Marketers of the Universe: A digital marketing podcast

In this episode of Marketers of the Universe, host Tom Inniss sits down with Michele Raffaelli—Senior Paid Media Manager at Brew Digital and guest lecturer at universities across Europe.

Michele shares his non-linear path into digital marketing, explaining how a decade in retail and a process of elimination led him to discover a passion for paid search—a discipline that bridges creative messaging with data-driven performance. He also provides an insider look into higher education, discussing why marketing syllabi must be updated every six months to remain relevant, where automated AI ad features fall short, and what skills entry-level marketers actually need to succeed in an agency environment.

Key discussion points

• Transitioning from retail to paid media Michele shares how testing various marketing channels like design and community management led him to paid search, where creative copy meets data analysis.
• Managing the short shelf life of marketing strategy Academic syllabi and tactical playbooks lose relevance quickly, making ongoing learning essential as advertising platforms and tracking rules change.
• Spotting the limitations of automated ad tools Unmonitored AI features like Google Performance Max and Meta Advantage+ can harm brand credibility when they run generic headlines or misinterpret peak sales periods.
• Bridging the graduate skills gap Early-career marketers require hands-on experience with tools like Excel and Google Analytics alongside strategic theory to deliver commercial value from day one.
• Responding to shifts in buyer behaviour Modern B2B and e-commerce buyers conduct extensive research online before reaching out, making digital touchpoints and social proof vital to campaign success.
• Building a data-driven culture Pairing creative instincts with empirical testing, seeking support early, and maintaining strong team relationships ultimately lead to superior account performance.

Marketers of the Universe is brought to you by the clever folks at Brew Digital. We’re not your typical digital marketing agency; using an innovative approach to decision-making and collaboration, we help you create an impactful digital strategy that actually delivers results for your business. 

See what we can do for you at brewdigital.com

Tom is convinced LinkedIn is just an unhinged echo chamber of spilt cereal metaphors and performative thought leaders. Debbie is here to change his mind. This week on Marketers of the Universe, Brew Digital’s senior social media manager brings the real-world strategy to counter Tom’s healthy cynicism. Together, they break down how to hook the 90% of users who lurk in silence, why boosting your team’s personal profiles outperforms standard brand ads, and how to tailor content for actual decision-makers without resorting to ridiculous humblebrags or robotic AI copy.

Further reading:

How to choose the best social media platforms for your business

What our latest campaign taught us about maintaining social media momentum

Meet Debbie Gacutan, Social Media and Community Manager at Brew Digital

Marketers of the Universe is brought to you by the clever folks at Brew Digital. We’re not your typical digital marketing agency; using an innovative approach to decision-making and collaboration, we help you create an impactful digital strategy that actually delivers results for your business. 

See what we can do for you at brewdigital.com

If your executive team only cares about pipeline growth, presenting them with high ad impression numbers is a quick way to lose your budget. Gathered around the virtual studio table, Haydn Woods-Williams, Tom Inniss, and Rich Harper tackle the growing disconnect between creative marketing campaigns and boardroom expectations. They share why modern B2B marketers must stop acting as passive order-takers and start taking continuous cross-departmental optimisation seriously. 

This session provides a transparent look at how the team approaches user behaviour analysis at Brew Digital. From evaluating the transparency of free-trial signups to restructuring multi-tiered B2B subscription models, they provide a clear blueprint for turning underperforming digital assets into high-converting revenue drivers. You will leave with a practical understanding of how to audit your own customer journey, eliminate channel silos, and replicate the exact strategy that achieved a 300% membership increase for a major professional society

Marketers of the Universe is brought to you by the clever folks at Brew Digital. We’re not your typical digital marketing agency; using an innovative approach to decision-making and collaboration, we help you create an impactful digital strategy that actually delivers results for your business. 

