We chat with Stephen Hobbs, an expert in digital storytelling. Stephen is a respected and experienced marketer who has worked with many household brands including Google, Volvo and O2. We discuss the importance of content and storytelling in the age of AI. Stephen tells us that his initial career as a journalist gives him a slightly different perspective on the world of marketing.

You can connect with Stephen here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shobbsy/

We discuss a couple of related pieces of academic research:

Sung, E., Han, D. I. D., Choi, Y. K., Gillespie, B., Couperus, A., & Koppert, M. (2023). Augmented digital human vs. human agents in storytelling marketing: Exploratory electroencephalography and experimental studies. Psychology & Marketing, 40(11), 2428-2446.

Aicha, A. B., & Bouzaabia, R. (2023). The effects of video storytelling advertising on consumers’ online reactions on Facebook: a cross cultural study. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 26(3), 247-268.

You can contact Hanne at Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk and Tom at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk

We chat with Google Analytics expert Jill Quick about the importance of collecting and analysing the right data. Jill tells us why it marketers should take a strategic approach to measurement, and why she called her business The Coloring In Department.

You can connect with Jill here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillquick01/

You will also find plenty of further resources on Jill's website: https://www.thecoloringindepartment.com/

Jill also refers to a free online GA4 course on Wix Studio Academy: https://www.wix.com/studio/academy/courses/google-analytics-4

She also refers to a good book on analytics: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lean-Analytics-Better-Startup-Faster/dp/1098168186/

We discuss a couple of related pieces of academic research:

Many people don't use Google Analytics to its full extent: https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3578503.3583601

Need to map analytics to the consumer journey: https://doi.org/10.1057%2Fs41270-020-00098-0

You can contact Hanne at Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk and Tom at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk

In this episode, recorded in the Bristol Business School studio, we speak to five of the presenters from the Building Brands Conference in Bristol.

Each guest gave a quick summary of the main points from their presentations, as well as telling us a little bit about what their work in digital marketing involves. Our guests are (in order of appearance):
1. Heather Murray, AI for Non-Techies: Why AI doesn't need to be daunting
2. Harry Cobbold, Unfold: The importance of user-experience
3. Maret Reutelingsperger, Mobe Digital: The link between email and search results
4. Joe Wright, Ambitious PR: Protecting your online reputation
5. Harriet Barter and Owen Prior, Launch: AI and PPC advertising

To find out more about Building Brands, including the next event in Exeter on 7th November, go to https://www.building-brands.co.uk/

If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe!

This is a great discussion with Vasia Apostolaki, an expert in social media advertising. Vasia is an account director at dentsu international in London, with particular experience working with luxury brands.

We discuss why social media advertising is so effective, ethical issues, and areas for future development.

As usual we also discuss some interesting academic research in this area.

You can connect with Vasia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apostolaki/

Please also share and subscribe to the podcast, and let us know your feedback at tom.bowden-green@uwe.ac.uk and hanne.knight@plymouth.ac.uk

We sit down with digital marketing consultant, James Vincent, to discuss his expertise in artificial intelligence (AI). James is also a digital marketing lecturer and a PhD student studying the use of artificial intelligence in marketing.

James refers to some AI tools that he is currently working with, as well as reflecting on some of the points from his recent TedX Talk about ethics and AI.

As always, Hanne and I also discuss some of the latest research relating to this week's topic - AI and marketing.

You can reach James via LinkedIn and find out more about his consultancy, Hot Source Creative, here: https://www.hotsourcecreative.com/.

Please also share and subscribe to the podcast, and let us know your feedback at tom.bowden-green@uwe.ac.uk and hanne.knight@plymouth.ac.uk

As always, Hanne and I discuss relevant academic research that caught our attention – this time research looking at how different demographic groups use search engines.

We then chat to Luke Whitaker, Senior SEO Consultant at Organic, about search engine optimisation (SEO). Luke tells us about his passion for educating people about SEO. We also discuss recent changes to the Google algorithm, his advice for smaller businesses trying to attract traffic on search engines, and tools for understanding user behaviour.

We also discuss the role of generative AI in SEO, and whether TikTok is a search engine…

To contact Luke, you can email him (lukewhitaker4@gmail.com) or find him on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-whitaker-886948b4/

You can also subscribe to Luke's podcast Making Everyone A Little Bit SEO here: https://open.spotify.com/show/1b5mAiXiTIZhIIKghR9hbh

In this episode we chat to a conversion optimisation expert, Ryan Webb, about his work in making websites more commercially effective. With more than 20 years of experience, Ryan is a recognised expert in this field and has worked with a wide range of clients.

Ryan shares his 4-point plan for reviewing and improving websites, as well as explaining his decision to become a B Corp and to generally consider the impact of his work from an ethical perspective.

As always, Hanne and I also discuss some of the latest research in this area of digital behaviour.

You can reach Ryan via his website https://ryan-webb.co.uk/.

Please also share and subscribe to the podcast, and let us know your feedback at tom.bowden-green@uwe.ac.uk and hanne.knight@plymouth.ac.uk

We chat to Ross Middleham, Creative Lead at the Met Office. How does he encourage the Met Office to engage a wide range of audiences creatively? How can he be creative when communicating online around serious issues such as the weather and climate change? How does he deal with negativity around these issues? Does he have any tips for marketers and communicators when trying to think creatively?

So many questions, and around 30 minutes to answer them!

As always, we begin this episode with a quick summary of some interesting academic research, relating to digital behaviour.

We hope you enjoy this discussion and the podcast in general. Please share and subscribe if you do!

Feel free to contact either of us (Hanne or Tom) directly if you want to discuss any of the points covered: Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk, or Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk