In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel Rowles is joined by Matthew Gardiner from World Travel Market for a special look at how the user journey is being radically reshaped, and why the travel industry offers a powerful lens for understanding the broader changes all marketers now face.

From AI-powered search and agents, to disconnected content ecosystems, collapsing funnels, and new expectations for sustainability and meaning, the way users discover, evaluate, and buy has shifted. Whether you work in travel or not, this episode delivers insight into how to adapt your digital strategy for a fragmented, AI-enhanced, and purpose-driven customer journey.

Why AI is collapsing the funnel
Users no longer move in a straight line from awareness to action. Conversations with AI agents like ChatGPT are replacing multi-step journeys. Whoever owns the AI conversation, owns the customer.

From connected to disconnected content
The shift from traditional, connected social feeds to short-form, algorithmically driven discovery (Reels, TikToks, Shorts) has changed how we build awareness and trust.

AI Overviews and Answer Engine Optimisation
With 55% of Google searches now including AI summaries, Daniel explains why SEO alone is not enough and how Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) are the new battlegrounds.

Agents are doing the work
From itinerary planning to automated bookings, AI agents are reshaping how users interact with brands, often bypassing websites altogether.

The new role of structured data
Matthew shares how travel brands must now treat structured markup (schema) as a new kind of distribution, ensuring they are machine-readable to AI systems.

Why user testing must change
Daniel explains why marketers must rethink usability testing to account for personalised algorithms, behaviour-based ad targeting, and AI-powered search.

Brand loyalty as a survival tactic
In an age of disintermediation, programmes like Bonvoy are keeping users loyal through gamification and exclusive benefits, offering lessons for all industries.

Content strategy for the AI era
From FAQs and multilingual support to video answers and UGC, the path to visibility is paved with granular, high-quality, human-first content.

Through a detailed conversation with Matthew Gardiner, the episode explores how the travel industry has continually adapted to disruption. From the rise of OTAs and TripAdvisor to today’s challenges around AI agents, soft adventure trends, live tourism, and sustainability expectations, travel may be the canary in the coal mine but its lessons are highly applicable to every sector.

AI is not just changing how people search; it is rewriting how people trust, book, and choose.

Being mentioned in AI conversations is the new SEO. Structured data and FAQ-rich content are your ticket in.

Agents now do things, not just recommend. Optimising for transactions and post-click experience is vital.

Loyalty schemes, brand identity, and customer advocacy matter more than ever to bypass AI’s generic results.

Usability testing must reflect real, personalised experiences, not idealised lab setups.

📥 Access the show notes, tools, and links at: https://targetinternet.com/resources/the-changing-user-journey-lessons-from-the-travel-industry

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In this special episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel Rowles sits down with Alex Schultz, Meta’s Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Analytics, to unpack the future of digital marketing, and why the fundamentals still matter more than ever.

Alex shares lessons from his remarkable journey: from running the world’s top paper airplane website to leading growth at Meta, managing multi-billion dollar ad campaigns, and now authoring the industry-defining book Click Here. With high-profile endorsements from Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Daniel Ek, and Matthew Vaughn, the book has already gettimg rave reviews, and Daniel is putting it straight onto the reading list for his students at Imperial College.

Together, Daniel and Alex dig into the core principles of great marketing: how to set meaningful goals, measure true impact, build high-performance teams, and embrace AI without losing your strategic edge.

Why Alex wrote Click Here and why the industry desperately needed a book that gets back to fundamentals, marketing measurement, and pride in the profession.

The power of incrementality: How to run meaningful tests, avoid vanity metrics, and prove real value to your CEO and CFO.

Why goals are not the same as metrics and how mixing them up can derail your marketing efforts.

The importance of awareness: Why most businesses fail because people simply don’t know they exist.

Marketing mix matters: How one newspaper mention outperformed every digital channel—and why the basics still beat the buzz.

Mediocre marketing + great conversion = success: Why broken funnels kill campaigns, no matter how brilliant your creative is.

How Meta builds defensible growth : What sets their marketing apart, from deep integration with product and engineering, to AI-powered insights.

AI’s real impact on marketing jobs: A breakdown of the three kinds of disruption AI will bring, and why the marketers who embrace it will thrive.

Paper planes, transparency, and unexpected beginnings: Hear how Alex’s nerdy hobby turned into a viral website, and why he publicly shares his university grades to inspire others.

Get back to basics: Clear goals, good data, and fundamental models (like the funnel) still win.

Measure what matters: Metrics are not goals - incrementality is everything.

Focus on defensibility and scale in your marketing channels, don’t waste time on things that can’t grow.

AI won’t replace marketers - marketers who use AI will replace those who don’t.

Be transparent and human: Success doesn’t require perfection, it requires clarity, curiosity, and continuous learning.

📥 Access the show notes, tools, and links at: https://targetinternet.com/resources/alex-schultz-interview-click-here

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Far beyond a productivity hack or sustainability trend, the regenerative mindset offers marketers and leaders a framework to design work, creativity and impact that helps build value.

You'll have to listen to find out about the Goose!

Drawing from systems thinking and marketing strategy, Daniel and Ciaran challenge the “hustle at all costs” mentality and instead champion a more humane, resilient and adaptable approach to digital marketing.

What is a Regenerative Mindset?
Understand the key difference between sustainability and regeneration - why one aims to sustain the status quo and the other aims to restore, replenish, and grow.

Rethinking Productivity and Growth
Explore why traditional productivity models are failing marketers in the age of AI, information overload, and fragmented attention, and what to do instead.

AI as a Regenerative Tool
Rather than using AI to do more, faster, Daniel and Ciaran explore how AI can help reduce cognitive burden, fuel creativity, and foster experimentation when used mindfully.

Designing Regenerative Marketing Systems
Discover how regenerative principles, such as reciprocity, interdependence, and feedback loops, can help build more sustainable, and effective marketing strategies.

Tools, Mindsets and Micro-practices
From digital decluttering to reflective learning and systems thinking, the hosts share practical approaches to integrating regeneration into your professional life.

Regeneration is not about working less, it’s about working in flow with better results and less burnout

Marketers must go beyond campaign thinking and start designing ecosystems of value and renewal

Rest, reflection and curiosity are not luxuries, they're strategic assets

A regenerative mindset helps you lead through complexity and adapt with clarity

The future of digital marketing isn’t just AI or data, it’s resilience, systems thinking, and human-centred creativity.

📥 Access the show notes, tools, and links at: https://targetinternet.com/resources/regenerative-marketing-mindset-reimagining-marketing-and-leadership

📩 Join the free newsletter for access to monthly live sessions: https://targetinternet.com/newsletter