Dave represents one of the most exciting practitioners in the marketing industry today. Working in several of Bostons best-known companies since 2009 including Constant Contact and HubSpot, although, Dave came into view with his work at Drift. For TMM, during these times whenever anyone asked who was killing it in the marketing world, we would always revert to the work being done by Drift at the time.

Since December 2019, Dave has been the CMO of Privy, a company focusing on helping e-commerce brands increase their growth through conversion and email marketing tools. In his spare time, he also is a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, and maintains his Patreon following – the A-List, which you can be part of too.

There are two things we’ve really come to admire about Dave. The first is that he is a dedicated family man . But perhaps the thing that has most impressed me about Dave is his willingness to share. He could probably sneeze on Linkedin and get 1000 likes on the platform these days, but we know we have personally gained a lot from Dave’s work.

Sophie Miller gets social media.

In the past 2 years, she’s grown a Facebook group of 9k+, 30k on Instagram, 61.1k on her company Linkedin page and 30k on her own personal Linkedin. More importantly - those folks are ENGAGED.

So, in a world that increasingly feels like social media provides very little bang for the buck - what does Sophie do that makes her and her company stand out so much and create a community who genuinely feel part of something?

Should we be considering our branded SERPs as our new homepage? Is less traffic really a bad thing?

Creating customer personas is one of the foundational skills of marketers across the world. But through commonality also comes confusion and poor implementation.

Adele has dedicated her attention to ridding the world of terrible personas. In this session, she shows you how.

[REPLAY] How to find the right message - Diane Wiredu

We were sooooo lucky to visit the team at innocent. Starting off with the social media team we dug into how they manage campaigns, what sort of culture creates the environment for success and how they come up with ideas. This is the first edit from out day at innocent so make sure to sub for more!

Everyone regardless of what they do for a living has to write at some point. In this talk, Lucy will give some key pointers about how to write well and convey meaning, with examples.

Sahana gives a big middle finger to the advice "Fake it until you make it".

Something a little different for you. 

In this podcast/webinar, we interview Andy Lambert from ContentCal, all about his entrepreneurial journey in growing ContentCal from a SaaS offering with 0 customers, to today having 30,000. 

Andy is also the world's nicest man.

Navigating the world of marketing requires a sharp focus. In this session, Fractional B2B Marketing Director, Wendy Melville shared the tools you need to hone in on what’s essential and steer clear of distractions. As a long-standing, highly valued member of the TMM community, it was absolutely lovely to watch Wendy on the TMM stage. She covered:

✖️ Good vs. bad focus – how to discern strategic paths from shiny distractions.

⏰ Keeping yourself focused – how to manage your time and priorities effectively.

🕴️ Keeping your boss focused – tips for guiding various types of bosses towards a common goal.

👓 Keeping your marketing focused – how to align your efforts with your core value and messaging for consistent success.

For the full write up and YouTube video head over to our website https://themarketingmeetup.com/events/how-to-maintain-focus-with-your-management/

Overview: A deep dive into Seth Godin's perspectives on marketing, empathy, and the evolving landscape of the industry. The conversation explores themes of craftsmanship, the role of AI, environmental responsibility, and actionable insights for marketers. Key Discussion Points The Craft of Marketing Craft is about acquiring the skill to demonstrate empathy and produce exceptional work. Importance of joy and satisfaction in creating high-quality marketing materials. Generosity in Marketing Marketing as a means of generosity, not just advertising or hype. Emphasis on empathy to understand and meet customer needs. Marketing Evolution Convenience as a significant trend and its implications. The impact of media and technology on marketing strategies. AI in Marketing AI’s ability to enhance marketing tasks and its current limitations. The need for marketers to focus on strategic, creative, and empathetic aspects. Environmental Responsibility Marketers' role in promoting sustainable practices. The importance of aligning marketing efforts with environmental goals. Purple Cow Concept The essence of creating remarkable, shareable marketing ideas. Examples and updated perspectives on what makes a Purple Cow today. Failures and Successes Insights from Seth’s career on handling failures and making strategic pivots. The significance of learning from mistakes and adapting accordingly. Marketing Ethics Discussion on the ethical implications of marketing. Avoiding manipulative practices and focusing on genuine value creation. Notable Quotes "Craft is deciding to acquire the skill to demonstrate empathy to produce something that's better than you could have gotten away with." "Marketing is anything that touches the market. That's the way you answer the phone; it's your pricing; it's the stuff you dump in the river; it's the way your employees feel." "If you're not using this free, always-on, thoughtful assistant (AI) to make your work better when you are doing mediocre work, that's malpractice." "Marketing is generous and positive and important when it opens the door for people to do this generative work that they've wanted to do all along to help them get to where they want to go." Additional Resources Seth Godin’s Blog The Carbon Almanac Recommended Books: Purple Cow, This is Marketing, Linchpin Outro Thank you to Seth Godin for sharing his invaluable insights. Encouragement for listeners to apply the discussed principles in their own marketing practices. Subscribe to the podcast for more insightful discussions with leading marketing experts. Visit The Marketing Meetup for upcoming events and interviews. Instagram: @TheMarketingMeetup LinkedIn: The Marketing Meetup Subscribe: themarketingmeetup.com/newsletter Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms.

