Why Copying Ryanair's SMM Tactics Won't Work Anymore | Michael Corcoran (Slice Social, Ryanair)

Why Copying Ryanair's SMM Tactics Won't Work Anymore | Michael Corcoran (Slice Social, Ryanair)

A gym franchise creates workout content like everyone else in their category — and sees zero brand awareness gains. Sound familiar? Michael Corcoran, the mastermind who drove 2 billion organic impressions in 18 months at Ryanair (with zero paid media), reveals why most brands are failing at social media by copying tactics without understanding strategy. Michael Corcoran is the former head of social at Ryanair, where his team of just eight people transformed the airline into a viral sensation. Today he runs Slice Social, a social media consultancy helping brands achieve extraordinary results through strategic social media marketing. In this episode, you'll discover why jumping on trends isn't a strategy, how to use the 4C's framework to develop actual social media strategy, and why Michael thinks you should create a "data dating show" for a B2B SaaS company. Plus: the real reason Ryanair's unhinged posts worked (hint: it wasn't just about being funny). Here's what you'll learn in this episode: * (00:00) Intro * (01:06) What clients really want from social media consultants * (06:05) The education gap between social media managers and marketers * (07:42) Why content pillars aren't strategy (and what actually is) * (14:56) Why everyone copying Ryanair's tactics is missing the point * (19:31) The 4C's framework: Company, Category, Culture, Customer * (22:26) Why posting memes might be lifting your category, not your brand * (31:14) Creating a "data dating show" for B2B marketing * (60:14) The ROI of 2 billion impressions at Ryanair * (63:26) Rapid fire: Books, tools, and who to interview next We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Michael Corcoran: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelrichardcorcoran/ X: @mc_so_me Website: https://www.slice-social.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: Alchemy by Rory Sutherland: https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Dark-Art-Science-Persuasion/dp/0062388428 Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com #SocialMediaStrategy #MarketingMarketing #SocialMediaMarketing #AhrefsPodcast

AI Apps, Reports & Workflows Every Marketer Should Steal | Glen Allsopp (Ahrefs, Detailed)

Marketers who still manually analyze Reddit threads for content ideas are missing out on AI agents that can scan thousands of forum posts in under 30 seconds. Glen Allsopp, Head of Marketing Strategy and Research at Ahrefs, demonstrates how he's built custom AI applications that save hours of repetitive work — from automated competitor link analysis to personalized task managers that cost less than a cent to run. Glen Allsopp leads Ahrefs' marketing strategy while dedicating his days to experimenting with AI agents and automation. He's built dozens of custom applications using Agent A (Ahrefs' AI agent platform) and shares his workflows with the Ahrefs community to help marketers work smarter, not harder. In this episode, you'll discover how to build custom AI applications without coding experience, automate SEO research that typically takes hours, and create personalized tools that adapt to your specific workflow. You'll also learn why 90% of marketers haven't tried AI coding yet — and how to get started in minutes. Here's what you'll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro(00:56) The reality behind AI hype in marketing(03:53) Community Content Research skill demo — finding Reddit threads that rank(10:12) Building a custom task manager that works exactly how you want(17:41) Creating a competitive link analysis tool in 3 minutes(29:21) Generating AI visibility reports from Brand Radar data(34:27) Marketing copy generator with brand context built-in We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Glen Allsopp:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenallsopp/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenallsopp/]X: @ViperChillWebsite: https://detailed.com [https://detailed.com] Where to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/]X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/ [https://www.timsoulo.com/] Referenced: * Agent A (Letaido): https://ahrefs.com/agent-a [https://ahrefs.com/agent-a] , https://letaido.com/ [https://letaido.com/] * Ahrefs Brand Radar: https://ahrefs.com/brand-radar [https://ahrefs.com/brand-radar] * Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com [https://ahrefs.com] #AIMarketing #MarketingAutomation #SEOTools #AhrefsPodcast

Gong's Billion-Dollar Bet Against Best Practices | Udi Ledergor (Gong)

