https://fractal.com.au/videos/not-sure-which-niche-to-target-test-it-before-you-build https://img.youtube.com/vi/I-AvpB7Zr1s/hqdefault.jpg Not sure which niche to target? Test it before you build When a new product could serve several different verticals, most teams pick one in a meeting and start building. There is a cheaper way. In this video Gerard walks through a live experiment running display ads across five professional service verticals, with the same offer and only the audience changing. For around $80 over a week, Google returns enough data to show which profession actually engages with the pitch and which copy lands. The point is not to drive sales. It is to test attention at the top of the funnel before committing to a niche, so you build the product around the audience the data picks, not the one you guessed. https://www.youtube.com/embed/I-AvpB7Zr1s 2026-06-24T23:21:06.214Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/why-xennials-have-an-unfair-advantage-in-the-ai-age https://img.youtube.com/vi/mjnqaGTTIz4/hqdefault.jpg Why Xennials have an unfair advantage in the AI age If you were born between 1977 and 1983, you watched the internet arrive mid-degree and had to adapt fast. Gerard argues that experience is now an unfair advantage in the AI age. The internet rewarded people who were good with the tools. AI rewards judgement: knowing where the work needs to land and what guardrails to put around the model. Anyone can prompt; far fewer people can tell whether the answer is right. Xennials have already lived through one platform shift. The video makes the case for reaching back to that adaptive instinct and pairing it with two decades of operating experience. https://www.youtube.com/embed/mjnqaGTTIz4 2026-06-23T06:19:55.321Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/why-you-should-stop-pricing-your-product-around-roi https://img.youtube.com/vi/qkGwIrd8tx4/hqdefault.jpg Why You Should Stop Pricing Your Product Around ROI Pitching your product as a multiple on ROI quietly takes credit for everything the business built before you turned up. Experienced operators notice, and it costs you the deal. Gerard explains why ROI-led positioning backfires, and what to do instead: price against ROI privately if you like, but point your messaging at the specific value drivers and let the prospect do the maths in their own head. People buy decisions they own. Walk them up to the conclusion; do not stamp it on the deck for them. https://www.youtube.com/embed/qkGwIrd8tx4 2026-06-19T12:50:10.021Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/sales-lubrication-the-marketing-campaign-to-run-while-you-wait-for-the-decision https://img.youtube.com/vi/PDaMScsOqfU/hqdefault.jpg Sales Lubrication: The Marketing Campaign to Run While You Wait for the Decision The window between pitching and hearing back is usually dead time. Gerard calls the campaign that fills it sales lubrication. The idea is a short, hyper-targeted brand awareness push aimed not at the decision maker, but at everyone around them — the people who will be in the lunch room when your name comes up. At the shortlist stage the contest is rarely about capability, it is about perceived risk. Familiarity removes the risk. A small, well-aimed campaign over one to four weeks is cheap to run and shifts the answer from "who are they?" to "I think I have heard of those guys." https://www.youtube.com/embed/PDaMScsOqfU 2026-06-11T05:09:02.529Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/from-zero-to-one-why-startup-marketing-is-a-different-beast https://img.youtube.com/vi/V-aJAHOlnWk/hqdefault.jpg From Zero to One: Why Startup Marketing is a Different Beast Marketing at a Fortune 500 is a game of squeezing the last 1% out of a machine that already works. Marketing at a startup is going from zero to one, which is a completely different job. Gerard explains why optimisation playbooks fail when there is no momentum to optimise. Early-stage marketing is discovery work: finding positioning, identifying the real audience, and crafting a message that sparks the first flicker of interest. Every move carries more weight because you are building the foundation, not maintaining it. https://www.youtube.com/embed/V-aJAHOlnWk 2026-05-28T06:01:46.741Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/the-startup-north-star-solving-one-problem-better-than-anyone-else https://img.youtube.com/vi/9rGmIAU-DJ8/hqdefault.jpg The Startup North Star: Solving One Problem Better Than Anyone Else Founders often confuse their brand identity with their reason for existing. The brand can change. The problem you solve cannot. In this video Gerard makes the case for treating your "north star" — the one specific problem for the one specific group — as the only fixed point. Look, tone, channels and tactics are all fair game to swap out as you learn. Big companies are locked into their brand equity. Startups are not, and that freedom to iterate around a stable objective is the advantage worth using. https://www.youtube.com/embed/9rGmIAU-DJ8 2026-05-21T06:14:55.584Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/the-startup-superpower-using-agility-to-outpace-big-brands https://img.youtube.com/vi/_RyzWaHlsX0/hqdefault.jpg The Startup Superpower: Using Agility to Outpace Big Brands Small teams treat their size as a handicap. Gerard argues it is the one thing big competitors cannot copy. The video covers running marketing in weekly sprints, building tight feedback loops, and being willing to kill a strategy on Tuesday when the numbers do not stack up. Big brands are locked into months of media buys and shoots; a startup can pivot inside a day. Every dollar spent on a losing campaign is stolen from a winning one. Agility is how you keep the budget on the work that is actually moving. https://www.youtube.com/embed/_RyzWaHlsX0 2026-05-14T22:13:30.021Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/how-soft-data-signals-are-transforming-modern-marketing-strategy https://img.youtube.com/vi/6n6zXSRzJ_k/hqdefault.jpg How Soft Data Signals are Transforming Modern Marketing Strategy Marketers spent years chasing likes, then loudly rejected them in favour of hard conversions. Gerard