See what we can do for you at brewdigital.com

If you ask a standard AI platform to write a comprehensive B2B marketing strategy, it will deliver something that looks technically correct but remains entirely bland. In this in-person episode, our Digital Marketing Team Lead, Haydn Woods-Williams, speaks with Managing Director Gareth Llewellyn and Head of Digital Marketing Services Rich Harper about the limitations of algorithmic thinking. They discuss why automated tools struggle to provide genuine creative options or understand the distinct nuances of your ideal customer profile. 

The conversation ranges from personal experimentation with fitness programming and DIY to the high-stakes world of enterprise software specification. The team highlights the clear red flags that indicate an agency is using automation lazily, such as unedited text formats and hidden commercial margins. Listen to the full episode to discover how a balanced, human-centric approach to technology can elevate your digital performance without exposing your business to legal or strategic risks. 

Marketers of the Universe is brought to you by the clever folks at Brew Digital. We’re not your typical digital marketing agency; using an innovative approach to decision-making and collaboration, we help you create an impactful digital strategy that actually delivers results for your business. 

See what we can do for you at brewdigital.com

Many B2B companies find themselves trapped in a cycle of hiring and firing agencies because the initial chemistry failed to translate into tangible growth. Gathered in person for this episode, Digital Marketing Team Lead Haydn Woods-Williams, Managing Director Gareth Llewellyn, and Head of Digital Marketing Services Rich Harper dissect what it actually takes to build a successful agency relationship. They discuss why natural rapport and shared values are just as important as technical capability. 

We break down actionable vetting strategies, including how to perform old-school due diligence like checking financial stability and speaking directly to reference clients. Whether you are considering a single full-service agency to manage your strategy holistically or looking to inject bold, consumer-style creativity into your B2B campaigns, this episode provides a clear roadmap for your next selection process. 

Marketers of the Universe is brought to you by the clever folks at Brew Digital. We’re not your typical digital marketing agency; using an innovative approach to decision-making and collaboration, we help you create an impactful digital strategy that actually delivers results for your business. 

See what we can do for you at brewdigital.com

A sudden platform shift, such as the rollout of Google’s AI Overviews, threatens to wipe out your search traffic just six months into a carefully planned campaign. Do you scrap everything and start again, or do you hold your nerve?

When algorithms change and website traffic drops, the pressure from senior management to abandon your long-term plan can be immense. In this episode of Marketers of the Universe, Brew Digital Content Marketing Manager Tom Inniss puts our usual host, Digital Marketing Team Lead Haydn Woods Williams, in the hot seat to unpick the crucial need for stategic patience while remaining tactically nimble. 

Haydn breaks down why knee-jerk reactions often destroy long-term growth and explains how a well-researched strategy should directly guide your tactical adjustments. Tom and Haydn discuss the realities of the lengthy B2B buying cycle, how to align your tactical metrics with C-suite expectations, and why keeping your objectives remarkably simple is the best way to safeguard your success.

If you face pressure to deliver immediate results following unexpected platform updates, this conversation will help you diagnose what is actually working and what needs a complete rethink.

Marketers of the Universe is brought to you by the clever folks at Brew Digital. We’re not your typical digital marketing agency; using an innovative approach to decision-making and collaboration, we help you create an impactful digital strategy that actually delivers results for your business. 

See what we can do for you at brewdigital.com

With organic reach seemingly on the floor, many B2B marketers are asking the same question: Has social media become a purely pay-to-play battlefield? In this episode of Marketers of the Universe, Haydn Woods Williams sits down with Brew Digital’s Senior Social Media Marketing Manager, Debbie Gacutan-Jardim De Oliveira, to challenge the idea that your social strategy needs a massive ad budget to survive.

While it is tempting to simply boost posts to combat declining engagement, Debbie argues there is a smarter way to build an audience. She explains why forcing your brand into private channels like Slack or WhatsApp is a misstep, how to harness the massive organic reach of genuine brand advocates, and why your organic and paid marketing teams need to stop competing and start collaborating. If you are tired of paying rental fees to social platforms, this episode provides a clear strategy for building an authentic community you actually own.

Marketers of the Universe is brought to you by the clever folks at Brew Digital. We’re not your typical digital marketing agency; using an innovative approach to decision-making and collaboration, we help you create an impactful digital strategy that actually delivers results for your business. 

See what we can do for you at brewdigital.com

In this episode, Debbie Gacutan-Jardim De Oliveira returns from maternity leave to explore how the social media landscape has shifted in her absence. We discuss the pervasive role of AI in content creation and why—despite the efficiency of tools like Gemini and ChatGPT—the "human element" remains your most valuable asset for breaking through the noise. 

Learn how to treat AI as a creative collaborator rather than a replacement for genuine brand personality, and don't be afraid to experiment and play with your posts. 

Marketers of the Universe is brought to you by the clever folks at Brew Digital. We’re not your typical digital marketing agency; using an innovative approach to decision-making and collaboration, we help you create an impactful digital strategy that actually delivers results for your business. 

See what we can do for you at brewdigital.com

In this episode of Marketers of the Universe, Tom Inniss is joined by ShinRoo Chao, Senior SEO Manager, and Rich Harper, Head of Digital Marketing at Brew Digital, to dissect the rise of AI Optimisation (AIO).

As organic traffic patterns shift and AI-generated answers become the norm, we ask the burning question: Is SEO truly dead, or has it simply graduated to a more sophisticated era of brand authority?

What we cover in this episode

• Defining AIO: We explore whether AI Optimisation is a brand-new technical discipline or an essential extension of traditional SEO that focuses on how Large Language Models (LLMs) interpret, analyse, and compose information.
• The shift in search behaviour: With reports suggesting organic Google traffic referred to websites dropped by 33% last year in the US, we discuss if the "era of 10 blue links" is psychologically over for the consumer.
• Optimising for LLMs: ShinRoo explains why clear structure, topical authority, and entity-based content are now more critical than simple keyword density.
• The death of "vanity metrics": Rich argues why marketers must move away from measuring clicks in isolation and start talking the language of the board—focusing on pipeline, revenue, and brand perception.
• Query Fan Out and content strategy: How to capture the secondary questions AI systems generate when breaking down a single user prompt into multiple sub-queries.
• The future of content: Why "the middle is dead" and why your strategy must pivot from high-volume "churn" to high-value, authoritative contributions to the web.

Marketers of the Universe is brought to you by the clever folks at Brew Digital. We’re not your typical digital marketing agency; using an innovative approach to decision-making and collaboration, we help you create an impactful digital strategy that actually delivers results for your business. 

See what we can do for you at brewdigital.com

Marketing attribution is frequently misunderstood. In this episode of Marketers of the Universe, Haydn Woods-Williams and Tom Inniss are joined by Paid Media Manager Michele Raffaelle to discuss the practical realities of tracking B2B customer journeys .

While many attribution models are technically flawed due to data limitations and privacy constraints, they are certainly not useless—provided you understand their context . We move past the search for a magical "light switch" moment to look at how consistent touchpoints drive revenue over time.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The limitation of models: Why attempting to attribute a sale to a single interaction is often like trying to pinpoint the exact moment a child becomes a professional dancer.
• Setting the right window: Michele uses the "broken fridge" analogy to explain why you must adjust your expectations based on the urgency and length of the buying cycle.
• Aligning teams: Why separating "sales leads" from "marketing leads" is counterproductive, and how to use your CRM to build a unified view of the customer.
• The dark funnel: How to infer the impact of untrackable channels, like word-of-mouth, by looking at correlations in brand search and organic traffic.

Whether you are reporting to the C-suite or trying to optimise your next campaign, this episode provides a grounded approach to one of marketing’s most complex subjects.

Marketers of the Universe is brought to you by the clever folks at Brew Digital. We’re not your typical digital marketing agency; using an innovative approach to decision-making and collaboration, we help you create an impactful digital strategy that actually delivers results for your business. 

See what we can do for you at brewdigital.com