Swearing on sales calls can boost win rates by up to 8% — that's just one of the counterintuitive insights that helped Gong grow from 11 customers to over $300M in annual revenue. Udi Ledergor joined Gong as employee #13 and marketer #1, eventually becoming CMO and now Chief Evangelist. His data-driven content marketing approach turned proprietary sales call analytics into viral marketing gold that media outlets couldn't resist covering. Udi is the author of "Courageous Marketing" and has over 28 years of marketing experience across multiple successful tech companies. He's pioneered creative growth tactics like securing Super Bowl ads and Wall Street Journal placements for a fraction of their usual cost, all while building one of B2B's most recognizable brands. In this episode, you'll discover why AI-generated marketing ideas should be eliminated rather than used, how to create content so valuable that university professors want to license it, and why the best way to use a small marketing budget is to show up where your audience already congregates instead of trying to build your own party. Here's what you'll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro(01:00) Why Gong focused on LinkedIn and ignored their website(07:21) Why best practices are the enemy of standing out(13:31) The reciprocity principle: Give value before asking for anything(18:21) How swearing on sales calls became viral marketing gold(25:18) How to make your marketing budget unlimited(33:29) Creating websites for AI vs. humans in the age of answer engines(40:36) Why you need preemptive "marketing experiments" budget(44:18) Punching above your weight(51:23) Using AI to eliminate obvious ideas, not generate them(56:54) The Netflix test: Would people pay for your content?(1:01:31) Finding talent in unlikely places We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Udi Ledergor: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/udiledergor/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/udiledergor/] X: @ledergor Website: https://www.gong.io/ [https://www.gong.io/] Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/] X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ [https://www.timsoulo.com/] Referenced: * Robert Cialdini (Influence): https://www.robertcialdini.com/ [https://www.robertcialdini.com/] * Chip and Dan Heath (Made to Stick): https://heathbrothers.com/ [https://heathbrothers.com/] * Malcolm Gladwell: https://gladwell.com/ [https://gladwell.com/] * Adam Grant (Think Again): https://adamgrant.net/ [https://adamgrant.net/] * Daniel Pink: https://www.danpink.com/ [https://www.danpink.com/] * Peter Walker (Carta): https://www.linkedin.com/in/pwalk/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pwalk/] * Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com [https://ahrefs.com] #ContentMarketing #B2BMarketing #GrowthMarketing #AhrefsPodcast

How to automate blog writing with AI from keyword to published | Ryan Law (Ahrefs)

Most writers can barely publish one article per week — but what if AI could help you draft 30 articles in less time? Ryan Law has cracked the code with an automated content pipeline that’s already producing high-quality articles for the Ahrefs blog in just 8–12 minutes each. Ryan Law is Head of Marketing at Ahrefs and has spent years refining AI-powered content workflows. He’s built an intricate system of 23+ AI “skills” that work together to research, outline, draft, and optimize blog content — all while maintaining the Ahrefs voice and incorporating product use cases naturally. In this episode, you’ll discover exactly how Ryan’s “blog pipeline” works, why breaking content creation into discrete steps produces better results, and how AI eliminates the drudgery of writing while preserving human creativity. Tim also shares his own AI workflow for writing his upcoming book through voice dictation. Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro (01:37) Inside Ryan’s 23-skill AI content automation system (07:48) The research phase: analyzing competitor content and finding gaps (19:19) Referencing existing content to maintain consistency (22:23) Creating exhaustive outlines using the MECE principle (23:44) Why examples beat instructions for teaching AI your voice (29:26) Finding natural product placement opportunities (34:37) The critical importance of providing human context (41:00) Using AI to update thousands of existing articles (48:01) How AI eliminates creative drudgery, not creativity itself Where to find Ryan Law: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingslow/ X: @thinkingslow Website: https://www.ryanlaw.me/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: Claude (Anthropic): https://claude.ai Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com

Ahrefs' CMO answering your (tough) questions | Tim Soulo

Most SEO tools are playing catch-up with AI search while their users wonder if traditional keyword tracking even matters anymore. Tim Soulo tackles your burning questions about how Ahrefs is navigating this shift, revealing that Content Explorer is their most underrated feature despite being 10x less popular than Site Audit. Tim Soulo is the CMO at Ahrefs, one of the industry's most comprehensive SEO toolsets with over $100 million in annual revenue. He's been with Ahrefs for over a decade, helping shape its evolution from a backlink analysis tool to a full marketing suite. In this solo Q&A episode, Tim reveals why Ahrefs has no acquisition plans, which tools generate the most usage (Site Explorer dominates by 3x), and why they're betting big on API expansion for the "wipe coding" revolution. He also shares candid thoughts on competing with Semrush and explains why Brand Radar crossed $10M ARR in just 5 months. Here's what you'll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro(00:27) Any plans for acquisitions in 2026? (from Bilal Malik)(01:13) Which are the most vs least used Ahrefs features? (from Vimala Ellappan)(08:44) What is the most underrated Ahrefs feature? (from Kristiina Jannus)(10:48) How does Tim use Ahrefs for AI visibility tracking? (from Ayesha Asif)(13:33) How does Ahrefs fit into the modern demand engine? (from Gayle Kalvert)(17:18) How is Ahrefs looking at first vs third-party data? (from Hawrry Bhattarai)(21:27) Which SEO basic skills would Tim embed in LLMs? (from Laiba Naveed)(23:30) Which Semrush feature does Tim envy most? (from Coen Commijs)(25:59) If Ahrefs exists, what problem is Semrush trying to solve? (from Ashish Singh)(27:18) What's the update on ranking data beyond position 10? (from Mia Wolf)(29:21) How does Ahrefs plan to capture future SERP features? (from Alex Nguyen)(31:05) How do you balance evergreen content with fast-moving trends? (from Esther Dien)(34:24) What are your SEO predictions for 2026? (from Nick Malekos)(35:54) Where do you plan for Ahrefs to be in 5 years? (from Ivan Palii)(37:50) What's your POV on the Indian market? (from Aryan Jalan) We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! Be sure to follow and share with a friend. Where to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/]X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/ [https://www.timsoulo.com/] Referenced:ChatGPT vs Google: https://chatgpt-vs-google.com/ [https://chatgpt-vs-google.com/]Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com [https://ahrefs.com/]