From Royal Marines to Building a Coffee Brand (And Becoming an SEO) – Luke Dalton | Beyond SEO® EP10

How Frontify Drives B2B SaaS Growth in the AI Search Era with Edd Wilson | Beyond SEO® EP14

Final Episode of Season 1 👉 Read our thoughts here: https://growthack.io/beyond-seo/ In Episode 14 of Beyond SEO®, Kevin Kapezi and Glen Chamisa sit down with Edd Wilson, who leads Organic Growth at Frontify, to break down what actually drives growth in modern B2B SaaS. This isn’t a conversation about rankings or traffic. It’s about how SEO has evolved into a cross-functional growth system that connects product, brand, content, and commercial performance in the AI era. From working across product marketing and CRO to aligning with sales and revenue teams, Edd shares how Frontify approaches organic growth as an orchestration problem rather than a channel. What You’ll Learn – Why SEO as a silo is fundamentally broken in SaaS – How Frontify connects SEO with product marketing and brand – The shift from traffic metrics to revenue and opportunity value – How AI search is changing discovery, positioning, and visibility – Why most SaaS content strategies fail to drive real business impact – How to use sales calls, CRM data, and customer insights to shape strategy – What “organic growth” actually means in a modern B2B organisation 🧠 Key Insight Organic growth today is not about ranking pages. It’s about orchestrating visibility across channels, aligning messaging across teams, and translating that into commercial outcomes. As Edd puts it, the real shift is moving from SEO as execution to SEO as orchestration across the entire business. 🎯 Who This Is For – B2B SaaS founders and marketing leaders – In-house SEOs and growth teams – Agencies working with SaaS or enterprise clients – Anyone navigating AI search, LLMs, and modern discovery About Beyond SEO® Beyond SEO® explores what actually drives growth in modern search. From SEO and content to product, data, and commercial strategy, each episode breaks down how leading brands are building visibility, trust, and revenue in a changing search landscape. Connect with Edd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddwilson/ Frontify: https://www.frontify.com/ Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Beyond SEO & Edd Wilson 01:00 From SEO to Organic Growth Thinking 02:00 Why SEO Should Not Be Siloed 04:00 AI Search & The Shift in Discovery 06:00 Agency vs In-House: The Commercial Gap 09:00 Why Traffic Is the Wrong Metric 12:00 Reporting on Revenue, Not Clicks 14:00 Getting Access to CRM & Sales Data 17:00 Using Customer Conversations for Strategy 19:00 Brand Is No Longer Separate from SEO 21:00 Working Across Product, Brand & Growth 23:00 What Makes Great Modern SEOs 26:00 CRO, Website Strategy & “SEO as Systems” 29:00 Quick Wins: Using PPC Data for SEO 32:00 Building an Organic Growth Function 35:00 Aligning with Product Teams 37:00 SaaS Content Strategy That Actually Converts 41:00 Orchestrating Content Across Channels 45:00 Why SEO Budgets Lag Behind Paid 47:00 AI Search, LLMs & The Future of SEO 51:00 90-Day Growth Plan for SaaS 54:00 Final Thoughts & Closing #B2BSaaS #SEO #AISearch #DigitalMarketing #ContentStrategy #GrowthMarketing #SaaSMarketing #BeyondSEO #OrganicGrowth #MarketingStrategy Growthack.io [https://growthack.io/] helps brands go Beyond SEO, specialising in building SEO systems that drive revenue: combining technical, content, data-driven insights and AI-ready strategies to help businesses scale smarter. Practical, award-winning SEO that helps your brand stay discoverable, trusted, and ready for what’s next. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Why Your Ads Don’t Work (And What Most Brands Fix Too Late) with Matt Daley | Beyond SEO® EP13

