Hey 👋

Welcome to Neighbourhood Post issue #062, easy to implement digital marketing ideas straight through your metaphorical letterbox.

Let’s get to it. Do you categorise your different digital channels, and how do you arrange them in a highly effective customer journey? You’re about to find out!

Breaking down the silos.

There’s an old theory in marketing:

“An individual needs to see an average of 7 marketing messages to take them from complete unawareness to a purchasing decision.”

Well, in 2026 that number rockets from 7 to over 20+.

Creating multiple touchpoints with your audience is more important than ever.

But here’s the thing most people miss:

Not all channels are created equal.

Social media is different to email, which is different to digital ads, which is different to podcasts etc. etc.

Your marketing probably falls into one of two camps:

#1 – you share the same message everywhere and don’t tailor to the platform.

#2 – you treat each channel as a silo and don’t create effective journeys.

Here’s how you can solve both…

How do you action it?

Now, I could spend ages talking about this, but I’ll keep it brief:

Think about which channels your audience uses most.

1. Pick 2-3 that help you move people from top left to bottom right.

2. Create a strategy around them.

If you focus your attention and ignore the other channels for now, you’ll start to see an improvement in your digital performance.

That’s all for today.

See you next week for more drawings.✌️

Before you go – we’ll never use these newsletters to directly sell you our services, but we’re always here if you need any expertise or support 👍

Hey 👋

Welcome to Neighbourhood Post issue #061, easy to implement digital marketing ideas straight through your metaphorical letterbox.

Thanks for all the love last week – it’s good to be back writing. Some good news: did you know it won’t be dark before 6pm until October? We’ve made it, spring is here!

Anyway, here’s three systems you can set up today to help you win at marketing.

How many do you currently have in place?

You only need 3 systems to win

Welcome back to Drawing With Dan. ✏️

The series where I simultaneously share marketing wisdom and fulfil a lifelong aspiration to be the next Neil Buchanan.

If you didn’t see last week’s instalment, take a look here.

But today, we’re breaking down the three systems of marketing success.

This is one of my favourites.

We overcomplicate so much.

I’m guilty of it too, but we’re too clever half the time, when all we really need are these 3 ingredients:

• A way of reaching new audiences.
• A way of sharing value with them.
• A way of converting them.

Let me explain…

You’ve gotta love a firework analogy. 🎆

So what’s the takeaway?

If you have lots of marketing activity underway, list out which of the 3 systems it all falls under. Do you have the balance right or are you focusing too much on one system?

If you’re just starting out, think of one idea for each system and get started.

Either way, if you fancy someone to bounce ideas off, let me know – I’d be happy to grab a virtual coffee. ☕

That’s all for today.

Before you go – we’ll never use these newsletters to directly sell you our services, but we’re always here if you need any expertise or support 👍

Hey 👋

Have you heard of a zero-click strategy? You’re about to…

Let’s Go Linkless 🔗

This week I posted about links on LinkedIn.

(If you saw that post, don’t worry – we’ll go way deeper here.)

You might not know it, but links are significantly limiting your social media success.

It’s the one thing I try and tell everyone we work with:

If you’re asking people to click a link in bio, you’ve already lost.

For two reasons:

Firstly, algorithms hate it.

Social media organisations don’t want you to leave their app.

Less time in app = less ad revenue for the platforms.

So their algorithms deprioritises any content that tries.

Secondly, users hate it.

Despite what we think, very few people want to leave the app either.

They’re on social media for escapism, entertainment and inspiration.

They don’t want to navigate your averagely-optimised mobile website.

(More on that another time.)

But even those two explanations aren’t the main reason why you should stop littering your social media schedule with links. There’s a much more noble, inspiring reason to stop:

It forces you to do proper marketing.

Anyone can shout demands at their audience day in, day out. “Come to this event”, “Buy this thing”, “Support our cause”, “Read this blog”, “Download this resource”, “Sign up to this newsletter”. It’s easy and, to be really honest with you, weak marketing.

If you stop shouting, you have to make them feel something.

You have to delight them, value them, connect on a level beyond demands.

But it’s really hard.

So brands often default to the easy path – ask, ask, ask.

And audiences feel less valued, more exploited and they switch off.

The answer? Adopt a zero click strategy.

That means sharing full value in the social media post itself.

No need to click away to benefit.

Everything stays in platform, on app – happy algorithm and happy users.

What you lose in traffic you gain in trust and attention, and when people get value first, they remember you.

It’s a scary tactic, I know.

And you might face resistance from leadership and stakeholders who depend on you driving conversions.

If you want to do it effectively, here’s some tips:

#1 – Check your data – Use Google Analytics to work out how many website conversions are actually coming from social media. I’ll bet it’s close to zero. Use this data to help convince leadership of your shift to zero-click

#2 – Know your value – Spend time thinking about the unique value you offer. Bring the value of your product/service directly onto social media and help people where they’re at. Don’t gate keep – share all of your gold on socials.

