Frictionless Growth Marketing
Sonia Thompson | Inclusive Growth & Customer Experience Strategist
Brand growth today depends on removing friction from your marketing and customer experience to attract and retain more of the people you want to serve.
Frictionless Growth Marketing is the podcast for marketers, business leaders, and founders who want to grow by eliminating the messaging, experience, and strategy gaps that quietly push customers away every single day.
Hosted by Sonia Thompson, Inclusive Growth and Customer Experience Strategist, the show breaks down how modern brands drive sustainable growth by designing frictionless customer journeys, building trust with identity-rich growth communities, and adapting to changing consumer expectations with clarity and confidence.
Each week, you’ll hear practical insights, real brand examples, and candid conversations with marketing leaders and subject-matter experts on:
Brand strategy that fuels long-term business growth in the age of modern marketing
Customer acquisition, retention, and loyalty in today’s market
How friction shows up across the customer journey — and how to remove it
Identity-driven marketing, cultural relevance, and belonging
What’s actually working now with today’s values-driven consumers
If you want to reach more of the people you’re meant to serve — and convert more of them — without relying on outdated formulas or brute-force tactics, Frictionless Growth Marketing will show you the new rules of modern marketing and growth.
Because when you remove friction, you remove barriers to growth — for your customers and for your business.
Frictionless Growth Marketing is the podcast for marketers, business leaders, and founders who want to grow by eliminating the messaging, experience, and strategy gaps that quietly push customers away every single day.
Hosted by Sonia Thompson, Inclusive Growth and Customer Experience Strategist, the show breaks down how modern brands drive sustainable growth by designing frictionless customer journeys, building trust with identity-rich growth communities, and adapting to changing consumer expectations with clarity and confidence.
Each week, you’ll hear practical insights, real brand examples, and candid conversations with marketing leaders and subject-matter experts on:
Brand strategy that fuels long-term business growth in the age of modern marketing
Customer acquisition, retention, and loyalty in today’s market
How friction shows up across the customer journey — and how to remove it
Identity-driven marketing, cultural relevance, and belonging
What’s actually working now with today’s values-driven consumers
If you want to reach more of the people you’re meant to serve — and convert more of them — without relying on outdated formulas or brute-force tactics, Frictionless Growth Marketing will show you the new rules of modern marketing and growth.
Because when you remove friction, you remove barriers to growth — for your customers and for your business.
Episodes
Mentioned books
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
Aug 24, 2023 • 18min
73. How to bake inclusion into your brand guidelines
Every brand needs to have brand guidelines. And those guidelines also need to incorporate your approach and style as it relates to inclusion. This episode we dive into how to make your brand guidelines more inclusive, specifically by focusing on language and visual imagery.Get the episode transcript hereGet the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterInclusive Brand AcademyEpisode 15: Getting started with inclusive language with Nailah King
Aug 17, 2023 • 37min
72. Why brands should practice responsible marketing with Lola Bakare
Responsible marketing, which is very closely related to inclusive marketing, is a term that I heard from the wonderful Lola Bakare. In this episode, we cover why smart brands engage in it.Lola, who is my guest today, is an Anthem Award-Winning CMO Advisor & Inclusive Marketing Strategist, and founder of be/co, a boutique consultancy that empowers brands and marketing leaders with strategic guidance, coaching, training, and workshops that unleash new levels of success.Get the episode transcript hereGet the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterFollow Lola on LinkedIn
