Welcome!
Each week we bring to you a discussion on the latest trends in digital marketing and how you can actually implement these strategies into your organization.
Each week we bring to you a discussion on the latest trends in digital marketing and how you can actually implement these strategies into your organization.
Welcome to an in-depth exploration of contemporary marketing strategies, featuring balanced insights from two industry-leading professionals. In this post, we bring forward practical learnings and candid stories from Dan Gower, Product Studio Lead at Sketch Development, and Alison Ver Halen, founder of AV Writing Services. These conversations shed light on their organizations, daily roles, challenges, and innovative approaches in an era shaped by post-COVID realities and rapid advancements in AI.
Sketch Development is a dynamic software development consultancy supporting enterprises that face obstacles in product delivery and impact. Dan Gower, their Product Studio Lead, shares:
“A lot of companies, normally enterprises, call us when they’re having a hard time delivering products on time or when they’re delivering products, but the products aren’t making a difference.”
Whether it’s cloud migration, e-commerce deadlines, or transformative guidance, the Sketch team partners closely with clients, sometimes embedding their experts for deeper collaboration and sustainable change.
While Dan’s official title is Product Studio Lead, his recent focus has been deep in marketing and content strategy for Sketch’s core service business. His day involves:
Dan notes the excitement and unpredictability of his schedule, balancing creative initiatives and technical coordination.
As the professional world moves beyond COVID-19, Dan observes a resurgence in event marketing:
“You can’t really fake an event… You get people together in person, and I think people have missed that.”
He highlights how digital content overload—especially from AI and social platforms—has driven a renewed appreciation for real connections, making events an irreplaceable channel for building trust and engagement.
Despite trends such as zero-click searches and search volume fluctuations, Dan champions high-intent, technical SEO. Working with subject matter experts like cloud engineer Ryan Jensen, Sketch publishes niche, in-depth articles:
This strategy attracts a targeted audience who value comprehensive, actionable content, building lasting trust.
A notable strength of Dan’s is acting as an intermediary between technical experts and marketers:
“I know just enough about the technical side of the business to be dangerous.”
With hands-on experience in technical roles—coding bootcamps, IT analysis, product management—Dan translates complex concepts into accessible marketing assets, facilitating better organizational alignment and resonance with both tech and business audiences.
Dan and his team embrace AI for productivity—with discretion. Tools and workflows they rely on include:
AI assists in ideation and research, but the Sketch team commits to human-led review and curation. Dan describes their culture as one of hands-on, continuous learning—constantly picking up new tools and sharing knowledge at events like their own AI Tinkerers meetup.
Alison Ver Halen leads AV Writing Services, where she specializes in crafting SEO-optimized content that genuinely resonates. As a writer, strategist, and one-woman operation, Alison blends storytelling with technical SEO and analytics to help her clients succeed.
She describes her day-to-day as a mix of:
Alison’s commitment extends beyond writing—she positions herself as her clients’ SEO guide, helping them navigate trends and updates in the content marketing landscape.
Alison’s journey from pure writing to SEO-intensive strategy reflects the changing demands of digital marketing:
She often works in sectors like legal and financial services that have long and complex buyer journeys, requiring thoughtful content and layered funnels to build trust.
Alison is forthright about the impact of AI-generated content on the web:
“We’re seeing a lot of crappy content out there because people are using AI to ‘write’…”
She warns that careless use of AI can flood the internet with generic and inaccurate articles. The upside? Authentic, high-quality human-created content stands out now more than ever.
Alison also remarks on shifts in how people seek information—AI-powered summaries in search tools can bypass websites entirely. The solution: aiming for brand mentions in AI outputs, not just clicks, to maintain visibility across emerging digital touchpoints.
Amid evolving Google updates and AI disruption, Alison stays rooted in proven fundamentals:
She emphasizes that even as omnichannel marketing evolves, relevance and value at every step remain crucial—whether it’s getting newsletter signups, webinar attendees, or purchase conversions.
Alison uses AI tools as creative collaborators, not replacements for writing:
While Alison enjoys Canva for its templates and ease, she hands bigger design projects to specialists, and always brings a human touch to final outputs.
Dan Gower and Alison Ver Halen offer a window into the diverse realities—and challenges—of modern marketing. Despite their different backgrounds, both emphasize:
By embracing both technical acumen and creative storytelling, Dan and Alison exemplify the multipronged skillset marketers need to stand out in today’s crowded, rapidly changing landscape.
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