#3 – Divert your asks – I’m not crazy. I know you have to do the hard sales somewhere. Ask away on email, digital ads, podcasts, etc. If you REALLY have to sell on social media, use Instagram/Facebook stories.

#4 – Connect your channels – This is the hard bit. Map your channels into a journey and work out how to grab new audiences on social media and connect them to your other spaces that can be more salesy.

#5 – Value your content – Get a social media strategist and listen to their advice. Invest in your graphic design and video creation ability. High-performance on social media requires expertise and investment.

We’re bullish on this.

The team works across dozens of social media accounts, and we see the pattern.

Brands who go zero-click win, those that don’t lose.

That’s all for today.

✌️

Hey 👋

Welcome to Neighbourhood Post – easy to implement digital marketing ideas, straight through your metaphorical letterbox.

I hope you’ve had a good week.

Today we’re talking about how we can overcomplicate things, and I got to play with Lego. Win-win.

Less > More 🤯

Are you ready for a Friday morning brainteaser?

It’s an easy one.

Look at the photo below. It’s a bridge made of Lego.

Using only what you see, how would you balance the bridge?

You added the spare brick to the left hand column, didn’t you.

I knew you would.

You’re correct, well done! ✅

You made the same move as 99% of people.

But did you spot the alternative solution: remove a brick from the right hand column?

The result would be the same.

But only 1% of people take a brick away.

It’s an illustration of how the human brain naturally looks to solve problems – through addition not subtraction.

If the situation clearly calls for subtraction, we’ll subtract.

But if we’re faced with an equal choice of addition or subtraction, we’ll always add something.

It highlights the importance of knowing how our brain works when we make decisions.

What if, against all our better instincts, less is better?

You may have heard of the Pareto Principle (AKA the 80/20 rule).

80% of output comes from 20% of input, or in marketing terms 80% of success comes from 20% of your activity.

The problem is working out which 20%.

It begs the question:

What if the answer to your sales and marketing challenge is to do less, rather than more? To spend time understanding what you can leverage to bring disproportionate results.

Sometimes doing less can be a competitive advantage.

Rick Rubin, author and founder of Def Jam Records, takes a minimal approach to social media – posting once per week and archiving each post after seven days, so his Instagram profile always shows just one post.

Posting less becomes a compelling reason to pay attention to what he says.

In a world that demands more, less is a competitive advantage.

Let’s take this from the theoretical to the practical…

If you’re juggling 6 different marketing channels, ask yourself:

“If I spend twice as much time on half the channels, would results go up or down?”

Chances are you couldn’t be 100% confident one way or the other.

So test it for a short period of time.

You might be surprised.

That’s all for now.

Until next week.

✌️

Hey 👋

Welcome to Neighbourhood Post

Don’t call it a comeback… but did you miss me?

We took a few weeks off to focus on other things (more on that soon…) but your friendly neighbourhood postman is back, ready to deliver.

And I’m picking up where I left off, ruminating on the rapid reshaping of the marketing landscape at the hands of our old adversary, AI.

Let’s get to it…

AI and digital, in three conversations 💬

Are you bored of conversations about AI?

I kind of am. 🫠

It feels like everything that needs to be said has been said.

So rather than the same boring chat, let me share 3 recent conversations that gave me a really clear view of where we’re at.

Those conversations are:

1. “The Sloppening” ⚰️
2. The competitive advantage 🏆
3. The now and not yet 🔮

The first conversation was sparked when someone sent me this post – titled “The Sloppening”.

It warns of the overwhelming spread of low-quality, AI-generated content.

(You should read the whole thing)

It’s fairly damning: “We’ve sloptimised ourselves into oblivion”

But it’s also clear: “AI didn’t break things, we did.”

We’re the pilot, AI is the plane.

Applying marketing expertise and strategy is crucial.

As a digital agency, we’re developing an approach that gets the most out of AI content generation without losing authenticity and authority.

It’s a framework designed to safeguard your brand from the pitfalls of AI-generated content, while keeping innovation and creativity at the core of your strategy.

Spoiler; more often than not it points towards original creativity over AI slop.

Which leads me to the second conversation…

Someone asked me (in a half-polite way):

“Anyone can use AI to create a social media strategy, a monthly schedule, and a month’s worth of graphics and captions in 5 minutes. So why shouldn’t I?”

My answer was easy.

“You shouldn’t, because everyone can.”

When it comes to digital marketing, people wrongly position AI as the clear competitive advantage.

But if everyone has access to the competitive advantage, it’s not really an advantage, is it? In fact it’s the exact opposite – the competitive disadvantage.

In a world of slop, you gain ground by pursuing what AI hasn’t nailed yet;

100% connection, 100% creativity, 100% authenticity.

Supplement it with AI, but start with the human.

It sounds like I’m a skeptic in complete denial.

But that’s where the third conversation comes in:

“One day AI will take all of our jobs, no one will work and the government will have to fund universal salaries for everyone.”

It’s true. AI will take 80% of all jobs that don’t require manual labour (those are for the robots to take.)

When that happens is less clear.

Probably not before 2050, but who knows?

At the moment we’re living in the now and not yet.

We know the way things are going, and I’m not naive enough to think that very soon AI won’t be producing slop, but content that is 100% creative and 100% authentic.

But that moment is not today, and we shouldn’t pretend it is just because we can all turn ourselves into Disney Pixar characters at the drop of a prompt.

Here’s ours btw (sorry Matt and Mark):

We’re prioritising how to get the most out of AI now, and also preparing for future developments.

If you want to do the same, it looks like two things:

• Become an AI-Augmented Marketer – Learn AI tools like ChatGPT, MidJourney, and AI-driven analytics.
• Stay ahead of AI developments, ethics & regulation – know what’s here, what’s coming and what won’t stay.

That’s all for today.

What do you think, more AI or less AI in future newsletters? I wouldn’t be offended either way:

See you next week.

✌️

New Year, New You 💫

It’s January, which means only one thing.

It’s resolution time.

« Insert lighthearted anecdote about how I always try really hard at resolutions but end up giving up after 6 weeks »

In some ways the 1st of January is just any other day, but a perceived new start gives us the chance to review and refresh what we’re doing.

So what does that look like for digital?

Here are 5 resolutions for you to try out in January. How many will you try?

#1 – Create social media design guidelines

Let’s start with a challenging, but important one.

When it comes to social success, your brand guidelines aren’t enough.

Designers might include a couple of example posts in the broader guidelines, but you need versatility and bespoke designs to play with.

Not something that contradicts guidelines, but an extension of them.

Start the conversation with your designer and get them in place for 2025.

#2 – Set up an email automation

 I’m always amazed at the number of brands who don’t utilise email automations.

If you don’t have any, at least focus on a welcome email when someone joins your list. Point them to other channels (e.g. social media) and gently tease the action you want them to take next.

If you’re feeling brave, don’t just have one email, set up a journey that unpacks more about who you are over a series of weeks.

If you already have a welcome automation, create one based on purchases, donations and other actions.

#3 – Start a swipe file

A Swipe File is a collection of interesting/inspiring/useful things you’ve saved for later.

I guess “bookmark” is the more universal language.

In your day-to-day, save anything you see that you like the look of. Videos you want to watch, social media that’s inspired you, websites to copy, articles on best practice, social media posts you like the look of etc.

I use a tool called Raindrop but I’m also tempted by a flashy AI newcomer called My Mind.

#4 – Check in to LinkedIn

There’s a migration happening at the moment, of people away from X towards other platforms.

LinkedIn is the destination of choice for a lot of professional thought leaders and communities.

As a result its becoming a place full of insight and expertise.

Sure, it’s still a place for pretentiousness and humble bragging, but it’s turning into a place for learning, upskilling, and professional development.

Do you want to know the biggest secret of innovation?

There’s nothing new under the sun.

When you realise that even the most creative and novel ideas can be linked to a few sources of inspiration, innovation becomes a lot easier.

It’s not plucking ideas out of thin air, it’s about becoming a student of the game and studying what’s out there already.

We’re constantly taking inspiration from lots of places.

This week on Instagram, we shared four of our favourite social content techniques.

What do you mean you don’t follow us on Instagram?

Fix that right 👉 here 👈

Why have you scrolled past without following us?

👉 Last chance 👈

If video’s your thing you can watch it here.

If words are your thing let me share four ideas:

#1 – Consider audio

While it’s true that around 70% of users watch Reels with their volume on zero, 30% of users are listening in.

So how do you use audio to stop those 30% scrolling?

Suri are the toothbrush brand your favourite influencers are using.

They know how to do social well, and they use audio effects to grab your attention.

It doesn’t have to be complicated; you can use their click sound to roll through your own collection of photos.

It worked on Lillie, it was her favourite post recommendation

#2 – Make engagement easy

Getting people to comment on social posts is really hard.

Here are three ways to make it happen:

• Make it easy – reduce the time people have to actually think about their answer
• Use humour – we sometimes want to go deep, but lighthearted, funny questions get more responses.
• Relate it to the everyday – people don’t want to answer questions about your product/service/offering. Make it about them.

Jake’s favourite post does all three.

#3 – Upgrade your carousels

6 months ago a “photo dump” carousel was best practice – adding multiple unedited photos to a post.

As social always does, things have moved on.

Try adding interactive elements to your carousels – overlay texts and GIFs, combine photos, graphics and videos.

The more time people spend flicking through, the more the algorithm will favour you.

Indi found the perfect example.

#4 – Optimise for shares

This one is the hardest.

But we know one of the main factors the algorithm favours is how many times your post is shared via DM to another individual.

You’ve probably seen the “Your third @ owes you a holiday” type posts.

That’s a direct attempt to increase the number of shares.

Try thinking creatively – how could you stretch your brand and tone of voice a little to allow you to come up with your own ideas.

Joe’s two examples (one and two) are probably out of your brands reach (!) but start there and work backwards.

—

There we go, some ideas for you to be thinking about.

And if you’ve got this far and still aren’t following us on Instagram,

👉 shame on you 👈

✌️