimentation alive, you can shift your team's focus from simply producing more content to making better strategic decisions.Marketing vs The World is brought to you by Monday Clicks, the Content First SEO and GEO agency. We help ecommerce brands grow through smarter SEO, content, and AI-driven search. Connect with us on LinkedIn or, if you’d like to chat about how we can help you, get in touch.Marketing Vs The World is produced by Urban Podcasts.

What does it actually take for a UK brand to successfully cross the pond and crack the massive US market?In this episode of Marketing vs. the World, I am joined by Steve Cozzolongo, founder of the US-based e-commerce growth agency Digital Position. We explore the realities of expanding into the United States, from navigating the "Amazon effect" and shifting consumer expectations to understanding the true cost of advertising across the states.What You’ll Discover- Cracking the US Market: Why having a proven concept, a solid contribution margin, and a minimum testing budget of $15,000 are essential before making the leap.- The Power of Creative Content: How social media presence, authentic nano-influencers, and localising your brand's voice can make or break your US launch.- Navigating the AI Shift: Why artificial intelligence is raising the baseline for marketing efficiency, but human touch and native cultural understanding remain irreplaceable.Expanding into the US offers access to over 330 million eager consumers, but it requires more than just turning on Google Ads. By understanding your specific business model, partnering with local strategists, and focusing on authentic creative content, your brand can successfully navigate the highly competitive American landscape.Marketing vs The World is brought to you by Monday Clicks, the Content First SEO and GEO agency. We help ecommerce brands grow through smarter SEO, content, and AI-driven search. Connect with us on LinkedIn or, if you’d like to chat about how we can help you, get in touch.Marketing Vs The World is produced by Urban Podcasts.

Could video be the secret weapon your customer journey is missing?In this episode of Marketing vs. the World, I sit down with Lucy Summers, co-founder of Indigo Illusions, to explore how animation and video can transform complex ideas into engaging, easy-to-understand stories. From overcoming the fear of high production costs to navigating the rise of AI in creative work, Lucy shares practical advice on how businesses of all sizes can use video to build trust and reduce friction.What You’ll Discover- Mapping Video to the Customer Journey: Why different stages of the buyer's journey require different types of video, from short awareness clips to in-depth onboarding guides.- The Power of Animation for Complex Ideas: How animation can simplify difficult concepts, evoke emotion, and protect privacy, especially for charities and technical brands.- Creating Video on a Budget: Why you don't need a massive production crew to get started, and how simple, authentic content often outperforms big-budget productions.Whether you are looking to boost your website conversions or simply explain your product more clearly, this conversation will help you see where video fits into your strategy.Marketing vs The World is brought to you by Monday Clicks, the Content First SEO and GEO agency. We help ecommerce brands grow through smarter SEO, content, and AI-driven search. Connect with us on LinkedIn or, if you’d like to chat about how we can help you, get in touch.Marketing Vs The World is produced by Urban Podcasts.

What if the secret to dominating the future of search isn't about chasing keywords, but about building a brand that AI simply cannot ignore?In this episode of Marketing vs. the World, I sit down with Hannah Forbes-George, Global Head of Content Marketing at Onclusive. We dive deep into the rapidly evolving world of AI search and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). Hannah shares her AI visibility playbook, explaining how brands can move beyond traditional SEO to ensure they are recommended by platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google's AI Overviews.What You’ll Discover- Why AI is Compressing the Buyer Journey: How consumers are getting their answers before they even click a single website link, and what that means for your bottom line.- Earned Media as the New SEO Superpower: Why high-quality PR and authentic brand mentions are now heavily weighted by AI engines, making cross-team collaboration absolutely essential.- Five Metrics to Measure Your AI Visibility: A practical look at how to track your share of voice, average position, and reputation across different LLMs without getting overwhelmed by the data.Building a meaningful presence in AI search requires a unified strategy. By breaking down the silos between SEO, PR, and content marketing, you can create a consistent brand narrative that AI engines trust and recommend for years to come.If you are trying to figure out how to adapt your digital strategy for an AI-first world, this conversation is packed with actionable advice to help you get started.Marketing vs The World is brought to you by Monday Clicks, the Content First SEO and GEO agency. We help ecommerce brands grow through smarter SEO, content, and AI-driven search. Connect with us on LinkedIn or, if you’d like to chat about how we can help you, get in touch.Marketing Vs The World is produced by Urban Podcasts.

What if the secret to social media success isn't about being on every platform, but simply knowing exactly where your audience actually hangs out?In this episode of Marketing vs. the World, I sit down with Adam Roberts, co-founder of Seen Agency, to break down what truly matters in today's overwhelming social media landscape. From the rise of social SEO and the reality of AI in content creation to the metrics that actually drive business, Adam shares his 15 years of digital marketing wisdom to help brands work smarter, not harder.What You’ll Discover- Navigating the Modern Social Landscape: Why trying to maintain a presence on every single platform is a thing of the past, and how to identify where your specific audience is actually active.- Authenticity in the Age of AI: How to use AI tools efficiently for ideation and pre-production without sacrificing the genuine, human-centric storytelling that builds real trust.- Metrics That Actually Matter: Why vanity metrics like likes and follower counts are out, and why you should be focusing on saves, shares, and real-world, offline community building instead.Building a meaningful social media presence requires a balance of short-term reactive trends and long-term, high-quality content pillars. By actively listening to your community and focusing on genuine engagement, you can create a loyal following that lasts.Marketing vs The World is brought to you by Monday Clicks, the Content First SEO and GEO agency. We help ecommerce brands grow through smarter SEO, content, and AI-driven search. Connect with us on LinkedIn or, if you’d like to chat about how we can help you, get in touch.Marketing Vs The World is produced by Urban Podcasts.