Confidence: Picking yourself up and going again - Kirsty Hulse, Roar! Training

Key takeaways

Strategic Foundations:

• Business growth starts with creating demand that exceeds supply, driving scarcity to increase perceived value and profitability.
• The “Three-Part Year” framework helps businesses focus on:

Marketing’s Role in Strategy:

• Marketing should focus on generating warm leads that the sales team can convert, reinforcing alignment between marketing and sales.
• The “best brand campaign is ownership” — creating experiences where customers interact with your product is the ultimate branding tool.

Overcoming Tensions Between Departments:

• Collaboration is key: Marketing, sales, and business strategy must work cohesively to scale effectively.
• Avoid “looking good but going nowhere” by focusing on growth and scaling rather than aesthetics or superficial metrics.

Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation:

• Demand generation is about creating interest and need through trust, insights, and engagement strategies.
• Lead generation is the result of demand generation — capturing signals of high intent from potential customers.

Navigating Mindsets in Business:

• Understanding the reptilian, autopilot, and visionary brain modes can help individuals stay creative and productive rather than reactive.
• Awareness and emotional intelligence are crucial for overcoming workplace tensions and building better interdepartmental relationships.

Practical Marketing Tactics:

• Use introduction events, scorecards, and assessments as effective ways to engage and nurture potential customers during the consideration phase.
• Experimentation is key: Test new ideas on a small scale to gather actionable data before scaling them.

Importance of Long-Form Content:

• Long-form content like podcasts builds trust and transparency, offering unfiltered insights that resonate deeply with audiences.
• Shorter content should always lead back to the long-form version to maintain authenticity and context.

Communicating Ideas Internally with CAPSTONE:

• Use Daniel Priestley’s CAPSTONE framework to structure pitches:

This approach ensures clarity, builds trust, and fosters collaboration, making it easier for stakeholders to buy into ideas.

Boredom as a Success Indicator:

• Scaling success often feels monotonous — repetition and consistency in executing a proven strategy are essential for sustainable growth.

Adapting Scarcity Tactics:

• Even small businesses can introduce scarcity by testing waitlists, exclusive offers, or time-sensitive promotions to create demand.

The words any marketer is likely to have heard or uttered at some point in their career is 'this channel doesn't work for us'. Often, these words simply mean we tried something without a specific goal in mind or with the expectation of all the monies rolling in immediately. In this back to basics talk, Joe reviews the model that has saved him a lot of anxiety and had a huge impact on how he discusses marketing with colleagues and senior management alike.

Helen Edwards from Marketing Week's Mini MBA.

Helen talks about how to get wider business buy-in to your marketing efforts so you can get things done, essentially, how to get marketing a seat at the table and decision makers to sign off on our ideas. To avoid being relegated to the ‘colouring-in department’, Marketing must leverage all of the 5 P’s and that means engaging with and getting the support of the rest of the business. To put it simply, to get stuff done you need their buy-in. - Learn what the language of business is, and how to speak it - Find out when to bring in the rest of the team, to help you move forward - Hear practical case studies of when this has been done well before

Thomas Barta, Founder of The Marketing Leadership Masterclass

How to get the rest of your team involved in social media content - Nana Crawford

Vikki Ross, Dave Harland, and Eddie Schleyner took to the TMM stage and what followed was an awe-inspiring, fist-pump-inducing, loud-whooping-filled session.

We laughed, we cried, we gave standing ovations (no, really) as these three wordsmiths explained:

😂 Why it’s far better to be funny than forgettable

🤖 Why human creativity will trump AI chatbots every time

👃 Why the best copywriters are infinitely curious/nosy

You really don’t want to miss the replay of this one

Marketing briefs.

A big part of many of our lives as marketers and possibly the most important document in marketing. And yet so rarely done well, causing big problems from start to finish.

Two Effie award winning marketers, Pieter-Paul and Matt, saw the problem and have done something about it. With the help of Vaughan, they launched possibly the largest study into marketing briefs and the perceptions around them from both side of the briefing table. In this webinar, expect takeaways on:

- What are the biggest problems with marketing briefs
- What's the impact?
- Potential ways to reduce the damage and waste

[REPLAY] How to stand out on social media in 'boring' industries - Richard Cook, Monzo

Today's TMM webinar doesn't start from a place of 'look at AI'.
It starts from a place of 'this stuff is big and interesting, now - how can we as marketing humans actually use it to improve our lives?', exploring:
🚀 The basics of AI and how it can benefit your marketing efforts
🚀 Real-world examples of AI in action in marketing
🚀 Practical tips for implementing AI in your marketing strategy
🚀 Future trends and opportunities in AI for marketing

Social media has changed the world in many ways, but it's revolutionised consumer expectations. Not only are consumers expecting more in respect to communication with brands and how brands act, they're also now dictating the stories that brands tell. 

Join Mike Blake-Crawford to learn about 'social-first storytelling' and understand the components of storytelling that will be driving successful brands in the future.

As marketers, we spend our time trying to reach people. We talk about the strategies and tactics to do as much all the time.

But isn't it more important that we resonate with them? That we're not just a pixel on a screen but a reaction created? An emotion stirred? An action prompted.

In this interview with global keynote speaker, host of Unthinkable podcast and multiple times author, Jay Acunzo - we'll explore what it really means to resonate with your audience, and more importantly - how to do it.

Ever been in that situation where you've been at an event or meeting and got someone's name on the tip of your tongue, but can't quite get there? How about the time you just flat out forgot?

It happens to all of us. But, Jordan Harry (TEDx speaker with 1,000,000+ views) is here to help. In something slightly tangential to marketing but still very relevant indeed, Jordan will take you through:

- The Geeky Stuff of memory
- Short and long term memory training
- Memory Techniques
- And it's application

Richard Cook works in the banking sector: not an industry known for high class social media.

And yet, Monzo bank stands out in the market. Whether it’s embracing Tik Tok or Tweets that get people talking.

So how can you embrace the true essence of social media in industries and companies that aren’t known for it? How can you make a splash when there is every reason not to? And how can you have fun on social media, not just do it for the sake of it?

Richard shares his Monzo journey, but also steps out of his context to offer practical tips for smashing social 🙂

Join David McQueen as we delve into courage and fear, offering practical advice on how to overcome barriers and take more courageous action. Takeaways: - Discover techniques for confronting and overcoming fears that inhibit personal and professional growth. - Learn how to cultivate a mindset of courage and resilience in the face of challenges. - Gain actionable strategies for stepping out of your comfort zone and seizing opportunities.

We're all told to create 'great content', but the reality of working in a small team means many marketers don't have the capacity to deliver on the promise of producing good stuff. 

In this excellent, well structured and practical talk, Helen Brooks of Further takes you through the stuff you need to know in order to create the elusive 'great content' despite company limitations.

Even in 2022, Linkedin still presents one of the most abundant sources of organic reach for those looking to build their personal or business profile.

And with that comes opportunity. But, that opportunity is fraught with issues of confidence, knowledge gaps on what to be posting, and frankly - making Linkedin a pleasurable experience by knowing how to curate your feed.

Pragya and Lea have walked the walk when it comes to Linkedin - both have established strong personal brands, and their businesses are flourishing as a result.

So, how can you smash Linkedin for yourself or your business too? That’s what this session is all about!

Richard Huntington imparts some of his marketing wisdom. Watch as he talks about his journey in marketing, what Saatchi & Saatchi do, the marketing industry as whole and how to get started in marketing.

Social media is changing all the time, right?

In this session, Kirstie shares 20 recent changes in the social media space that will change your social implementation straight away.

Edward will be talking about the importance of visual media in B2B marketing.

Fiverr are building a brand that is becoming ubiquitous in the world. But, the company remains young.

In this talk, Liron who was employee number 13, discusses the journey and what you can take it from it.

James is the former brand director for Vinted, over their huge period of growth. He also held prominent marketing roles at Google, Uber, and Innocent.

He is an adventurer who clocked 41,000 km over 38 countries on his bike, hiked across Argentina and Norway, kayaked the width and climbed the height of the UK non-stop - for which he was awarded as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

He regularly gets described using words like 'The most informative, thought-provoking and entertaining speaker we've ever had'.

Oh and he’s a really nice chap too.

In this episode, James not only touches on some marketing fundamentals but helps us all realise how we can be better people when turning up to do our jobs.

I think you're going to love this episode!

This man has some amazing stories, so be sure to grab a drink with him either side of his talk which is titled...."How to blow £500,000 on marketing (and how not to)". Louis is going to help you make sure you don't make the mistake of wasting marketing budgets where they just won't work for you.

As part of our series on helping marketers understand different departments, today's session was all about sales.

The coronavirus crisis will test us all as marketers. Mark Ritson doesn’t pretend to have the answers, but he has earned the right to have an opinion worth listening to after a storied career that has left him as one of the world’s best known marketers.

In this session, Mark covers:

• Where the current messaging on Coronavirus has gone wrong, as we look to ease lockdown restrictions, and the approach he would take to make it better: “Martin Luther King had a dream, he didn’t have a bunch of different *expletive* scenarios”
• The brands doing a good job throughout the Covid crisis right now
• How history has taught us now is not the time to start investing in marketing
• How to convince the board that marketing is worth the investment
• How we’re all likely to bounce back into the same behaviours as what we did before Covid
• Planning for a longer term recession as a result of coronavirus, rather than just the short term implications of the past twelve weeks
• What books and courses people should be looking at, as well as Linkedin recommendations
• How folks should be adapting in the case of redundancy or being furloughed
• Whether marketing is now being exposed for it’s short-termist approach
• The things most companies overlook in their marketing

Nicola Bray runs SEVEN companies. Basically, she's superwoman. In this talk, she goes back to the very basics of marketing and shares some values of what marketing really means beyond the channels, beyond the hype and beyond the hyperbole. This is also the second ever talk from The Marketing Meetup: Birmingham, which is very exciting!

Rob Lawrence is an audio guy through and through, and in the current age of podcasting being front and centre - it makes a lot of sense to listen to someone who has dedicated their life to audio. 

In this podcast, he lists the mistakes he sees many marketers make when launching their own podcast - we'll get our coats now as we've ticked most of them off ourselves!

