Frictionless Growth Marketing
Sonia Thompson
Friction is the enemy of growth.
And Frictionless Growth Marketing is the show for marketers, business leaders, and founders who want to grow by removing the friction in their customer experience—the kind you may not even realize is pushing people away every single day.
Hosted by Sonia Thompson, Inclusive Growth & Customer Experience Strategist, the show teaches you how to create sustainable growth by designing customer experiences that feel seamless, intuitive, and human—experiences that earn deep trust with today’s identity-rich, values-driven consumers.
Each week, Sonia breaks down what it really takes to grow in today’s market with today’s customer—from evolving traditional tactics so they actually work now, to decoding shifts in customer behavior and expectations, to learning from brand case studies so you can adapt with clarity and confidence.
You’ll learn how to:
Build frictionless customer journeys that convert
Engage identity-rich growth communities with authenticity
Design inclusive, high-performing growth strategies
Elevate brand trust, belonging, and loyalty
Remove the messaging, experience, and operational barriers holding your business back
Plus, you’ll hear candid conversations with marketing leaders and subject-matter experts about how the smartest brands are winning by putting identity, belonging, and experience at the center of their growth engine.
If you want to reach more of the people you’re meant to serve—and convert more of them—without leaning on outdated formulas or brute-force tactics (that quite frankly are less and less effective each day), this show will guide you through the new rules of modern growth.
And Frictionless Growth Marketing is the show for marketers, business leaders, and founders who want to grow by removing the friction in their customer experience—the kind you may not even realize is pushing people away every single day.
Hosted by Sonia Thompson, Inclusive Growth & Customer Experience Strategist, the show teaches you how to create sustainable growth by designing customer experiences that feel seamless, intuitive, and human—experiences that earn deep trust with today’s identity-rich, values-driven consumers.
Each week, Sonia breaks down what it really takes to grow in today’s market with today’s customer—from evolving traditional tactics so they actually work now, to decoding shifts in customer behavior and expectations, to learning from brand case studies so you can adapt with clarity and confidence.
You’ll learn how to:
Build frictionless customer journeys that convert
Engage identity-rich growth communities with authenticity
Design inclusive, high-performing growth strategies
Elevate brand trust, belonging, and loyalty
Remove the messaging, experience, and operational barriers holding your business back
Plus, you’ll hear candid conversations with marketing leaders and subject-matter experts about how the smartest brands are winning by putting identity, belonging, and experience at the center of their growth engine.
If you want to reach more of the people you’re meant to serve—and convert more of them—without leaning on outdated formulas or brute-force tactics (that quite frankly are less and less effective each day), this show will guide you through the new rules of modern growth.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Nov 2, 2023 • 18min
83. You can't afford to not have this kind of talent on your team
If you want to do a better job of serving the customers you currently have, as well as attracting and retaining more customers from underrepresented and underserved communities, you have to have this kind of person on your team.Get the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterEpisode 22: Common ways brands treat diverse talent like unpaid consultants (and what to do instead)Episode 14: Are you taking more than you give?
