The Dilate Blog: Digital Marketing

Late last month, I headed to Google Marketing Live in Sydney. Why? Because it's an event where we can get the drop on what’s happening, coming and changing in search. Google didn’t just share their product roadmap, but the intentions and research behind it - which is a huge deal! I heard their take on […]

In Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi stands in the Jedi Archives baffled by a mystery. He’s searching for the planet Kamino, but it’s nowhere to be found on the star maps. The archives show nothing-prompting the Jedi librarian to insist, ‘If an item does not appear in our records, it does […]

Search is changing. Not in a “robots have taken over” kind of way. But quietly, steadily, and in ways that are starting to mess with your rankings. And no, it’s not just because Google hit the big red update button again. It’s because artificial intelligence, particularly large language models like GPT and Gemini, are now […]

AI isn’t here to take over marketing. But it is changing it—fast. Too many businesses still see AI as either a gimmick or a threat. Some think it’s a shortcut to instant results. Others fear it’ll make human marketers redundant. Both are wrong. The reality? AI isn’t replacing marketers. It’s making them more effective. It’s […]

Look, we all use ChatGPT. It's practically part of the team at this point—brainstorming ideas, cranking out content, and making us feel smarter than we are. But if ChatGPT is the only AI tool in your stack, you're coasting while everyone else is lapping you. AI in 2025 isn't just about automating the boring stuff—it's […]

AI-driven personalisation isn’t some futuristic concept—it’s happening now. The brands that get it right see higher conversions, better retention, and customers who actually feel like the brand “gets” them. The ones that don’t? They’re still scratching their heads, wondering why their email open rates are lower than a gym in December. But let’s be honest—scaling […]

Great creative is the lifeblood of impactful marketing. It’s the difference between a campaign that makes people pause and one that fades into the background faster than you can say, “Skip Ad.” But let’s get one thing straight—good creative isn’t just about looking nice. It’s about strategy, precision, and, most importantly, making people feel something. […]

Most buyer persona advice is marketing fluff. There, I said it. Too often, businesses treat creating personas as a checkbox task—design a fictional “customer,” slap a name on it, and forget about it by next quarter. But this lazy approach leaves immense potential untapped. Done right, customer personas are the backbone of your marketing—a living, […]

Marketing is always evolving. A decade ago, data, targeting, and algorithms were so powerful that people wanted to rename the whole category “digital” marketing. They’re table stakes now—an assumed part of a proper modern marketing strategy. But maybe more importantly, they’re also far less effective. When few marketers were highly skilled at getting the most […]

Once, I’d have told you that performance was the key to growing a business, and creativity was just a ‘nice-to-have’—an extra flourish if the budget allowed. Now, my position has changed completely—and so has Dilate. Today, creativity isn’t optional; it’s the spark that transforms placements into persuasion and campaigns into connections. For years, marketers leaned […]