In this episode of The Marketing Meetup Podcast, Joe is joined by AI expert Ash Stern to break down the world of AI agents—what they are, how they work, and whether businesses truly need them. AI can often feel like an overwhelming, jargon-filled space, but Ash simplifies it beautifully, comparing AI agents to digital employees that can automate and enhance marketing workflows.

Key takeaways from the conversation:

• What AI Agents Actually Are – Understanding the difference between AI agents, traditional chatbots, and custom GPTs.
• When & Why to Use AI Agents – How they go beyond basic automations, making independent decisions and streamlining complex marketing tasks.
• Practical Use Cases – From repurposing content at scale to automating sales research, Ash shares real-life applications of AI agents in marketing.
• Challenges & Misconceptions – The learning curve involved, common pitfalls, and why AI agents aren't just a plug-and-play solution.

Ash also shares her own journey from a non-technical background to mastering AI automation and highlights some of the most innovative AI-driven marketing strategies she’s seen.

If you’ve been curious about AI agents but unsure where to start, this episode is packed with actionable insights and honest advice on navigating the AI hype.

🎧 Tune in to learn how to harness AI for smarter, more efficient marketing!

Tim Soulo is the CMO of Ahrefs. In this session, we asked him about the journey of growing Ahrefs to a site that measures its website traffic in the millions – and how you can build traffic to your website too.

How do you build traffic to your website – key takeaways:

Is SEO for your business?

SEO isn’t for everyone. It’s worth asking the question of whether there is enough search traffic volume to even support your SEO efforts. If there isn’t – it might be worth considering prioritising other channels.

On SEO hacks

One of the first themes was to “stop looking for magic bullets. That doesn’t exist. SEO happens because you do the work”. Simply put – great things take time, original thoughts, and having the fundamentals right before building great work off the back of this. This was a great point of encouragement to simply slow down. Much of Tim’s success can be pointed to a cumulation of efforts over a long time, rather than quick hacks.

Is your content marketing tied back to the business?

Ahrefs have a three-level scoring system for blog posts, and whether the content they are producing is aligned to their business. Every post Ahrefs produce will be aligned against these levels. Ultimately, as marketers, the goal isn’t just to drive traffic, but traffic that converts. Having these levels also enables you to gain greater focus on what you are producing, as you are no longer just producing random bits of content for the sake of traffic, but you’re doing so with purpose.

• Level 3 – The problem you’re writing about is a perfect fit for the product/service you offer. You can tie what you do into the blog post perfectly, and use the content to both establish credibility, but also likely, sell.
• Level 2 – The product/service you offer is a partial solution for the problem you’re writing about, but not *critical*, as in level three. At this level, you can still speak about your product/service, but it is less well linked into what you are doing.
• Level 1 – At this level, what you’re writing about has a loose tie in to what you sell/offer, but it’s not a close fit. At this level, it would be hard to convert traffic off the back of someone landing on your page – even if it’s good for your traffic stats.

How do you find time for content creation?

Creation of content can be seen through two lenses. The first is time ‘spent’ and the second is time ‘invested’. Tim gave the example of a blog post he wrote a number of years ago that required him to get in touch with 500 different people to ask them to share their Google Analytics data, so he could investigate the ROI of guest posting. Years on, this post has still not been superseded at the top of Google for its ranking terms because no one else has put in the same amount of work to create something as valuable. Time invested in content where the author behaves more like a journalist than a copywriter yields results.

How do you convince cynical members of your company of the value of investing in SEO?

Simply, then the competition is capturing free results that you are not.

How do you measure the value of SEO?

Measurement of the impact of SEO and Content Marketing is not as simple as it seems. Tim points to at least 10 different ways content affect his business, but it would be difficult to attribute success to them. At Ahrefs, they don’t actually measure these things as a result!

Sophie and Olivia have built amazing communities within the marketing industry. In this Q&A session, we find out how they've done it, why they've done it and some of the reasons they've been so successful.

So if you're keen to build your own engaged community online, this is a 'must-listen' episode

Great copy can be the difference between making a sale, or not converting at all. Compelling someone to act, or losing them forever.

Dave Harland has dedicated his professional life to writing great copy: and he does it so well!

In this talk, Dave shares his tips and tricks for writing great copy for social media.

One of the phrases that passes the lips of marketers across the land regularly is ‘marketing moves so fast’. 

This is perhaps no more true than in Social Media, which, as a category has many different pillars, each of which have constantly shifting nuances and features among them. By the end of this session, I hope you’ll leave with a better sense on some of the biggest changes that you need to know about, and some tips on how to adapt.

As marketers we've been told that blogging is the most amazing thing since forever. But that's really tiresome. It's a grind, and getting results is hard to come by meaning it can be demoralising. Therefore consider this talk a shot in the arm for all you marketers out there. As an inbound guy, Jeremy unsurprisingly argues in favour of blogging. Why? ... Well you'll have to listen to find that out :)

Over 21% of the UK population report some form of disability that will impact their ability to access digital experiences in a way that suits them.

This is both simultaneously shocking and an opportunity, as a poor customer experience can lead to lost customers.

In this talk, James and Tzveta will focus on:

- The big picture: How can you inspire a shift in corporate towards accessible transformation?
- The small picture: what changes can you practically implement to your digital experience to enable more people to access and understand the information presented?

