

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If you want to reach more of the people you’re meant to serve—and convert more of them—without leaning on outdated formulas or brute-force tactics (that quite frankly are less and less effective each day), this show will guide you through the new rules of modern growth.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

Apr 13, 2023 • 32min
54. Creating inclusive influencer marketing campaigns with Tinashe Chaponda
These days more brands are leaning into influencer marketing campaigns. The good news is that inclusion is starting to become a bigger part of the conversation in this area. However there are still a few challenges that exist that need to be tackled to do inclusive influencer marketing the right way.To help you navigate how to build inclusive influencer marketing campaigns the right way, I sat down with Tinashe Chaponda, an influencer marketing expert and Sosani Studios agency owner.Get the transcript of the episode hereSosani Studios Tinashe on LinkedIn Tinashe on Instagram Join the Inclusion & Marketing newsletter

Apr 6, 2023 • 30min
53. The inclusive marketing framework big brands are using with Jerry Daykin
There's a lot of moving parts to inclusive marketing. Thankfully, increasingly there are more marketers in many industries and working with brands of all sizes that are coming together to give guidance on how others can engage in inclusive marketing.In this episode, I chatted with Jerry Daykin, a global marketing leader with senior roles at brands including Beam Suntory, GSK Consumer Healthcare, Diageo, and Mondelez, and author of the new book Inclusive Marketing.Based in London, UK, he is a WFA (World Federation of Advertisers) Diversity Ambassador and co-chair of its Diversity Task Force, where he created its framework for representation and inclusion. He also sits on the diversity and inclusion boards at the Advertising Association and ISBA and at the Conscious Advertising Network and Outvertising. A regular conference speaker, he has written for The Drum, AdWeek, Campaign, Marketing Week, and The Guardian.Get the transcript of the episode hereGet Jerry's book, Inclusive Marketing from the publisherGet Jerry's book Inclusive Marketing from AmazonGet the Inclusion & Marketing newsletter

Mar 30, 2023 • 34min
52. Diversity and inclusion data: How to capture and use It to achieve your business goals
Are you capturing and using your own diversity and inclusion data to help you reach your business goals? Many companies do not, and its one of the reasons why so many brands struggle to make real progress with diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Data can help you build an inclusive culture where everyone on your team feels like they belong. And that inclusive culture with a diverse and representative team will enable you to attract and retain the a more diverse customer base that feels like they belong with you.This episode features my chat with Mandy Price, CEO and co-founder of Kanarys – a technology company focused on providing the tools organizations need to create long-term systemic change around challenges associated with diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.Get the transcript of the episode hereKanarysMore about Mandy's story and KanarysIf you want to see more of Mandy's story, watch her episode of the HubSpot for Startups and LinkedIn documentary series "Spiraling Up: The Journey to Become a Unicorn." It's streaming now:Join the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter

Mar 23, 2023 • 30min
51. How to create inclusive content that makes more people feel seen with Natasha Pierre
Publishing inclusive content is a smart way to make more of the people you serve feel like they belong with you. But far too many brands produce content that makes people feel "othered" or where they can't even see themselves or who they aspire to be. No bueno.In this episode, Natasha Pierre, video coach, strategist, and host of The Shine Online podcast covers how to make your content more inclusive so you can make more people feel seen and build a more diverse customer base.Get the transcript hereKey points:
How video content has changed the way people buy
How brands often make consumers feel "othered" which pushes them away
How to build a diverse customer base
How to create a customer experience that makes the people you serve feel seen
How to be inclusive with your video content when you're the face of your brand
Why how you talk about things in your content matters in whether or not people feel like they belong with you
How to use video content to increase your authority and visibility
Why we need more creators from underrepresented communities to show their faces in content
Why it's the responsibility of marketers and creators to change the narrative
Links:Shine With NatashaJoin the Inclusion & Marketing newsletter

Mar 16, 2023 • 45min
50. How to get better consumer insights for underserved communities with Renita Bryant
Capturing consumer insights are an important part of any brand that wants to serve customers well. It's an important lever in developing a deep degree of customer intimacy that enables you to deliver products, services, and experiences that make the people you serve feel like they belong with you.But all consumer insights aren't created equal.And as you work engage consumers from underrepresented and underserved communities, having a deep degree of understanding of their experiences, their dreams, desires, fears, and frustrations, and how those all may be different from those in the masses is essential.But too often, brands don't adapt their approach to capturing insights to enable them to get both the depth of insights and understanding of them to make effective decisions.In this episode, I chat with Renita Bryant, CEO if Sights Set Consulting, a consumer-centric market research consultancy, about how to incorporate inclusion into your market research processes to ensure you get the insights you need.Get the episode transcript hereKey points discussed:
The role insights play in building an inclusive brand
Why representation matters throughout the entirety of the market research process
Why brands need to move away from the general market approach when it comes to research
How to ensure you're able to effectively act on the insights you gain in your campaigns with diverse communities
Best practices for getting insights from underrepresented and underserved communities
How biases negatively impact the insights you capture
How to ensure you get a diverse cross-section of people in your research studies
Sights Set ConsultingJoin the Inclusion & Marketing newsletter

Mar 9, 2023 • 18min
49. How smart brands are closing the gender pay gap
Unfortunately, in 2023 gender pay gaps exist. And worst yet, gender pay gaps exist even more so when you look at the data for women from underrepresented and underserved communities.These disparities in women's pay vs. their male counterparts negatively impact belonging for the people on your team, which of course in turn negatively impacts how well they make the customers you serve feel like they belong.In this episode, I walk you through practical ways you can work on closing the gender pay gap both within your company and within your industry.Get the transcript hereJoin the Inclusion & Marketing newsletter

Mar 2, 2023 • 40min
48. How to create an inclusive workplace culture with Leanne and Al Elliott
To build an inclusive brand you have to have an inclusive culture. It’s really hard to authentically attract and retain customers from underrepresented communities, if you do a poor job of attracting and retaining talent from underrepresented communities.Because workplace culture is such an imperative, I am thrilled to bring you this chat with today’s guests, Leanne and Al Elliott, hosts of the Truth, Lies, and Workplace Culture podcast, and co-founders of a workplace culture consultancy, OblongHQ .Leanne is a certified business psychologist and leadership coach, and Al is a serial entrepreneur - a great marriage of theory and practice.Get the episode transcript hereOblongHQRx7 Foundations of an Inclusive CultureIntroducing the Rx7Truth, Lies, and Workplace Culture podcastDive deeper into with the Inclusion and Marketing newsletter.

Feb 23, 2023 • 35min
47. How to increase customer success for people who are not in the majority, with Natalia Sanyal
Customer success doesn't happen at the same rate for everyone. The customers you serve with differences, including those who are BIPOC, often have external factors that negatively impact their journey to success. The good news is, you have the power to implement products, services, and experiences that pave the way for a greater degree of success for your BIPOC customers and others with differences.In this episode, Natalia Sanyal, an anti-oppressive copywriter and brand strategist talk about an approach she's taken to make her BIPOC customers feel seen, cared for, and have a greater likelihood of both enjoyment and success with her programs.Her approach is one that can be replicated and adapted to fit your business needs and the consumers you serve.Links mentioned in this episode:Get the episode transcript hereEpisode 45: Factors That Influence Your Customers' Success You Need to Be Aware OfEpisode 38: [Listen to Them] Black Women Are Used to Being the Only Ones Like Them in a Room in Professional Settings. Here's What it's LikeNatalia's websiteJoin the Inclusion & Marketing newsletter

Feb 16, 2023 • 16min
46. Inclusion wins at SuperBowl LVII
Over the past few years more brands have started to lean harder into more inclusive campaigns. As we look at SuperBowl campaigns for 2021 and 2022, inclusion took a more prominent role. That wasn’t the case in SuperBowl LVII. The celebrity filled ads seemed to have different goals.While inclusion didn’t feel like it was actively considered in the majority of ad campaigns, there were still major wins throughout the event that are worth calling out, as well as one noteworthy ad from the NFL that did hit the mark from an inclusion standpoint.Get the episode transcript hereJoin the Inclusion & Marketing newsletter

Feb 9, 2023 • 21min
45. Factors that influence your customers' success you need to be aware of
We all want the people we serve to be successful. However, there are other customer success factors that influence the outcomes of both your team and your customers -- that have nothing to do with the products, services, and experiences you deliver. And those factors have to do with their differences. Unfortunately, the differences of people on your team and the customers you serve, can cause them to get different results from those in "dominant" groups.I cover what the most common differences are that can have a negative impact on your customers' success, why, and how you can go about closing the gap to support everyone you serve, so they can thrive.I'm hosting a live workshop to help you identify and address these factors on Friday, February 24 at 12pm EST. It's called:How to Build Experiences That Make Underrepresented and Underserved Talent Consumers and Talent Feel Like They Belong.Get registered here at www.listentothem.co.I'll send you the replay even if you can't attend live.-----Get the episode transcript hereJoin the Inclusion & Marketing newsletterLinks mentioned in this episode:Racial Bias in Healthcare studySephora Racial Bias in Retail studyVC's investment in women and minority owned startups - Diversity VC Data Jereshia Hawk IG reelNegative stereotypes re: Black people - scientific data


