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If you want to reach more of the people you’re meant to serve—and convert more of them—without leaning on outdated formulas or brute-force tactics (that quite frankly are less and less effective each day), this show will guide you through the new rules of modern growth.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
Mar 21, 2024 • 33min
103: Why we fumble when talking to people different from us (and how to fix it) with Topsie VandenBosch
Have you ever encountered someone different from you, and then fumbled your way through interacting with them?I know I have, and I included a few of those stories in this episode. From my observations -- it seems like too often, we struggle to build authentic connections with people who are different from us, and I wanted to explore why that was.So I sat down with Topsie VandeBosch, a mindset and emotional intelligence consultant for business leaders, and a licensed psychotherapist.Topsie helped me understand why we behave in this way and gave some super practical tools for how to do better so we can authentically build relationships with people who are different from us -- which is becoming critically important as demographics change in our society.Get the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterTopsie VandenBosch websiteTopsie VandenBosch LinkedIn
Mar 14, 2024 • 38min
102. How (and why) to get better at talking to your customers with Andi Jarvis
Customer intimacy is one of my five pillars of building an inclusive brand. The most effective way to build customer intimacy is through actually talking to your customers. But a lot of brands don't do this -- and get nervous of even the thought of doing so, especially when it comes to people from underrepresented and underserved communities.So in today's episode we're going to fix that. I sat down with the brilliant Andi Jarvis, the founder and Strategy Director of Eximo Marketing, a marketing strategy consultancy based in the UK and Ireland. Andi also hosts the Strategy Sessions podcast.Get the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterStrategy Sessions podcastAndi Jarvis on LinkedIn Andi Jarvis on Instagram
Mar 7, 2024 • 40min
101. Multilingual SEO Strategies to reach more consumers with Sarah Moon
Search engines connect interested consumers with willing brands. That's why smart brands optimize focus on SEO to make it easy for these curious customers to find them.But too often, brands forget about customers who have the problem their brand solves when it comes to consumers who speak other languages -- even when they are equipped to serve customers who speak other languages.In this episode I sat down with Sarah Moon, an SEO marketing and business strategy consultant, to cover practical ways you can do multilingual SEO to so you can attract and convert consumers who are looking for what your brand offers.Get the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterGet the episode transcriptSarah Moon
Feb 29, 2024 • 37min
100. Research strategies big brands are using to to deliver better customer experiences with Santronya Smith
More brands are acknowledging the many ways consumers are different, and adjusting their marketing approach accordingly to ensure they make all the people they serve feel like they belong with them.In this episode, I sat down with Santronya Smith, Director of Enterprise Sales at Suzy, a market research company, where we chatted about strategies some of the brands she's worked with have used to do a better job of connecting with and serving consumers from underrepresented and underserved communities.Get the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterGet the episode transcriptSantronya Smith on LinkedInSuzy
Feb 22, 2024 • 35min
99. How this former CMO used inclusive marketing to rapidly grow eCommerce brands with Bryan Alston
One of my goals this year is to bring you more stories of marketers who've been out in the trenches using inclusive marketing to grow their brands. For this episode, I sat down with Bryan Alston, former CMO of Greater Than, who's also worked on brands such as Magic Spoon and GoClove.com. We chatted a lot about inclusive marketing strategies he's used with these eCommerce companies that helped them achieve a greater degree of growth.Get the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterGet the episode transcript Brand Castle Growth Partners - Bryan's new company
Feb 15, 2024 • 31min
98. How to be authentic in your marketing (and where brands mess up)
People want authenticity in their food. We need authenticity in our relationships. And we definitely crave authenticity in marketing.Today, we’re going to talk about authenticity in marketing.These days especially, more and more consumers want brands to be authentic. That is one of the things that makes inclusive marketing – and really, most marketing effective. Authenticity.Get the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterGet the episode transcriptEpisode 97 - Inclusive marketing ethicsShaq Buick commercialJimmy Kimmel - Basketball mean TweetsFresh Prince of Bel Air cheesesteak episodeKendall Jenner Pepsi AdBen & Jerry's bans 2 scoops of same flavor
Feb 8, 2024 • 31min
97. Inclusive marketing ethics
Marketing ethics, or more specifically, the ethics associated with inclusive marketing doesn’t get talked about nearly enough as it should.Of course, I’m a big proponent of brands engaging and serving people from underrepresented and underserved communities. But there are times when I wish brands wouldn’t focus on specific communities, and would just leave them alone.Why? Because in certain instances, brands do more harm than good when engaging with certain underrepresented and underserved communities.In this episode I walk you through 5 inclusive marketing ethical considerations, and the mindset you need to have to ensure you're not causing harm to the communities you want to serve.Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter hereGet the episode transcript hereFind links to everything covered in this episode here
Feb 1, 2024 • 16min
96. How to do representation in marketing the right way
Representation matters. We know this. But all representation isn't created equal. In this episode, I walk you through how to do representation in marketing the right way, infused with insights from consumers.Get the transcript hereGet the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter2021 State of Representation in Marketing StudyOrange FIFA Women's World Cup adEpisode 51: How To Create Inclusive Content That Makes More People Feel Seen with Natasha PierreEpisode 53: The Inclusive Marketing Framework The Big Brands Use with Jerry DaykinEpisode 45: Factors That Influence Your Customers' Success That You Should Be Aware OfMeryl Evans post on LinkedIn about accurate portrayal of people with disabilities
Jan 25, 2024 • 33min
95. Navigating the effective use of AI for inclusive marketing with Joyann Boyce
Everyone has been talking about artificial intelligence (AI) of late. And as more brands and marketers incorporate AI into their workflow, it is important to understand the implications of how AI impacts the inclusiveness of your marketing efforts.To help us navigate this, I sat down with Joyann Boyce, an inclusive marketing strategist, and founder of Inclued AI.Get the episode transcript hereGet the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterInclued AIPrevious episode with Joyann - #75: Inclusive marketers react to campaigns from Barbie, Sainsbury's, McDonald's, and moreMarketing Made Inclusive podcast
Jan 18, 2024 • 45min
94. Inclusive product design with Sabrina Meherally
Inclusive marketing is about more than just communications. The foundation of delivering experiences that enables you to attract and retain more consumers, including those from underrepresented and underserved communities, is an inclusive product.The products and services you deliver, need to be designed with the identities you've chosen to serve in mind.In this discussion with inclusive product design expert Sabrina Meherally, founder of Pause & Effect, we walk through the essentials of designing products that make it possible for more people to achieve success.Get the episode transcriptGet the Inclusion & Marketing newsletterPause & EffectSabrina Meherally on LinkedIn
