I'm originally from Poland, and I moved to Brighton in 2010 to study Media and Cultural Studies at Sussex University. After university, I started a part-time master’s degree while working at the Sussex Innovation Centre for a startup that developed software for managing Google AdWords.

About a year in, a few of us decided to start an agency together, but it ended after a year or two. It was a bit of a disaster! The mix of people wasn’t right and none of us had enough experience. It just didn’t work out. I decided to find a full-time job, but I was still being asked if I could do freelance paid advert projects for people and other agencies. I realised I could earn as much freelancing as I could in a full-time job, so I thought, "Why not?"

By 2017, things had grown to the point where I needed help, so I asked Sean (now my husband) if he wanted to join me. He was a photography teacher at the time, so it was a big leap for him.

It was just the two of us initially, but everything changed when we landed a contract with EDF Energy. Because of their privacy and security policies, they could only work with us if we were a limited company, so we set up Vixen Digital. From there, the team started to grow, first with freelancers and then employees. When you start out, you can’t wait to hire people—it’s really exciting. By 2023, we had a team of 10.

Growth has had huge benefits. It has allowed me to move forward in my career and even take proper holidays, something I’d never been able to do before. We could go away for two weeks, and the team would manage the clients.

But growth also brought challenges. You can’t make everyone happy. We had to make tough decisions, like letting someone go for the first time last year because some projects ended, and our income had reduced. It felt horrible because our team feels like a family.

I have some long-term clients that I’ve worked with for years, so I stay involved with them. But my main role is strategic - leading and managing projects. I don’t get hands-on with new accounts anymore. My team handles that day-to-day, and they probably know the platforms better than I do now because things change so quickly.

Probably not. I did it for about 10 years, and it felt like the right time to do something different. While I know there’s always more to learn, I was craving new challenges. It’s been refreshing to focus on different areas, such as our own marketing strategy.

We've done more marketing for ourselves in the past year than ever before. We started our podcast, SEOs Getting Coffee, which has been featured as one of the top SEO podcasts by Moz.

We wanted to do more things that we enjoyed, which is why we started our SEMantics event. It’s a space for Brighton’s SEO, PPC, and digital marketers to connect, share ideas, learn, and unwind. We did some research, and it was surprising that there wasn’t a meet-up group for this group of people. It’s strange as Brighton is seen as a UK Silicon Valley for marketing.

It’s a bit like the early days of brightonSEO, which was a few geeks meeting in a pub and having a chat about SEO. It's so great to see so many people that have been before are coming again. We've had great feedback, so I think we're really on to something.

We’ve also ramped up social media, attended networking events, expos, and even travelled internationally. Now we are reviewing what’s worked and refining our focus. We want to concentrate on what we’re best at, which is performance marketing (specifically paid ads), SEO, and advanced analytics. We’ve employed a data specialist, which has expanded our analytics capabilities significantly.

It’s crucial. We see ourselves as partners, not just service providers. If a client has a significant budget, but we're not aligned on expectations, then it doesn’t work. We love working with companies that treat us as an extension of their marketing team. It’s all about the right partnerships.

What we do requires a love for detail. Our unique selling point isn’t just about what we do, as lots of agencies offer similar services, but how we do it. We focus on building strong foundations with accurate data, especially now with AI automating so much of the work. Good data is essential because AI can’t set that up for you.

You can’t say you're making data-driven decisions, unless the data you are working with is accurate. This is the starting point of any project, and we don't really want to take on a project if the clients don't understand this.

GA4 isn’t going anywhere, but it still has its challenges. People find it difficult to navigate, especially compared to the older version. It used to be fairly intuitive, even for those who weren’t deeply familiar with analytics, but now it feels more complicated. That said, we can definitely help with that.

We offer full GA4 audits, set up tracking, create custom dashboards, and even provide training sessions, whether that’s for beginners or advanced users. Having a custom dashboard helps pull in the data you need so that it actually makes sense for your business.

Having said that, I would still prefer it to be easily accessible for everybody.