Why do so many digital ad campaigns fail? 👉 Read our Insights here: https://growthack.io/beyond-seo/ In this episode of Beyond SEO, Kevin Kapezi and Glen Chamisa sit down with Matt Daley, founder of RUNWAY FIVE, to explore the realities of growing, exiting, and rebuilding in digital marketing. Episode Topics • Building and exiting a digital agency • The identity shift after leaving a business • Moving to Spain and designing a better lifestyle • Why many digital ad campaigns fail • Aligning paid media, SEO, and growth strategy • The rise of the Fractional CMO model • Building RUNWAY FIVE Matt shares his journey from building a digital agency over more than a decade, navigating a management buyout, and eventually stepping away to rethink his next chapter. The conversation dives into the strategic and emotional realities of leaving a business that defined your identity for years. We also explore the bigger picture behind performance marketing today. Matt breaks down the fundamentals of profitable digital advertising, why many brands believe their ads “don’t work,” and what marketers should check before changing budgets or creative. Finally, we discuss Matt’s new venture RUNWAY FIVE, his shift toward consultancy and strategic advisory, and how the Fractional CMO model is helping brands connect paid media, SEO, and broader growth strategy. This episode is a must-watch for founders, marketing leaders, and agency owners thinking about the future of performance marketing. 00:00 Introduction to Beyond SEO 01:10 Matt Daley’s background in digital marketing 03:45 Building a digital agency and early lessons 08:30 The inflexion points that drove agency growth 14:10 The reality of exiting an agency 18:45 Detaching identity from the business 23:30 Moving to Spain and designing a new lifestyle 27:40 When brands say “ads don’t work” 31:10 How paid media and SEO should work together 36:00 The shift to consultancy and Fractional CMO 41:00 Building RUNWAY FIVE 46:00 Advice for founders and marketing leaders Guest Links Connect with Matt Daley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewdaley/ RUNWAY FIVE https://runwayfive.com/ About Beyond SEO Beyond SEO is a podcast by Growthack exploring what truly drives modern marketing growth across search, content, data, and strategy. Hosted by Kevin Kapezi and Glen Chamisa. #PaidMedia #PPC #AgencyLife #BeyondSEO #DigitalMarketing #MarketingStrategy #FractionalCMO #DigitalAdvertising #GrowthStrategy Growthack.io [https://growthack.io/] helps brands go Beyond SEO, specialising in building SEO systems that drive revenue: combining technical, content, data-driven insights and AI-ready strategies to help businesses scale smarter. Practical, award-winning SEO that helps your brand stay discoverable, trusted, and ready for what’s next. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Why Marketing Data Goes WRONG (learn how to fix it) with Thierry Ngutegure | Beyond SEO® EP12

Data isn’t the problem. The way marketing teams use it is. 👉 Read our Insights here: https://growthack.io/beyond-seo/ In EP12 of Beyond SEO, Glen sits down with Thierry Ngutegure, Head of Data Storytelling at Six Chillies, to unpack why marketing data often fails to drive decisions — and how to fix it. From a broken reporting culture to fragmented dashboards and stakeholder misalignment, this episode explores why more data rarely leads to more clarity. Thierry shares how he went from biological sciences to digital PR to leading insight teams, and why he calls himself a “data translator” — sitting between technical analysts and decision-makers to turn overwhelming data into clear stories that drive action. This episode covers: • Why most marketing reporting fails stakeholders • The “Why → How → What” framework for data storytelling • How large brands misuse data through fragmentation • The confidence gap stopping teams from challenging insights • What AI gets wrong about data (trust and taste) • Why taste will matter more than ever in an AI-driven world • The mindset shift required to move from implementer to strategic leader Thierry also shares why he did stand-up comedy to overcome public speaking fear, how to build a cross-department data culture, and why “imposter syndrome” is something you should actively pursue. If you work in SEO, paid media, analytics, insights, or marketing leadership and want your data to influence decisions, not just sit in reports — this episode is essential. Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:10 Thierry’s unconventional path into data 03:48 Becoming a “data translator” 06:54 Why → How → What storytelling framework 11:03 Stop stereotyping stakeholders 18:14 Why Thierry did stand-up comedy 24:04 “Pursuit of imposter syndrome” mindset 25:24 How big brands misuse data 30:30 Removing bias from data 34:56 Fixing broken reporting in agencies 43:02 Moving from Specialist to Marketing Leader 47:00 Stakeholder storytelling and unlocking budget 51:40 Using trend data to shape product strategy 55:55 Why Six Chillies was founded 01:00:00 Buying a car entirely through ChatGPT 01:04:10 AI, trust, and the collapse of certainty 01:06:30 Why taste will outlast automation Follow Thierry: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thierryngutegure/ Six Chillies: https://www.sixchillies.com/ #DataStorytelling #MarketingData #DigitalMarketing #BeyondSEO Growthack.io [https://growthack.io/] helps brands go Beyond SEO, specialising in building SEO systems that drive revenue: combining technical, content, data-driven insights and AI-ready strategies to help businesses scale smarter. Practical, award-winning SEO that helps your brand stay discoverable, trusted, and ready for what’s next. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Doughnotts: From £10 Side Hustle to Multiple Retail Stores with Wade Smith | Beyond SEO® EP11

