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If you want to reach more of the people you’re meant to serve — and convert more of them — without relying on outdated formulas or brute-force tactics, Frictionless Growth Marketing will show you the new rules of modern marketing and growth.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
Aug 10, 2023 • 17min
71. Rule #1 of inclusive marketing
There's a foundational principle of inclusive marketing that a lot of brands overlook, and that a lot of consumers don't realize. In each of these instances, people end up frustrated which is no good. In this episode, I cover this foundational principle and how to put it into action for your brand.Get the transcript of the episode hereGet the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter hereEpisode 29 - What inclusive brand type are you?
Aug 3, 2023 • 38min
70. Growth through Spanish translation: Best practices for reaching customers that speak different languages
We are finishing up our growth series with this episode that is all about helping you and your brand communicate in a way that wins the hearts, minds, and loyalty of consumers who speak a different language.For this episode, I chatted with my Spanish translation team - Alicia and Andrea. Together, we help brands communicate and create love connections with Spanish speaking consumers.Spanish is the fourth most common language spoken in the world, behind English, Mandarin, and Hindi. And it is the second largest number of native speakers in the world – only behind Chinese.So if you want to reach more consumers - thinking about how you communicate and serve people who speak Spanish is a smart thing to do.Now if your goal isn’t to reach Spanish speakers, but for people who speak other languages, this episode is still for you – because many of the principles we cover are applicable no matter what language you’re looking to translate or localize to - we’re just using Spanish as the reference point.Specifically – we’re covering topics related to what marketers need to know and the decisions they need to make to ensure what they communicate, how they communicate, and the process to getting to communicating with excellence happens smoothly.Get the episode transcript hereGet the Inclusion & Marketing newsletterChat with Sonia about Spanish language translations for your brand
Jul 27, 2023 • 30min
69. Growth with globalization: How smart brands of all sizes and budgets are doing it
Globalization is a smart growth strategy. When you focus on serving people who have the problem your business solves who speak different languages and or live in different countries, growth is inevitable.With the technologies that exist today, this is easier and more cost effective to do than ever, no matter what type of business you have.So in today’s episode as we continue with our growth series, we’re going to cover how you can use globalization as a growth strategy in your business, with my guest, Hilary Atkisson Normanha, a globalization specialist.Get the episode transcript hereConnect with Hilary on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilary-atkisson-normanha/Get the Inclusion & Marketing newsletterInclusive Brand Growth AssessmentBelonging Accelerator
Jul 20, 2023 • 20min
68. There's no growth without "we"
How you think about the people you serve matters. In this episode, I cover how to define more specifically who you are including, and how you think about, show up for, have empathy for, and fight for, using examples from the Oppenheimer cast, Rihanna, Johnson & Johnson and more.Get the episode transcript hereWhat inclusive brand type are you? (episode)What inclusive brand type are you (quiz)Get the Inclusion & Marketing newsletter
Jul 13, 2023 • 36min
67. Evite CMO shares how the brand expanded their customer base
In this episode you’re going to hear about how Evite, a company that touches over 100 million people in the US each year — has embraced expanding the way they thought about who had the problem their brand solves, particularly as it relates to the parenthood journey, and how that’s allowed them to serve more people.Get the full transcript hereGet the Inclusion & Marketing newsletter
Jul 6, 2023 • 25min
66. Common mistakes that prevent your brand's growth
Inclusive marketing not only is a good thing to do, but when done right it helps brands grow on a number of fronts. Conversely, not engaging in inclusive marketing prevents many brands from growing. In this episode I cover common ways not being inclusive is preventing brands from growing.Join the Inclusion & Marketing NewsletterGet the transcript of this episodeLinks mentioned in this episode:How to create an accessible brand for people with disabilities with Erin PerkinsHow to increase customer success for people who are not in the majority, with Natalya Sanyal
Jun 29, 2023 • 14min
65. The truth about 'woke' brands and companies getting political
There's been an uptick in the number of brands that are being called out for being both 'woke' and 'political'. But what does it even mean for a brand to be 'woke'? This episode covers the true meaning of woke, what it means for brands, and why all brands are inherently political.Transcript of this episodeTop companies in the US who lobby the governmentJoin the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter
Jun 22, 2023 • 36min
64. How to build an accessible website
There's a growing number of cases where brands are being sued because their websites are not ADA compliant with regard to accessibility. The goal isn't to make you fearful, it is to get you informed about what you need to know to make your website both compliant and inclusive from an accessibility standpoint. I'm joined by Mark Pound, CEO of CurbCutOS, a web accessibility consultancy.Get the transcript of this episode hereCurbCutOSHow Google makes their brand accessibleHow to create an accessible brand with Erin PerkinsJoin the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter
Jun 15, 2023 • 20min
63. How Google makes their brand accessible
Disability impacts more of us than we think. And because of that – focusing on accessibility in your marketing will enable your brand to not only serve more people than you think - but allow you to make a positive impact on their lives.Accessibility is a big topic – and it can feel a bit overwhelming at times. So today, I’m going to give you practical ways to think about how to lean into accessibility in with your brand by walking you through how Google approaches accessibility.Get the transcript of this episode hereInclusive Brand Type are You? Inclusive Brand Type QuizGoogle All In - Disability PlaybookBuilding for EveryoneGet the Inclusion & Marketing weekly newsletter
Jun 8, 2023 • 29min
62. How to build a diverse customer base with Gloria Chou
In today’s episode, I sat down with Gloria Chou, of Gloria Chou PR. I was super intrigued when Gloria told me that the majority of her clientele - I believe it was upwards of 90% are women of color.I wanted to learn about how she did it – what she did to build such a diverse and loyal customer base that get results over and over again.So I sat down with her, and got the goods – and I’m thrilled to share about what Gloria’s done, so you can think about how to apply it to your own brand.Episode transcriptGloria's WebsiteGet the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter
