In this episode, host Vera Shafiq returns to the podcast with a fresh focus on franchise marketing. She discusses the unique challenges and opportunities within the franchise sector, highlighting the importance of consistent branding, local marketing strategies, and data utilization. Vera emphasizes the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in transforming marketing practices, sharing actionable tips on implementing AI effectively and ethically. The episode also delves into recent social media developments, including TikTok's brief ban and Meta's removal of fact-checking, offering strategic advice for franchise marketers to adapt and pivot in response to these changes.

00:00 Welcome Back to the Podcast

00:27 Focusing on Franchise Marketing

01:32 The Role of AI in Franchise Marketing

02:55 Ethical Implications of AI

04:23 Social Media Developments in 2025

04:51 The TikTok Ban: What Now?

06:35 Meta's Free Speech Shift

09:02 Final Thoughts and Action Plan

09:30 Closing Remarks

I talk with Max Shafiq (my husband), who is an Enterprise Agile Coach and he explains his role and how Agile brings value to businesses. We also discuss the concept of Agile Marketing and ways in which businesses can start using Agile Marketing to work smarter!

Episode links: 

• USF Digital Marketing Certificate
• USF Digital Marketing Certificate Discount Code: SG30
• Agile Sherpas

Connect with Vera:

• Email me at [email protected]
• Visit my website at VeraShafiq.com
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Follow me on Instagram
• Connect with me on Clubhouse

What you need to know about CTV advertising to make an educated decision on whether it's right for your marketing strategy.

Episode links: 

• USF Digital Marketing Certificate
• USF Digital Marketing Certificate Discount Code: SG30

Connect with Vera:

• Email me at [email protected]
• Visit my website at VeraShafiq.com
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Follow me on Instagram
• Connect with me on Clubhouse

80% of people who click through to your website are not ready to convert during that visit. But 20% of them are. Why is this not reflected in the average conversion rate of 4%? It's all down to the post-click experience.

Listen to this episode to find out how you can streamline your post-click experiences and the types of tools and automation that will help you to scale the effort.

Episode links: 

• USF Digital Marketing Certificate
• USF Digital Marketing Certificate Discount Code: SG30

Connect with Vera:

• Email me at [email protected]
• Visit my website at VeraShafiq.com
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Follow me on Instagram
• Connect with me on Clubhouse

What is marketing attribution and how can we get closer to a true model? What are Unified Marketing Measurement, Marketing Mix Modeling and Multi Touch Attribution? Join me for a discussion on a topic that has kept many a marketer up at night!

Episode links: 

• USF Digital Marketing Certificate
• USF Digital Marketing Certificate Discount Code: SG30

Connect with Vera:

• Email me at [email protected]
• Visit my website at VeraShafiq.com
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Follow me on Instagram
• Connect with me on Clubhouse

What are Google's new Core Web Vitals and how do they fit into the Page Experience update launching in mid-2021? How do you test your website and get it ready for optimal performance against these new ranking factors? All the answers are here!

Episode links: 

• Google Page Experience Documentation
• USF Digital Marketing Certificate
• USF Digital Marketing Certificate Discount Code: SG30

Connect with Vera:

• Email me at [email protected]
• Visit my website at VeraShafiq.com
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Follow me on Instagram
• Connect with me on Clubhouse

This podcast is for you if you want to find out how to advance your learning of and be more immersed in today’s digital marketing landscape. The USF Digital Marketing Certificate was developed for business professionals and offers a comprehensive course on several key elements of Digital Marketing - Strategy, Social, Search, Automation, Content, Analytics,  CX and Digital Transformation.

Whether you’re a Marketing Professional,  or in IT, Finance, HR, Sales, Operations or C Suite, this podcast is well worth a listen!

I talk to Sue Grabowski, Faculty Chair of the USF Digital Marketing Certificate. She gives a really thorough rundown of the program, modules and instructors as well as what kinds of individuals are signing up for the course.

Use discount code SG30 for 30% off your admission to the course!

Episode links: 

• USF Digital Marketing Certificate
• Connect with Sue on LinkedIn

Connect with Vera:

• Email me at [email protected]
• Visit my website at VeraShafiq.com
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Follow me on Instagram
• Connect with me on Clubhouse

What are the differences between Zero, 1st, 2nd and 3rd party data? 

How should you structure your marketing strategy to make the best use of each? 

In this episode, I explain how to think of each of these types of data as part of a "data funnel", give tips on how to gather each and talk about why shifting the focus from 3rd party to the other types of data is what marketers should be thinking about.

Episode links: 

• USF Digital Marketing Certificate

Connect with Vera:

• Email me at [email protected]
• Visit my website at VeraShafiq.com
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Follow me on Instagram
• Connect with me on Clubhouse

In this episode, I talk with Crista Grasso, Founder of the Lean Out Method, which she uses to help entrepreneurs simplify success, get off the hustle hamster wheel, and run lean businesses where they optimize what's working and eliminate anything not adding value to their clients and profit to their business. 

We discuss how the Lean Out Method can be applied not only to businesses but also to your everyday workflow to become more efficient, productive and passionate about your work!

Crista talks about some of the the key pillars of the Lean Out Method - Context, Clarity and Focus - and explains how she uses them to get so much work done on a daily basis without burning out. She also shares the importance of having a clear vision and goals and removing the noise and unimportant stuff from your to-do list so you can lean out your schedule and continue to grow without it feeling like work.

Episode links:

• Lean Out Method Website 
• Lean Out Your Business Podcast
• Criscara Jewelry

Connect with Vera:

• Email me at [email protected]
• Visit my website at VeraShafiq.com
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Follow me on Instagram
• Connect with me on Clubhouse

An in-depth chat with Brad Moran, Co-Founder and CEO of CitrusAd - a retail media platform. We talk about how the platform was born, how marketers can leverage retail media to drive performance and what the future holds for retail media.

Episode links:

• CitrusAd

Connect with Vera:

• Email me at [email protected]
• Visit my website at VeraShafiq.com
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Follow me on Instagram
• Connect with me on Clubhouse