Oct 26, 2023 • 14min
82. Should you ask customers for their demographic information?
This is a common question that more and more brands are pondering, about when brands should be requesting demographic data for their customers. There are many benefits to having data, but what is the impact on your customers? And how should you communicate about the use of that data? We get into all of it in this short episode.Get the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterEpisode 45 - Factors influencing your customers' success that you should be aware of
Oct 19, 2023 • 20min
81. Do this to increase customer acquisition for people from underrepresented and underserved communities
Many brands think that focusing on creating an environment where all feel welcome is enough to ensure that people from underrepresented and underserved communities feel like they belong with you. It's not. If you want to increase customer acquisition of people from these communities focus your efforts on what we cover in this episode.Get the episode transcriptGet the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterNew York Times Article about the craft beer marketEpisode 54: Creating inclusive influencer marketing campaigns with Tinashe Chaponda
Oct 12, 2023 • 45min
80. Consumer reactions to real brand customer experiences
Friction in a customer experience is bad. It kills conversions. It diminishes customer success. And it really lowers customer retention. But the reality is, everyday brands deliver experiences with friction in them. And that friction is heightened for consumers from underrepresented and underserved communities. In this episode, I walk you through the friction (and delight), real customers experienced as we audited customer experiences real brands are delivering right now on their websites, social media, and other marketing channels.You can find the videos of all the customer reactions to the brands we reviewed hereGet the Inclusion & Marketing newsletterGet the episode transcript
Oct 5, 2023 • 34min
79. How smart brands strategically partner with HBCUs
HBCUs, or Historically Black Colleges and Universities are a big part of Black culture in the U.S. Often times when brands want to engage the Black community as consumers or a source of talent --- partnerships and campaigns with HBCUs feels like low-hanging fruit.But the way most brands approach the work they do with HBCUs is quite superficial. It very much feels like they are checking a box or following some pre-determined playbook for how to reach the Black community. So their efforts don't always make the impact they are looking for.But there are some brands who are doing it right. In this episode, recorded live at the INBOUND conference, I sat down with Dr. Dana Williams-Johnson a marketing professor at Howard University, and Dr. Yuvay Ferguson, former dean at Howard University, and we chatted through smart ways brands are strategically partnering with HBCUs, and how you can get started as well.Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter
Sep 28, 2023 • 52min
78. Authentic and inclusive brands: INBOUND 2023 panel discussion with Natasha Pierre and Sundas Khalid
How to be authentically inclusive is one of the most common questions I get from marketers and business leaders about inclusive marketing.The good news is a couple of weeks ago, I was part of a panel discussion at the INBOUND conference in Boston. Our topic - was authentic and inclusive brands. And my fellow panelists were Natasha Pierre of Shine with Natasha and the Shine Online podcast, and Sundas Khalid, a data scientist at Google and host of a popular YouTube channel on data science, tech, and related career topics.Conferences are great and all – but everyone can’t always attend. So I’m excited that there’s a way to bring a piece of the conference to you – wherever you are.Get the episode transcript hereMore about Nathasha Pierre of Shine With NatashaMore about Sundas KhalidGet the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter
Sep 21, 2023 • 15min
77. 5 Common reasons brands hesitate to engage in inclusive marketing (that are costing them sales)
With a growing number of consumers now expecting the brands they buy from to be inclusive, more brands than ever are making inclusive marketing a priority. But there’s still a number of companies standing on the sidelines when it comes to including people with identities that don’t so cleanly fit into what is considered to be ‘mainstream,’ and it’s costing them sales. Here are the 5 most common objections I hear from marketers about inclusive marketing, along with how to overcome those objections.Get the episode transcript hereGet the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterEpisode 65 - The truth about 'woke' brands and companies getting political
Sep 14, 2023 • 43min
76. 'Nothing about us without us' and working with an inclusive marketing agency, with Matthew Tsang
Inclusive marketing isn't quite yet the standard way of engaging in marketing. Although it will soon be. As you work with your agency, here's when to think about bringing in an inclusive marketing agency to support you in engaging underrepresented and underserved communities authentically. We also cover the very important principal of 'nothing about us without us."Matthew Tsang (he/him) is the Co-Founder of AndHumanity, an integrated inclusive marketing and communications agency with the core purpose of serving people-first brands that want to leave a legacy of belonging.Matthew's agency AndHumanityGet the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterCode Switching
Sep 7, 2023 • 46min
75. Inclusive marketers react to campaigns from Barbie, Sainsbury's, McDonald's, and more
One of the benefits of including others are the diverse perspectives you get when looking at a situation. In this episode, I invited my inclusive marketing colleagues Matthew Tsang and Joyann Boyce to the show, and together we reviewed, reacted, and gave our perspectives on several brand campaigns that were published around the world.Get the episode transcriptGet the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterJoyann Boyce at Arima & CoMatthew Tsang at AndHumanitySainsbury's adB&Q adAI Barbie"Barbenheimer" controversyMacDonald's commercials side by side
Aug 31, 2023 • 24min
74. How to authentically engage Muslim consumers with Mariam Shahab
Twenty-five percent of the world’s population identifies as Muslim. However representation in media and marketing for people of Muslim faith is nowhere near the population. And when Muslim representation does exist, it often isn't favorable and showcases people of Muslim faith in negative stereotypical ways. No bueno.In this episode, I chat with Mariam Shahab, an inclusive marketer who is also of Muslim faith, to talk through ways brands can ensure the people they serve from this community feel seen, supported, and like they belong. You probably already have customers or people who've considered buying from you who are Muslim, so this is an important listen.Get the episode transcript hereStudy: Erased or extremists: The stereotypical view of Muslims in popular episodic seriesEpisode 67: Evite CMO shares how the brand grew by including more customersKitKat Canada Ramadan commercialGet the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter
