Digital Marketing From The Coalface

Let's be brutally honest: if we stripped the logo off your manufacturing or engineering website, would your buyers have any idea who you are? Or are you indistinguishable from your competitors? Pragmatic engineers love to believe that simply listing capabilities like "NDT inspection" or "pressure testing" makes them special. It doesn't. In this episode of Digital Marketing From The Coalface, Dave...

Welcome back to another episode of Digital Marketing From The Coalface ! After a brief hiatus (and a very jet-lagged return from Boston for Julie),  we are back to call out the B2B marketing myths wasting your budget.   In this episode, we reveal the harsh truth about HubSpot Gold and Platinum Partners . Does that shiny badge actually mean an agency is highly skilled, or are they just excellent at...

Did you know that 92% of B2B buyers enter a formal evaluation with a vendor already in mind ?   In this episode of Digital Marketing From The Coalface , Julie and Dave dive deep into the hidden realities of the modern B2B buyer journey. With 70% to 80% of the purchase process completed before a prospect even speaks to a vendor , your website needs to do much more than simply capture leads .   We e...

Dave and Julie record with the office doors wide open to enjoy an unusually hot day here in Royal Deeside, where a quick run for cold drinks sparks an unexpected marketing lesson about the "famous brand rule" . The discussion flows naturally toward the power of social proof in the B2B space. Unlike world-renowned B2C brands such as Adidas, lesser-known B2B companies must rely heavily on case studi...

Is Google deliberately obscuring its AI search mechanics to protect its 20-year monopoly ? In this episode of Digital Marketing From The Coalface, we dive into the smoke and mirrors of the latest Google AI guidelines, which frustratingly claim that nothing has actually changed . We also explore the widening divide between building websites for human journeys versus AI machine crawlers, and try to ...

Welcome back to  this episode of Digital Marketing From the Coalface, where Julie and Dave discuss topics ranging from the power of specific messaging to the changing landscape of online search, before wrapping up with a surprising real-world use case for AI .   But first, we dive yet again into the   "Search Everywhere" Phenomenon . Digital Marketing strategists have been saying it for months now...

Are you a CMO or CTO struggling to align your marketing strategy and tech stack with the rapid rise of AI? In this week's episode of Digital Marketing from the Coalface , Dave and Julie unpack three massive shifts disrupting the B2B landscape.   First, let us introduce you to "SaaS-mageddon" . We explore why major SaaS company share prices have dropped and how AI agents like Anthropic's Claude are...

Welcome back to Digital Marketing from the Coalface , where Dave and Julie tackle the real-world frustrations and shifting landscapes of today's digital marketing . From the relentless stalking of aggressive (and nonsensical) retargeting ads to navigating complex Google Ads recommendations, this episode is packed (we hope) with candid, ground-level insights for marketers trying to cut through the...

Welcome to episode 169, where Julie and Dave mull over the catastrophic mistakes engineering and B2B companies make when building their marketing teams, and how to control MarTech chaos . But first, are you searching for a marketer who can handle high-level strategy, SEO, video editing, event management, and... customer complaints? We've got bad news for you... Julie came to this episode prepared...

Noticing a drop in organic traffic even though your rankings haven't changed? You're not alone. With Google AI overviews now triggering on 48% of all search queries, organic click-through rates are dropping by 61% when these overviews appear. To put it simply, users are getting their answers directly from AI, eliminating the need to click through to your website.   In this episode of Digital Marke...

Welcome back to Digital Marketing From The Coalface with Dave and Julie . In this episode, we dive deep into the rapidly shifting landscape of AI in search engines and internal operations, hopefully bringing practical insights for businesses trying to stay ahead of the curve.   Whether you are navigating high-intent B2B lead generation or looking to streamline your internal tools using AI, this ep...

Are you selling "global solutions to world-class problems"? If so, please stop. Your marketing messaging is likely confusing your buyers and costing you leads .   In this episode of Digital Marketing from the Coalface , Dave and Julie  dives into the marketing challenges faced by tech, industrial, and engineering companies. They explore why highly technical companies often fall into the trap of li...

In this episode of Digital Marketing from the Coalface , Dave and Julie explore the breathtaking speed at which AI is transforming both marketing strategy and backend technical workflows.   Both agree that traditional keyword stuffing is officially a relic of the past as search queiries get longer and more complex and search engines get smarter. But what does transitioning to Generative Engine Opt...

In episode 163 of Digital Marketing from the Coalface , we cut through the online nonsense to explore what marketing actually is, and what it isn't . Fed up with self-proclaimed LinkedIn "gurus" making up their own definitions, we break down the fundamentals to prove that marketing is a strategic process, not just the "colouring in department" .   So buckle up! In this episode, we cover t he offic...

In this episode of Digital Marketing From The Coalface , Dave and Leslie explore the critical shift in how AI models and AI-powered search engines process and index video content. Moving beyond simple metadata, AI models now "tokenise" video, analysing visual frames and audio streams to extract technical data and sentiment .   High-fidelity video production is no longer just an "aesthetic choice"...

In this episode of  Digital Marketing from the Coalface , Dave and Julie explore the counter-intuitive reality of B2B growth: why receiving fewer clicks often signals a healthier strategy than chasing high-volume traffic .   They discuss the "Mark Kermode Effect"—a bizarre algorithmic failure where YouTube's AI confused Dave with the famous film critic based on their glasses and grey hair, driving...

In the first episode of the year, Julie and Dave unpack the shifting realities of online marketing and business software. They dive into the idea of the "great decoupling," exploring how AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT are disrupting the long-standing relationship between SEO and website traffic. The conversation also takes a critical look at AI-driven advertising, questioning its efficiency—...

We finally managed to record a new episode and we promise to properly ressurect the podcast in 2026. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy our 2025 recap where w e break down the seismic shifts in digital marketing that are actively reshaping how B2B buyers operate in complex sectors, including engineering, tech, renewable energy, and oil and gas . Discover how tech leaders are leveraging platforms l...

Are your buyers finding your complex engineering solutions through traditional search, or are AI bots intercepting their queries first? In this episode, Dave and Cam dive into the rapidly evolving landscape of digital visibility. They tackle the strategic dilemma of the modern web: should your technical documentation and web pages be written for human context, or structured as strict problem-solut...

In this episode Cam has more thoughts on AI and despite the title, it is moderately interesting. From deep discussions on artificial intelligence's inability to read the room to passionate rants about deceptive software pricing, the duo covers the good, the bad, and the outright manipulative sides of the digital landscape. Key Topics Covered in this Episode: Google Ads & AI Judgment: Dave and Cam...

In this episode of Digital Marketing from the Coalface , Dave is joined by a brand-new co-host, Cameron (Cam), who bravely jumps straight into the podcasting deep end . With Stu off adventuring in his camper van , Dave and Cam use Cam's strong B2C background to explore the fascinating differences, and surprising crossovers, between Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) marketin...

When it came to the time to record this episode Dave was struggling to get enthusiastic. However, Stu beat him into submission, and this is the end result. In this highly conversational and organically flowing episode of Digital Marketing from the Coalface , hosts Dave Robinson and Stuart Harrison let the "stream of randomness" fly to uncover some surprisingly deep insights into marketing, busines...

In this episode of Digital Marketing from the Coalface , hosts Dave Robinson and Stuart Harrison dive into the undeniable power of maintaining a highly credible online presence .   They explore why your website is essentially a highly sophisticated "shop window" for your business , sharing real-world examples of how investing in a quality website and relying on strong social proof—like video and w...

In this episode of Digital Marketing from the Coalface , hosts Dave Robinson and Stuart Harrison tackle the double-edged sword of Artificial Intelligence in marketing, the frustrations of public sector procurement, and the rapidly changing role of salespeople in the engineering and tech sectors .   From hilarious AI blunders to deep dives into B2B sales strategy, Dave and Stuart break down what ac...

In this episode of  Digital Marketing from the Coalface , Dave introduces his new co-host, Stuart Harrison —a former physicist and nuclear industry veteran turned business development director. With a career spanning from asset ownership to the supply chain, Stuart helps bridge the gap between complex engineering concepts and the commercial necessity of clear storytelling .   From discussing the u...