This episode of The Marketing Meetup Podcast is supplied by Rob Wilkes of Creative Giant. What is BrandUX? Well Rob describes it as the strategy behind your strategy. Intrigued? In this talk, he discusses his journey as a designer to someone who listens first, how authenticity will always win, and his discovery process - among many other nuggets of

AI – it’s the topic on everyone’s lips. And more specifically, we all want to know how we, as marketers, can use it to help us be better at our jobs, and do a lot more with a little. This webinar was a Q&A between Joe and Billy Jones – VP of Marketing at Hootsuite. They discussed:

🧠 How you can use AI in your marketing activity

🧠 How to write great prompts to get the most out of AI tools

🧠 How to navigate the ethics and legalities of using AI in business

The reality of many marketer’s jobs is having to come up with multiple pieces of brand new content, from scratch... everyday. On top of that it has to be relevant, engaging and win the internet… It’s no wonder we’ve never got enough time or feel like we’ve run out of ideas.

So, how do you fill the gaps in your feed with stuff that matters?

Well, Andy Lambert, Director of ContentCal tells us exactly how in our latest podcast. He also arms us with a content management plan, as well as a list of tools to help us execute it efficiently.

In this talk, Joe Glover shares why he loves marketing to a young audience at Saatchi & Saatchi.

Eddie Shleyner, Jo Watson & Dave Harland are three of the world's best-known copywriters who also happen to be smashing it on Linkedin. In this friendly chat, they'll share how they do it, and answer your questions 🙂

In this session Chris shares what semiotics is, why it is indispensable to understand how brands work, how to drive distinction using product category codes, why ‘culture’ is more important than ever and how semiotics closes a gap between what brands THINK they’re communicating and what they’re actually communicating.

In this inspiring lightning talk, Anne-Marie Miller shares her journey to becoming a sketchnoter, and how she now uses the skills she has picked up to remember important aspects of talks she would have never been able to otherwise.

In marketing we love change, but what about what won’t? The things that don’t change are the things that we can build strategies for the long term off the back of.

In this talk, the influential and well-known VP of Brand Planning at Jellyfish - Tom Roach, shares 7 unchanging principles of effective communication that are based on how our brains work, not on how specific technology works.

For an understanding of what really matters and a healthy dose of grounded thinking, be sure to make this session!

It's really hard to say no, especially when an idea is exciting or the person pitching it to you is really enthusiastic about it. But often, especially in a world where marketers have so much thrown at them on a daily basis, it's important to say no - so you can truly give your all to one thing. In this talk by Daisy Kingham, she takes you through her model for deciding what to say no to - leaving you with a model for prioritisation, as well as grounds for saying no, but in a nice way. For more from The Marketing Meetup, head to themarketingmeetup.com

Amongst many exciting and impressive things (like sitting on the TMM board, founding a marketing agency, running a lot, etc.) Max Hoppy is one of the co-founders of The Keynote Club – a place to help marketers get better at public speaking. 

This presentation takes a look at why Max believes that most marketing problems aren’t actually marketing problems, and how public speaking can solve a lot of them.

In short, it’s about how marketers can speak with more confidence. 

Beau Miles is one of the most authentic storytellers on YouTube.  We are HUGE fans.  We interviewed Beau to understand more about how he creates such compelling stories from seemingly the most simple ideas.

In this talk, Mark Dalgarno aspires to deliver the worst lightning talk in history. Not because he aspires to be bad, but because he uses a great tool to problem solve during times he becomes stuck. This is a truely brilliant lightning talk. Enjoy!

Today we have the absolute pleasure of welcoming Emma Honeybone to speak with us.

Emma is the Head of Relationship Marketing at Engine Group - a global agency which, if Linkedin is to be believed, is comprised of 1,400 incredible people working with the likes of Coca Cola, Under Armour, Sky, Domino’s, the RAF, Unilever, and many more.

Emma herself has been on an incredible journey through marketing over the past number of years. Starting at BT, she’s held a vast array of marketing roles in a whole range of companies. Today she’s responsible for ‘all the fun stuff at Engine’ - specifically, engagement with clients throughout the whole Engine group, which would no doubt have been interesting in the past 9 weeks.

The reason this session is relevant today is we’ve seen a monumental shift in the world in the past couple of months. The gut feeling would be that this changes everything. Both Emma and us share an opinion that in fact, much has stayed the same when it comes to putting on a great event. This session will discuss and look at both, before answering your questions.

Want to thank the sponsors, all of whom have been unbelievable. They’ve really kept this show on the road, and while I’ve been so blessed to have received so many messages from the community, these folks all deserve a huge amount of credit. I won’t go into depth here because of the email I will send after, but I want to thank Pitch, ContentCal, Fiverr, Redgate, Cambridge Marketing College, Leadoo, Brand, Further, Third Light, Bravo and Human. One ask: thank the people who help us.

Simon Hall is ex-BBC and current Cambridge University: that means to say, this dude is accommmmmppppllliiiiiisssssheeedd!

In this talk, he shares why simple messages are often the best.

A toolkit for creativity - Jodie Newman, The Business Allotment

Introduction

• Overview: Joe Glover explains a simplified approach to crafting a marketing strategy.
• Value: Strategy aligns marketing efforts with business goals, providing clear benchmarks and direction.