This is one of those topics that is rapidly changing the way we think about our digital presence, yet so many brands are still treating their social channels as completely separate from their search strategy.In this Monday Clicks Mini, I break down why social search (or social SEO) is the missing layer in your marketing strategy. From TikTok and YouTube to Instagram and Pinterest, we explore why your social content needs to be optimised for search visibility, how Google and LLMs are indexing these platforms, and exactly how to start layering this into your current workflow without overwhelming your team.What You’ll Discover- Why Social Media is Now a Search Engine: How Google and LLMs are actively using TikTok videos, YouTube, and Instagram posts to surface search results.- The Four Key Social Search Platforms: Why YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest are leading the charge, and how to figure out where your brand actually stands.- How to Layer SEO Without Starting Over: A practical approach to adding a "social search layer" to your existing content calendar using keyword research and seasonal peaks.What is clear is how much opportunity we leave on the table by siloing our teams. We have social media managers doing their thing and SEOs doing theirs, but the reality is that the customer journey is happening across both simultaneously.If you’re relying entirely on your website to capture search traffic, this episode is worth a listen. It might just change how you think about your social media channels.Marketing vs The World is brought to you by Monday Clicks, the Content First SEO and GEO agency. We help ecommerce brands grow through smarter SEO, content, and AI-driven search. Connect with us on LinkedIn or, if you’d like to chat about how we can help you, get in touch.Marketing Vs The World is produced by Urban Podcasts.

I’ve been really excited for this conversation because the pharmaceutical space online is one of the most competitive and fast-moving sectors right now.In this episode, I sit down with Matt Pyke, founder of Fly High Media, to unpack what it really takes to win in search for online pharmacies - especially in the booming weight loss medication space.What You’ll Discover- Why Online Pharmacies Are Exploding: How services like Mounjaro, Wegovy and consultations have transformed traditional pharmacies into scalable online businesses.- The Harsh Realities of Visibility: High PPC costs, strict compliance rules, the importance of trust signals, and why you need serious budget and patience to succeed.- The Full-Funnel Strategy That Works: Using PPC for quick acquisition, SEO and content for long-term foundations, digital PR for authority, and retention/advocacy to maximise lifetime value.In an industry full of red tape and fierce competition, the pharmacies winning aren’t just spending more - they’re thinking smarter about compliance-friendly content, building real trust, and focusing relentlessly on keeping customers coming back.If you’re in pharma, health, or any regulated sector, or you’re simply curious about what it takes to compete when the stakes (and CPCs) are high, this episode is packed with practical insight.Learn more at flyhighmedia.co.uk.Marketing vs The World is brought to you by Monday Clicks, the Content First SEO and GEO agency. We help ecommerce brands grow through smarter SEO, content, and AI-driven search. Connect with us on LinkedIn or, if you’d like to chat about how we can help you, get in touch.Marketing Vs The World is produced by Urban Podcasts.

I’ve been really excited for this conversation because we’re diving into something that so many marketers overlook.In this episode of Marketing vs. the World, I sit down with Phil Caplin, founder of Broadcast Revolution, to unpack the world of broadcast PR. From TV and radio to podcasts, we explore why this channel is so powerful, why it’s often misunderstood, and what it actually takes to land meaningful coverage that makes an impact.What You’ll Discover- Why Broadcast PR Still Matters: TV and radio build trust and credibility in a way social media simply can’t match.- Coverage vs. Impact: It’s easy to get on air, but creating meaningful coverage that drives real results is where the real skill lies.- The Strategy Most Brands Miss: Broadcast isn’t an add-on, it needs its own plan, audience understanding, and long-term thinking.What really stood out to me in this conversation is how much intention sits behind great broadcast PR. It’s not about chasing volume or ticking a box, it’s about understanding the audience, crafting the right story, and being clear on the outcome you want. That shift from “we want to be on TV” to “what impact do we want to create” is where everything changes.We also get into how broadcast fits into the wider marketing mix, especially alongside social media. It’s not one or the other. Broadcast gives you credibility, and then social amplifies it. That combination is where things really start to scale.If you’ve ever thought broadcast PR was out of reach, too expensive, or just not relevant to your strategy, this episode might change your mind.Marketing vs The World is brought to you by Monday Clicks, the Content First SEO and GEO agency. We help ecommerce brands grow through smarter SEO, content, and AI-driven search. Connect with us on LinkedIn or, if you’d like to chat about how we can help you, get in touch.Marketing Vs The World is produced by Urban Podcasts.