In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel Rowles is joined by Brendan Kane, viral strategist and author of One Million Followers, for a deep dive into the art and science of making content go viral.

Going viral often feels like marketing mythology,something bosses ask for, but few can explain or deliver. Brendan, however, has built a career proving that virality isn’t luck. It’s repeatable, measurable, and rooted in storytelling structures that have worked for decades.

Brendan shares the behind-the-scenes thinking that led to his experiment growing an audience of 1 million followers in 30 days, starting from scratch, without a team, celebrity status, or advertising budget. More than a vanity metric, the project was a proof-of-concept for a framework that now helps brands, creators, and entrepreneurs reliably generate massive reach and meaningful engagement.

Why qualitative analysis - not just views and clicks, holds the key to repeatable success

The power of storytelling formats like “Man on the Street” and “Two Characters, One Light Bulb”

How to match your brand’s resources and personality to the right format

Why volume isn’t the answer, and what quality actually means in the age of AI and infinite content

Why originality is overrated, and how proven formats unlock creativity instead of limiting it

How even “boring” industries like tax, insurance, and leather craftsmanship can thrive on social media

The truth about “frequency myths” and how creators burn out chasing quantity over story

Why format mastery trumps trend-chasing—and how sitcoms, Spielberg, and social media are more alike than you think

Brendan also breaks down his format-matching process, built from over 10,000 hours of research and analysis of 300+ viral content structures. His agency works with individuals and brands to identify the storytelling structures that resonate most with their audience, and helps them build repeatable, on-brand content that doesn’t just go viral, but converts.

This conversation flips conventional marketing wisdom on its head, challenging the obsession with originality and encouraging marketers to focus on structure, story, and strategic authenticity.

Virality isn’t random, it’s engineered through proven creative models

Storytelling formats provide containers for creativity, not limitations

Format mastery enables faster growth and deeper audience trust

Business outcomes must be baked into your content strategy from day one

Social media isn't just another channel, it's the ultimate storytelling platform

📥 Access the show notes, tools, and links at: https://targetinternet.com/resources/how-to-go-viral

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

In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel Rowles sits down with copywriting and AI expert Kerry Harrison to explore one of the most exciting—and often misunderstood—areas of artificial intelligence: AI-powered copywriting. Together, they dive into how Anthropic’s Claude AI compares to tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, and why Claude is quickly becoming a favourite for writers who care about tone, style, and ethical AI.

Kerry, a seasoned copywriter and trainer, shares her hands-on experiences using Claude to create high-quality marketing content. She explains how Claude's intuitive interface, stylistic flexibility, and alignment with ethical AI principles make it a uniquely powerful tool for communicators, marketers, and brands.

But this isn’t just a tool review. It’s a masterclass in how to approach AI copywriting strategically.

Daniel and Kerry explore a human-first methodology called the AI Sandwich, a practical framework for combining human creativity with AI efficiency. They tackle big questions about authenticity, originality, and prompt engineering, and show how to avoid the cookie-cutter feel that plagues so much AI-generated content.

• Why Claude’s tone of voice and writing capabilities often outperform other models for consumer copy

• How to train Claude on your own style and get responses that reflect your brand’s voice

• How to use Claude’s Projects feature to build custom tools like tone checkers, newsletter editors, and interactive customer personas

• A breakdown of the AI Sandwich Methodology (Human → AI → Human) for crafting content that feels human, not robotic

• Techniques for fact-checking, editing, and sense-checking AI outputs to avoid hallucinations and blandness

• How Kerry uses Claude for marketing strategy, persona creation, positioning, and ideation

• Tips for integrating Claude with Gmail and calendar tools to improve time management and workflow efficiency

This episode is packed with actionable ideas, whether you're a content creator, strategist, marketer, or business owner. You’ll learn how to write better prompts, extract more value from AI tools, and remain fiercely authentic and creative in an age of digital automation.

• Train AI on your tone of voice to stand out from generic outputs

• Use Claude’s extended thinking and reasoning models for strategic ideation

• Human guidance (before and after AI) is critical to compelling content

• Projects in Claude can act like custom GPTs tailored to your exact needs

• Staying human, thoughtful, and ethical is still your biggest advantage

💡 Whether you're new to Claude or already exploring AI content workflows, this episode will give you a fresh, grounded, and strategic perspective on what’s possible, without losing your creative soul in the process.

📥 Access the show notes, tools, and links at: https://targetinternet.com/resources/ai-copywriting-and-claude

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

In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel Rowles explores one of the most unexpected but powerful business case studies in modern branding: Taylor Swift! Joined by Kevin Evers, Senior Editor at Harvard Business Review and author of There’s Nothing Like This. Kevin dives into how Swift’s career offers a masterclass in brand strategy, audience connection, and long-term business thinking.

Why does a global superstar in a notoriously cutthroat industry continue to outperform and outlast her peers? According to Kevin, it’s not luck or fandom - it’s strategy.

Drawing on insights from his newly released book, Kevin breaks down the key inflection points in Swift’s 20-year career. From turning down a major label at age 13 to preserve creative control, to executing one of the boldest rebranding and ownership moves in music history with her “Taylor’s Version” re-recordings, this episode examines how Swift embodies the core principles of marketing, product-market fit, and customer obsession.

Daniel and Kevin unpack how Taylor Swift:

• Identified a niche audience when the data said it wasn’t viable

• Built trust and intimacy into her brand from day one

• Embraced user-generated content and fan communities to expand reach

• Navigated multiple brand pivots without losing authenticity

• Took complete ownership of her brand and intellectual property

• Continues to evolve while staying aligned to her audience’s needs

They also explore how her fandom operates as a distributed marketing engine, elevating everything from live streams to lyric analysis and decoding hidden clues. With references to startup thinking, customer experience design, and even parallels with Jobs-to-Be-Done theory, this conversation turns a pop icon into a blueprint for brand building at scale.

Whether you’re a marketer, entrepreneur or brand strategist, this episode offers rare insight into what it takes to build something culturally durable, and fiercely customer-centric.

• Brand clarity trumps market data when paired with conviction

• Fan communities can become your most powerful marketing asset

• Ownership and authenticity are strategic decisions, not just personal ones

• Pivoting is easier when you’ve built long-term trust

• Obsessing over your audience is a competitive advantage

📥 Access the show notes, tools, and links at: https://targetinternet.com/resources/strategy-branding-and-taylor-swift

📩 Join the free newsletter for access to Daniel’s monthly AI agent live sessions: https://targetinternet.com/newsletter