• Align with Business Objectives: Marketing goals should connect directly to company objectives.
• SMART Goals: Specific, Measurable, Ambitious, Relevant, Time-bound.
• Example: Replace “get our name out there” with “increase site visits by 50% in six months.”

• Identify the Core Problem: Mark Ritson’s “diagnosis” starts with understanding what the customer truly needs.
• Jobs to Be Done: Customers buy products to solve functional, emotional, or social problems.
• Research: Use customer feedback, social media, and reviews to pinpoint needs and pain points.

• Go Beyond Demographics: Use psychographics, behaviours, and values to understand your audience.
• Focus on Viable Segments: Consider Total Addressable Market (TAM), spending power, and reachability.
• Example Segment: Joe’s target for ABC Limited: “fashion-forward pet owners” who value stylish pet wear.

• Craft a Positioning Statement: Define your brand’s unique value concisely.
• Distinctiveness vs. Differentiation:

• Separate Strategy from Tactics: Start with strategy, not tactics, to avoid scattershot efforts.
• Use a Funnel-Based Approach: Awareness, Consideration, Purchase, Retention, Advocacy.
• Examples:

• Team Involvement: Collaborate with sales, leadership, and other departments for buy-in.
• Measure & Adjust: Track each tactic with specific metrics to ensure alignment with strategy.

Key Steps to a Bare Minimum Marketing Strategy

1. Set Clear, Aligned Goals

2. Solving a Problem

3. Targeting and Segmentation

4. Positioning

5. Tactics

In this week's podcast, we welcome Nishma Patel Robb, founder of Glittersphere and former Senior Director of Brand & Reputation at Google. Nishma shares her inspiring journey of stepping away from a high-profile corporate career to launch a startup dedicated to helping women achieve financial freedom through powerful personal branding.

We dive deep into:

• Why Nishma left Google and the motivation behind creating Glittersphere

• Key lessons from corporate giants and what small businesses can learn (and do better)

• Practical tips on building authentic and impactful personal brands

• The core elements of strong brands and storytelling that truly connects

This conversation is packed with insight, warmth, and actionable advice—perfect for marketers, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking to make their brand stand out.

The Barbie marketing team have been doing a BRILLIANT job.

Pink billboard ads. Shots of the dream house the team built in Malibu. Behind-the-scenes tours with Margot Robbie and more. The team behind advertising the new Barbie Movie have been doing a BIG job, gathering their efforts behind the Barbie film, to be released on July 21st.

The attention feels impressive. Barbie had been struggling to remain relevant for quite a while. From her peak in the 90s as the unchallenged queen of the dollhouse, Barbie’s sales saw a sharp drop in the following decades – eight successive quarters of decline was reported in 2015.

Yet by 2021, the brand posted record sales of $1.7 Billion for Mattel. While 2023 started with “profits and revenue had fallen short of forecasts” it feels like momentum is gathering behind the film on social media, at the very least. 

But I can’t help shake the feeling that building an entire house and having Margot Robbie showing the internet around it isn’t available to most marketers.

So, here are six principles we can take from Barbie, but applying them in a world that feels a bit closer and available to the rest of us...

A meandering conversation about Brand Purpose - CMO of KFC - Jack Hinchliffe

Gymshark: What you’re missing if creativity isn’t part of your business – Jo Bird, Gymshark

With the likes of Google and Facebook making it easier than ever for marketers to automate campaigns and carry out testing at scale, it can be all too easy to turn on campaigns and let them run, without truly considering the broader context of your advertising activity.

In today's fast-moving environment - in which politics, social movements, and algorithm updates can shift things overnight, having a well-thought-out strategy, supported by smart tactics, is essential.

In this session, Croud US Managing Director Kris Tait will explore the difference between marketing strategies and tactics - and the measurement models and frameworks you can use to set yourself up for success. He'll also take a look at what Google and Facebook have to say on recent developments, and share his own advice for avoiding falling into a performance marketing rut.

Video is so so so powerful - and yet, the uneducated saying again and again isn't going to prove it. That's why you can ask Alex Morris from Lambda Films. He's created videos all around the world, including videos to educate those at risk of natural disaster what to do in the case of emergency. In this talk, Alex talks about the videos he's created and the impact they've had. Sharing how they've changed lives, and the methods he's deployed with his team to make the viewers feel that way.

Does being a trained marketer make you a better marketer? Mark Ritson certainly thinks so. That’s why he founded the Mini MBA, possibly the most pervasive marketing qualification in the UK today.

I (Joe) recently completed the Mini MBA and had a great experience. In this session, we ask the good Professor Ritson ten questions that the Mini MBA raised.

Not just for those who have completed the Mini MBA, nor just for those considering it: this will be a chance to glean some marketing knowledge from the UK’s favourite marketing professor.

Today, we’re going to be talking about the step-by-step guide to boosting your customer reviews in 30 days, and by extension, also the easiest way to get thousands of reviews in the long term to help you grow top-line revenues, either for your own business or for your clients.

If there was a 'this is mega-explicit' button for marking podcasts, this would be the one it would be used for. 

Nonetheless, Dan Kelsall speaks the truth. A lot of B2B content is shi*e, and a lot of us do persevere with it nonetheless. In this brutal but honest talk - Dan shares with you how to make your content just a little bit less shi*. 

Ben Rees is the CMO of Redgate Software, a 400 person company. In this talk, he provides a view on what Product Marketing is to him, to Redgate, and how that could be different to the rest of the world.

Dave Collins has been 'SEO'ing since 1997. In that time, he's learnt a thing or two about 'the Google'. 

In this entertaining podcast, we hear from Dave, very quickly, about his top tips for making Google notice you. 

Christina is the CMO of the cycling brand Rapha. Her inspiring talk from our Manchester event talked through how diversity is being challenged in the cycling industry through a brand like Rapha. She also gives an actionable framework for how diversity and inclusion can be achieved in any organisation.

To watch the talk head over to https://youtu.be/FmHbX4BOfl4?si=cvwjXWGxl2_x9MbM

And for more of our in-person or online events visit themarketingmeetup.com

What happens when you combine a cereal brand, surreal humour, and a copywriter who isn’t afraid to admit when he’s just “crapped something out”? You get one of the most delightfully strange and insightful hours of marketing chat you'll ever hear.

In this episode, we’re joined by John Thornton, the creative mind behind Surreal’s surreal tone of voice (and ex-Innocent word-wrangler). We chat about:

• Finding your brand’s voice—even if it’s a bit unhinged

• Why humour, honesty, and even typos can win hearts (and views)

• How to stay weird and do your job as a marketer

It’s honest. It’s smart. It’s surreal in the best possible way. Come for the laughs, stay for the strategy.

Having built the worlds largest social media following in the construction industry (c.4.5 million followers), Lee has successfully built an agency off the back of his original idea to create a place for the trades of the UK to meet online.

In this episode, Lee talks about how he did this and how you can grow a social media audience to benefit you as a business.

 How to get free PR for your business. Well if that title doesn't indicate it is worth listening to, I don't know what is. 

How to plan amazing campaigns that make an impact, both online and in the real world 

Stop guessing what content and sales messages you think will work to convert customers into sales and instead discover the never-before-discussed-secret to KNOWING exactly what will work to convert customers with laser like precision, so that you can build funnels, content and automations to drive more sales than you could ever imagine.

Andrew and Pete have been dubbed, 'The best content marketing speakers on the planet' and ensure a fast pace engaging talk to change your thinking around marketing and sales forever.

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Take the time to check out our partners, all of whom we work with because we think they're useful companies for lovely marketers.

Impression - Impression are digital growth specialists, defining and delivering integrated digital strategies that transform market players into market leaders.

Cambridge Marketing College - The best place to get your marketing qualifications and apprenticeships.

Brand Recruitment - An amazing marketing recruitment company based in Cambridge, UK and wonderful supporters of the meetup.

Redgate Software - Now hiring marketers!

Storyblok - the only CMS you'll ever need. The headless content management system that empowers 100,000+ developers and content teams to create better content experiences across any digital channel.

Whether it’s a presentation, a speech or a pitch: there are common threads that can be learned to become a better presenter. Join us to find out what they are 🙂

Burnout is Widespread in Marketing

• 70% of marketers report experiencing burnout in the past year.
• The always-on nature of marketing, constant measurement, and lack of alignment with leadership contribute to burnout.

• Rita’s burnout was driven by a deep need for achievement and external validation.
• She tied self-worth to productivity—when she wasn’t performing, she felt like a failure.
• Many marketers experience this cycle of overworking to ‘prove’ their value.

Hear how Rita got burnt out but how she now protects herself from it happening again

Linkedin is an unbelievable platform for marketers, but so many of us aren’t taking advantage of what is truly a golden age of the platform. It’s been said before, but this won’t last forever, so we got John Espirian to share his hints and tips in a concentrated hour of amazingness.

In this session, John covers:

• How to generate content for Linkedin
• The metrics you need to be looking at to measure success
• How to adopt a follow first strategy, as opposed to a connect first strategy
• What the deal is with 'trending' on Linkedin
• How long you should expect to be posting on Linkedin before seeing results
• Why you shouldn't be looking to automate on Linkedin
• The golden ratio between posting and commenting on the platform
• How to use Hashtags
• Asking for recommendations
• Linkedin's Social Selling Index
• The best strategies when it comes to growing your company page
• How to get in difficult to reach people
• The need for quality!
• And much more!

Ever wonder how small companies make it to unicorn status through their marketing? It's all about creating a movement behind the company that transcends the functionality of the product and makes customers understand exactly how something will affect their life, as well as what something does. In many ways, this is marketing 101, yet so many of us get so wrapped up in the day to day we lost sight of the things that really matter in our efforts. In this talk, James Parton gives the inside track of how to create a movement, just like he did at Twilio, the unicorn tech company just a few years ago. For more from The Marketing Meetup, head to themarketingmeetup.com

Objections are just another way of your customer saying you haven't met their needs... yet. An awareness of where a customer will commonly object to your marketing means you can safeguard against it - meaning your sales process becomes easier, and ultimately - you sell more stuff. In this talk, Lee Carnihan explores a bevy of common objections marketers fail to overcome - proposing solutions, and showing you what the final product looks like. A top talk from a top chap. Slides from the talk are also available here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ioa1xi6l8etuk84/AADyz5JXMXIL8cXLIlXn5Raua?dl=0

Creativity is one of the greatest skills any marketer can have. Max, Co-Founder of Bind, and ex-Googler, shares how they taught him, and his colleagues to be creative in practical steps.

Max approached his talk by structuring it the following way:

• How the brain works best when finding creativity
• The high level science of the brain and creativity
• Max’s three R’s for creativity – related worlds, random links, revolution
• How to practically create an environment where creativity flows
• How to get buy in from more traditional teams for creative ideas
• And much more!

How to build a marketing budget that gives clarity and gets buy in with Mark Smith and Martin Coyle from SmilingCFO

There’s a lot of ‘accepted wisdom’ and jargon in branding and marketing. Myths that have somehow become the parameters we all work within. This session busts 5 of the most common ones to give you a better way forward.

Drawing on their experience of strengthening 90+ brands as brand and marketing leaders and advisors, Sarah and Rachel will share how to avoid the pitfalls. They’ll cover why you should NOT

1. Start with strategy
2. Leave it to the experts
3. Put customers first
4. Create brand guidelines
5. Focus on consistency

Come join Sarah and Rachel to focus your efforts, eliminate the jargon and build your brand with confidence so it can reach its potential and grow revenue.

In this episode, we’re joined by Ash Jones and Claudia Cardinali of Great Influence to break down the realities of personal branding—without the cringe. They challenge the myths around personal branding, showing that it’s not about vanity metrics or fame but about building your network and reputation to unlock real opportunities.

In this part, we take the community's personal branding questions.

Tune in for an insightful, no-nonsense discussion on how to grow your personal brand with intention, creativity, and a long-term mindset.

10 years running a hugely successful marketing group. From influencer marketing, media buying, paid advertising and much, much more, Nicola has a wealth of experience. She is here to share the things she wishes she'd know when she started!

Community is a buzzword for marketers, and it will undoubtedly get stronger in 2021. So, with this in mind, how do you build one that has meaning?

Sometimes the things that don't 'make sense' are the things that also send your company into the stratosphere.

In this talk, Rory addresses the tyranny of logic and why sometimes, we just need to be a bit more magical.

We make quick - and accurate - judgments of the people we interact with, and adjust how we talk to them accordingly. Hundreds of thousands of years of hardwired intuition and empathy guide our social interactions. Brands have been lacking this nuance - until now. A combination of data science and behavioural science allows brands to understand consumers’ personalities and talk to them in the best way. If, for example, their Amazon history shows they like dark chocolate and gin, talk to them in a blunter and swearier way.

We spend a lot of time as marketers focusing on 'the pipes' of our craft. That means to say we're far more likely to spend our time trawling through analytics than we are to come up with our next creative campaign.

In this talk, creative dynamo Baz Richardson will put forward why he things we should reinvest our time and energy in once again exploring our creative sides.

Miruna Drogmir is the CMO of Planable, ex-Uber, ex-Orcale and Forbes 30 under 30.

In today's talk Miruna helps us understand how best you can manage social media whether you are in a big team or a one-person company

Ever caught yourself in that moment where the words get stuck in your throat and you don't say the thing you know to be right? Where you can see others join in, and want to, but can't bring yourself to make that step into the group? Or, simply not feeling like you are giving everything you can give through holding back for *some* reason?

All the while, you see people around you being heard, seemingly enjoying themselves and moving forward.

There are lots of good reasons this could be the case. But confidence... that's one you can do something about.

Kirtsy Hulse has helped tens of thousands of people across the world on their confidence journey. In a sentence, she helps people achieve more than they thought possible. She also happens to be a marketer :)

Marketers - we love data. We love doing things by the numbers. 

And while we like to say the era of mad men and women is over, should it be?

Dan Kelsall makes the case.

This is a BRILLIANT lightning talk from Mark Cook, all about automating social media and the benefits you can reap from them. Just listen to it. You'll enjoy :)

How do you build a business off the back of a simple newsletter?

David Hieatt is the Founder of Hiut Denim & The Do Lectures. He’s famed for his creativity, and his storytelling. So much so, he’s appeared in a recent Apple ad campaign.

One thing David holds dear is the importance of email marketing to him. In this session, we unpack how David has built his success off the back of his email list.

This is a terrific talk. 

Google Ads are a massive part of the marketing mix for many, but also a complete mystery for loads more. 

In this fascinating and funny talk, Mark Williams-Cook looks to demystify Google Ads, particularly for those working in smaller teams who may consider Google Ads out of their reach, all while maintaining most excellent Lord of the Rings references.

If you're not from Cambridge you might not know of Faye Holland, but even though she'd never say it... she's kind of a big deal. Faye is a completely inspirational human being whos career has spanned some of the most important companies in the region, during which time she has amassed a wealth of experience and knowledge. In this fireside chat, we took the opportunity to find out a little bit about Faye and how she thinks, in the hope some of her magic may well just rub off on the rest of us.

Storytelling is one of the best ways for marketers to get their message across and Jeremy Waite has told stories on stages across the world. He’s helped some of the world’s leading figures tell their own.

In this session, we'll learn:

🖼 Art - The secret of emotional communications
⚗️ Science - The chemistry & physics behind all great stories
🎭 Drama - Turning presentations into performances