Laura Grayson

If I were a Head of Marketing right now (part two)... Turns out 5,000+ of you had some thoughts on what brave marketing looks like, so here’s round two. ✅ Capitalise somewhere people overlook Oh Polly just quietly made their 'New In' section the most engaging thing going on with the brand. Models interact across panels, turning product listing into a moment of surprise. The product grid is usually ignored, but they made it scroll-worthy. My favourite bit? The ice-cream drop for sure. ✅ Take your product out of its usual place Swizzels did this beautifully. They launched a new series of Reels showing the sweets being spinning around and exploding into each other. It taps into ASMR, food aesthetic, and trend culture. And by removing the product from its usual pack shot or shelf context, they made it feel more fun, more cool, more desirable. ✅ Own a rainbow, not a brand colour We’re moving beyond the era of brands owning one colour. OLIPOP PBC, poppi and DAISE Beauty are building visual identities based on full product rainbows, think shelf appeal, collectability, personal choice. It’s all about building a world where every flavour is its own moment. ✅ Set build is King Think of Puresport’s branded marathon fill-up station or The London Essence Company recreating a London rooftop terrace to launch their pink grapefruit serve. These are more than “sets” they’re brand-built environments that can live across social, OOH, retail and PR. Physical feels even more powerful in a world of 3D AR crowdedness. ✅ Drill into FOMO rhode skin’s Mallorca launch wasn’t just about a lip tint it was about making you feel like you were missing out on the coolest trip of the summer. It wasn’t pushing product, it was giving ‘I need to be there’. That’s the power of FOMO culture done right: making people want the moment as much as the product. ✅ Make your product the cool girl Oatly’s Lookbook didn’t feel like a marketing campaign, it felt like a couture drop. Their oat serves were styled like they belonged in an Acne editorial which was unexpectedly effortlessly chic haha. It was fun, self-aware, and weirdly cool. In a sea of samey UGC, they made oat milk feel like the moment. Proof that with a bit of thought and a good eye, any product can have main character energy. Basically, if I were running marketing right now, I’d be squeezing the magic out of every overlooked moment.

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Top tip for my freelance marketing homies out there: Stop trying to justify the costs involved in what you provide. Focus on the value/deliverables it will provide instead. I see a lot of people breaking down the fact that their prices include insurance, software, equipment, holiday pay etc. And whilst that’s all absolutely true, I’ll let you in on a little secret: That potential client doesn’t give a toss. They only care about them getting results/returns from whatever the service is that you’re selling. Try this instead: “That price is a bit steep. Especially as we didn’t get any results last time we did this.” “Interesting. How much did you pay for this last time, what did you get for it, how was it implemented, and what did you get back?” “We spent £300 on [let them specify shit deliverables from the fella from Fiverr] and got nothing back” “What’s an avg client worth to you?” “£3000”. “Ok. Well for [insert price], here’s a full breakdown of our process, all the exact deliverables you’ll get, how they’ll be used, and the metrics we’ll measure to show how they’ll affect your bottom line. I’ve also attached 3 examples of businesses similar to yours that we’ve done this for and the results they got. If we can land you [x] new clients from this in [y] time, how much profit does that leave in your pocket each month?” People think they want someone to “do a thing”. What they ACTUALLY want is confidence that there’s a clear system behind the investment that will return more than they’re putting into it. Frame your conversations this way and you’ll have a much nicer time on sales calls. P.S- there are plenty of people out there that are inherently just cheap/daft and will always place price above logic/evidence. Don’t waste your time or energy on those. The economy will teach them harsher lessons than you ever could. #Freelance #Marketing #Sales

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❓ I've been asked a few times this week how to get the most out of #pDOOH...the simple answer is integrate it into you digital marketing mix....but things are never quite that simple.... ❓ Recent research from Skyrise shows combining #DOOH with other digital channels provides an uplift Vs control of 18%-118%. Varying significantly by sector and application. This resonates with research from Meta back in 2019 which showed a 1.6x improvement in sales by combining DOOH with mobile social. In reality pDOOH is a tactic, the use of which should be defined by the brand/campaign the strategy, which in turn should be derived from your business objectives....Place this is a measurement framework designed to gather actionable iterative intelligence (ask yourself what do I need to know to improve my next campaign) and you are set up for success! 🚀 Follow these simple steps to get the most out of integrating #pDOOH into your digital marketing mix. Get in touch to start your journey in The Middle East today [email protected] Ben Wilkins Mark Burton Displayce Blis Adform Hawk (an Azerion company) The Trade Desk The Neuron VIOOH JCDecaux Middle East JCDecaux 👀 💬 👇

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The biggest marketing lie ever told: Organic marketing is free It's not free It never has been. It never will be. You’re not “saving money” by skipping paid advertising if you're pouring time into organic content. You're just spending it differently. Because here's the truth: - Writing great content takes time - Ranking on Google takes patience - Building an audience takes strategy - Staying consistent takes serious effort - Creating posts that actually convert takes skill Organic marketing might not have an invoice attached. But it absolutely has a cost. It costs: - Your time - Your team’s time - Your tools and tech - Your strategic input - Your creative resources So the next time someone says “we’ll just go organic”... Make sure they understand what that really means. Organic can be powerful. But only if you treat it like the investment it truly is. What’s been your biggest lesson with organic marketing? Repost ♻ to educate your network. And follow Tom Pestridge for more posts like this.