Our ideal client is a company that is serious about their marketing. We love working with businesses that might not know exactly what they need but have a strong sense of direction and a real appetite for growth. Ideally, they are a scale-up company or a business that has done some marketing and now wants to take it to the next level.

We want to work with businesses that are past the stage of uncertainty, and they know marketing is essential, but they now want a more structured, strategic approach. They don’t have to be huge, but they do need to have the right mindset and enough budget to make meaningful progress. We also look for partnerships where there’s a shared understanding of what it takes to get results. Some companies aren’t sure if they should invest in SEO, paid ads, or analytics, and we can help guide them, but they need to be open to that conversation. The best results come from a collaborative effort, not just outsourcing marketing and hoping for the best.

When we work with a company that’s truly invested in their success, that’s where we see the biggest impact and the best working relationships.

In general, paid ads give faster results, whereas SEO is a longer-term investment. If a company needs immediate leads, PPC is often the best route. The choice of platform depends on the industry. B2B companies, for example, might focus on Google Ads or LinkedIn, whereas eCommerce businesses might benefit from Facebook or Instagram ads.

A common mistake is either not doing any marketing or, the opposite, trying to do too much at once. I always use the analogy of spreading butter on bread. If you have a tiny bit of butter and too much bread, you spread it so thinly that you can barely taste it.

It’s the same with marketing. Instead of trying to do everything at once and seeing little impact, it's better to focus on a few key areas, do them really well, and get meaningful results before expanding further.

It is important to set goals and track conversions. Which metrics are the most important depends on the business. Macro conversions are the ultimate goals such as leads, sales, demo bookings, or free trial sign-ups. Micro conversions are the smaller actions that lead to those goals, such as blog visits, newsletter sign-ups, or time spent on a site.

I think most agency owners would say that 2024 was a very weird year. It's been fine, but we haven't seen as much growth as we've seen in previous years. I think our industry had been spoiled post-Covid.

When the pandemic hit, we lost 50% of our revenue within a few weeks, which was really scary. But then people realised that they had to do digital marketing, as there was basically nothing else to do. So, after three to six months, there was a massive boom.

On the flipside, it created a lot of competition in the industry, and now the market is probably oversaturated. Having said that everybody seems to be quite positive and optimistic for the new year. We are getting good leads from very different sources, but this may be due to our increased marketing activities.

AI is already playing a bigger role, and that trend will continue. Google’s AI-driven search features, such as AI overviews, will change how users find and interact with content. Businesses will need to adapt by focusing on high-quality, well-structured content that provides real value.

At the same time, paid ads are becoming more competitive. AI is making campaign management more automated, but businesses still need to focus on data accuracy and analytics. Companies that can integrate AI effectively into their marketing strategies will have a huge advantage.

Show your eagerness to learn. There are so many free resources out there. Everything I know was self-taught; I never worked for a big agency. Certifications from Google Ads, LinkedIn, and analytics platforms are helpful, but being proactive and curious is even more important. Employers want to see that you care, that you’re engaged, and that you’re willing to put in the effort to grow.

It doesn’t even have to be certifications. There are so many free resources on platforms like YouTube, Udemy, and others. For platform-specific certifications, Google Ads is a great start, along with LinkedIn and Google Analytics.

For SEO, there are plenty of free courses and resources available online. The key is to keep learning and be proactive. Also, building a personal brand on LinkedIn can really help. Don’t wait until you’re deep into your career to start sharing your insights. Engage with industry events and show potential employers that you’re passionate and eager to grow.

When applying for jobs, take the time to write a thoughtful cover letter. It’s surprising how many people skip this step. A short, well-written cover letter shows you’re serious about the role and willing to put in the effort. Skills can be taught but finding someone who genuinely wants to do the work is invaluable.

We specialise in performance marketing: paid ads, SEO, and advanced analytics. We love working with companies that are serious about their digital marketing and have a desire to grow. We’re not a full-service agency; we don’t do web design or social media management. Instead, we focus on what we do best and partner with businesses that want to see real, measurable growth. Together, we achieve great results.