Doughnotts started with £10 and a side hustle mindset. Now it is multiple retail stores, big expansion plans, and a franchise model built around customer service. In EP11 of Beyond SEO, Glen and Kevin sit down with Wade Smith to unpack the real story behind building one of Nottingham’s most recognised doughnut brands. This episode covers the unglamorous bits people skip: learning by doing, brand naming battles, domain drama, retail economics, why business rates crush stores, and why Wade believes customer service outweighs product. Chapters 00:00 Intro and guest welcome 00:55 Who Wade is and what Doughnotts is 02:12 The real origin story. Man vs Food, broke beginnings, first sales 07:19 Early lessons. Persistence, learning by doing, staying honest 08:14 Ego check. The Ferrari story and “business money is not your money” 13:57 Naming, rebrands, cease and desist letters, domains, trademarks 16:26 Becoming the face of the brand and managing public identity 25:26 Scaling decisions. Physical stores, supermarkets, and why Co-op did not work 26:40 The kiosk-on-wheels model. No rates, lower risk, faster expansion 29:04 Why experience matters. Lighting, vibe, and what brands like 200 Degrees get right 34:51 Online sales as a data engine, not just revenue 38:06 COVID. The bakery gamble, survival mindset, and the cookie pivot 40:05 If Doughnotts disappeared tomorrow. What Wade would do differently 42:28 UK investment reality. Due diligence, negotiations, underpromise and overdeliver 43:29 Franchising model, economics, and “customer service franchise” thinking 55:17 Where to follow Wade and Doughnotts 55:48 Outro Follow Wade: @wadey_doughnotts Doughnotts: https://doughnottsofficial.com/ Instagram and TikTok: @doughnottsofficial Growthack: https://growthack.io/ Beyond SEO playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmk-iXDeDmI&list=PLyRi3SnB4M7bqeTm2Ku_kNhypxZeuUiSW #BeyondSEO #Doughnotts #WadeSmith #Nottingham #Entrepreneurship #Hospitality #Retail #Franchising #BrandBuilding #CustomerExperience Growthack.io [https://growthack.io/] helps brands go Beyond SEO, specialising in building SEO systems that drive revenue: combining technical, content, data-driven insights and AI-ready strategies to help businesses scale smarter. Practical, award-winning SEO that helps your brand stay discoverable, trusted, and ready for what’s next. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

From Royal Marines to Building a Coffee Brand (And Becoming an SEO) – Luke Dalton | Beyond SEO® EP10

In this episode of Beyond SEO, Glen and Kevin sit down with Luke Dalton — former Royal Marines Commando / UK Special Forces, now an SEO specialist and founder of Contact Coffee. Luke breaks down what the military taught him about planning, resilience, and execution, and how those lessons translate into modern marketing — where the rules change fast, expectations are messy, and strategy only matters if you can actually implement it. We also get into the real-world stuff most “marketing journeys” skip: - The identity shift after leaving the forces - Building a brand without a business plan (and why that sometimes works) - Why social reach often doesn’t equal revenue - Why email still outperforms most channels for intent + ROI - Micro-influencers vs “big names” (and what actually worked for Contact Coffee) - SEO expectations, agency checklists, and what business owners should focus on instead - Luke’s side project that’s outranking major brands like Costa (with basic execution) If you’re into marketing, entrepreneurship, e-commerce growth, or career transitions, this one’s for you. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro: Beyond SEO + Luke joins (Royal Marines → SEO) 01:00 – Leaving the Marines: deployments, downtime, and the “entrepreneur spark” 02:10 – Starting Contact Coffee while still serving 03:10 – Military skills that translate to marketing: resilience + execution 05:40 – The identity shift after leaving the forces (the bit people don’t talk about) 08:05 – Military planning frameworks and why agencies often fail continuity 10:40 – Contact Coffee origin story: from Afghanistan to a UK gap in the market 13:20 – KPIs vs organic growth: expectation-setting when money’s involved 15:30 – Loving the grind: why founders need the ugly phase 17:20 – “Mission-led SEO”: why product + operations come before strategy 19:15 – Why coffee matters in the military (and “Give a Coffee” campaign) 24:00 – Social media reality: full-time job, lower posting, more ROI elsewhere 26:00 – Email vs social: why intent wins (and “viral” doesn’t always pay) 28:45 – Influencers: micro-influencers strategy that actually drove returns 31:00 – SEO expectations: why business owners get it wrong (and how to fix it) 36:15 – When SEO budget is misallocated (and why SEO should start at build stage) 39:00 – Integrity in agency work: telling clients the uncomfortable truth 42:00 – Advice to business owners: understanding SEO + outsourcing properly 45:00 – Consultant vs agency: why experience beats checklists 47:25 – 2026 e-commerce SEO: category/collection pages + schema basics 50:10 – Luke’s side project: outranking Costa with simple execution 52:15 – Why every SEO needs a side project to test and break things 53:50 – Where to find Luke + outro Find Luke on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-dalton-ccco/ Contact Coffee: https://www.contactcoffee.com/ Luke’s project: workingfromcoffeeshops.co.uk #BeyondSEO #MarketingPodcast #Entrepreneurship #SEO #Ecommerce #FounderJourney #military #VeteransInBusiness #BrandBuilding #EmailMarketing #DigitalMarketing #CareerTransition #royalmarines #royalmarinecommando #UKBusiness Growthack.io [https://growthack.io/] helps brands go Beyond SEO, specialising in building SEO systems that drive revenue: combining technical, content, data-driven insights and AI-ready strategies to help businesses scale smarter. Practical, award-winning SEO that helps your brand stay discoverable, trusted, and ready for what’s next. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.