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When chima mmeje🏳️‍🌈 moved to the UK in 2022 and launched the Freelance Coalition for Developing Countries, she quickly noticed something surprising: 90% of people signing up for the Tech #SEO training thought it meant “SEO for tech companies”. This was a simple misunderstanding caused by a lack of awareness and she knew she needed to do something about that. She realised many people from developing countries had historically gravitated toward content work, as it’s often the easiest entry point into the industry. Chima shares how she herself first got into SEO through content, simply because it was something she could teach herself without formal training. Chima also shares how instrumental Aleyda Solís was in getting the FCC off the ground in its early days - and how she didn’t hesitate for a second to offer her help. Watch the full episode here https://lnkd.in/eyaWT7Ks

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When I was leading The National Lottery marketing, we stuck up these behaviours on the walls in our office. Number 3 on this list was critical thinking. I love case studies. But case studies are not proof of rules or marketing laws. They are written by winners, about winners. They leave out the late‑night panics, the bad bets, the abandoned work. What we get is a tidy story. AI makes this worse. Because everything looks plausible and appears credible. Until you dig a little. Critical thinking was a top behaviour I cared about when I wrote my first book. Marketers must question assumptions, look for evidence, stay sceptical but not cynical. Without this, we get lazy thinking, which leads to poor decisions. Now that AI can produce endless confident nonsense, critical thinking has never been more critical. My latest chapter has some practical ways to use AI to counter this. Runwithfoxes.substack.com

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How One Messy Business Name Almost Got a Local Company Suspended by Google Let me tell you a story… I recently worked with a small business owner who had no idea their GBP was quietly putting their business at risk. Here’s what I found: Their official business name was “Elite Home Services Ltd.” But their GBP showed “Elite Home Cleaning & Handyman Services.” And across other directories and citations? Every variation you can imagine: “Elite Home Services,” “Elite Cleaning,” “Elite Home & Handyman,” “ELITE HOME SERVICES LTD”… it was a complete mess. At first, they didn’t think it was a big deal. But here’s why it mattered: → Google saw the keyword-stuffed GBP name and flagged it → risk of suspension. → Mismatched NAP (Name, Address, Phone) across websites, citations, and directories → confused Google → hurt rankings. → Even without changing addresses or phone numbers, just the name differences put their GBP at risk. I could see the panic in their eyes. Losing visibility on Google could cost them leads, credibility, and even customers during their busiest season. Here’s what I did: → Aligned the website and all directory listings so every NAP matched the official registration. → Updated the GBP name to exactly match their legal documentation. → Prepared for reverification, sometimes Google asks for video verification if it’s a physical location. Heads up: → Temporary suspension is possible when you change the name. → But with proper documentation, you can appeal and get reinstated. → Going slow and covering your bases reduces risk, but fear shouldn’t keep your GBP messy. Key takeaway: Inconsistent names = wasted visibility + potential suspension. Fix it now before it costs you leads and credibility. Winter, or peak season, doesn’t wait… and neither do your customers searching for your services. If you want your Google Business Profile optimized, consistent, and safe from suspension, let’s talk. I help local businesses fix their GBP, align their citations, and get found by the right customers. → DM me today and let’s make your business Google-proof.

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I really don’t want to evoke memories of the pandemic for anyone, but last time we saw mail engagement levels like this, we were all locked down at home for months on end with nothing better to do. Now five years later, we’re out-and-about and mail has still managed to record a half-decade high for customer engagement, and digital effectiveness. According to the latest findings from JICMAIL's 1,100 strong household-panel managed by Kantar, the proportion of mail driving website traffic and account detail look-ups has reached near-record levels, while purchase response rates are up 15% year on year. Whether you’re an acquisition marketer or loyalty and engagement practitioner, mail has something for everyone across Direct Mail, Door Drops, Partially Addressed and Business Mail. It’s not for nothing that we refer to mail as a Super Touchpoint channel. I’ll be covering all of this and more at the next JICMAIL webinar on the 16 September at 2pm. As well as taking a deep-dive in to the results I’ll be spinning through some of the key findings from a couple of key reports released this summer: The Value of Customer Data from the DMA (Data & Marketing Association) UK and Merkle and the Long and Short of Loyalty from the DMA and VCCP. Essential reading for marketers and mail practitioners. Q2 data release details and webinar sign-up link in the comments below.... #directmail #doordrops #marketingandadvertising #mediameasurement #marketingeffectiveness #performancemarketing #brandbuilding #customerengagement

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