explains why the soft signals are back, and why they matter more than ever. A page view, a video watch, a comment — each one is a data point that helps refine audiences, sharpen targeting, and work out which messages earn an actual action. The shift is not back to vanity metrics; it is toward treating engagement as evidence. Used well, soft signals build a sophisticated map of the prospects most likely to become customers. https://www.youtube.com/embed/6n6zXSRzJ_k 2026-05-07T22:45:57.673Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/the-founder-s-guide-to-radical-positioning-moving-beyond-incrementalism https://img.youtube.com/vi/DLt4fDUrmUg/hqdefault.jpg The Founder’s Guide to Radical Positioning: Moving Beyond Incrementalism The most important thing a founder works on is not ad spend or conversion rate. It is positioning. Gerard pushes back on the instinct to be "a bit better" or "a bit different" than the existing players. Real startup marketing creates a step change in how a problem is understood and solved, not an incremental improvement on the status quo. The job is to articulate the problem, the solution, and why your approach is fundamentally different — clearly enough that the market reorganises around it. https://www.youtube.com/embed/DLt4fDUrmUg 2026-04-30T23:10:15.930Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/the-pivot-why-data-should-dictate-your-brand-positioning https://img.youtube.com/vi/2IWTC8aOiX0/hqdefault.jpg The Pivot: Why Data Should Dictate Your Brand Positioning A decade ago Fractal worked with a solar battery brand whose obvious target market was young, eco-conscious innovators. The data said otherwise. The actual buyers were older, conservative men in the suburbs — driven by disposable income and a desire for control, not environmental values. Once the audience was clear, the positioning shifted from "green energy" to control, financial savvy and security. Gerard uses the story to make a simple point: stay detached from your first persona. The job is not to be right at the start, it is to follow the data to the audience that actually buys. https://www.youtube.com/embed/2IWTC8aOiX0 2026-04-23T22:53:55.347Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/how-to-find-market-traction-using-pirate-metrics-for-audience-testing https://img.youtube.com/vi/iaAr8UJ-GNk/hqdefault.jpg How to Find Market Traction: Using Pirate Metrics for Audience Testing Most founders design their ideal customer in a meeting room. That persona rarely survives first contact with the market. Gerard walks through how Fractal uses Audience Discovery — running simple messages against several distinct segments at once and letting the response data show which demographics, interests and tones actually engage. It is a foundational step that sits underneath the usual Pirate Metrics funnel. The exercise strips ego out of the decision. What the founder likes does not matter; what the market clicks on does. https://www.youtube.com/embed/iaAr8UJ-GNk 2026-04-16T22:40:34.976Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/beyond-the-click-building-omnipresence-in-a-complex-b2b-market https://img.youtube.com/vi/YzpALUqUxOo/hqdefault.jpg Beyond the Click: Building Omnipresence in a Complex B2B Market Getting the first click is expensive. Stopping there is the mistake most B2B startups make. Attribution is messy now: a prospect might find you on Google, see a testimonial on LinkedIn, then watch a demo on YouTube weeks later before reaching out. The buying window in B2B is short, and if you are invisible when it opens, you lose. Gerard explains how to use retargeting to build omnipresence across channels — leading with insight rather than the sales pitch — so that when the prospect is finally ready to buy, your brand is the obvious choice. https://www.youtube.com/embed/YzpALUqUxOo 2026-04-09T23:28:49.307Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/from-months-to-minutes-why-the-modern-mvp-is-a-content-play https://img.youtube.com/vi/3ZBGZCZR5-Y/hqdefault.jpg From Months to Minutes: Why the Modern MVP is a Content Play The "founder disappears for six months to build an MVP" era is over. AI tooling and vibe coding mean a prototype can ship between breakfast and lunch. If the product itself is no longer the milestone, the thesis is. Gerard makes the case for testing the business — with a small content campaign aimed at a defined audience — before investing serious development time. Welcome to the six-hour founder: an afternoon to concept, launch and measure. If the market bites, you build. If it does not, you have lost a morning, not half a year. https://www.youtube.com/embed/3ZBGZCZR5-Y 2026-04-01T22:22:40.798Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/the-death-of-the-pdf-lead-magnet https://img.youtube.com/vi/c0n_-0JaH1I/hqdefault.jpg The Death of the PDF Lead Magnet The PDF lead magnet is dying. AI has raised the bar on what counts as valuable enough to hand over an email for. Gerard argues the modern equivalent is not a document; it is a small tool. An AI agent, a calculator, a bespoke assistant — something that applies your expertise to do a specific job for the user out of the box. The exchange is still value for contact details. The definition of value has moved from "here is what I know" to "here is what I know, working." https://www.youtube.com/embed/c0n_-0JaH1I 2026-03-31T03:53:50.613Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/the-startup-paradox-why-narrowing-your-focus-is-the-key-to-growing-big https://img.youtube.com/vi/slJipo8abT0/hqdefault.jpg The Startup Paradox: Why Narrowing Your Focus Is the Key to Growing Big Founders fear that narrowing their audience leaves money on the table. The opposite is true. Using Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation curve, Gerard explains why early-stage products should aim at innovators and early adopters, not the cautious majority. The majority will reject something that is not yet polished; innovators love being first and will back you while you refine. Niching is not a ceiling, it is a beachhead. Win the innovators, earn the proof, then the rest of the market follows. https://www.youtube.com/embed/slJipo8abT0 2026-03-26T23:44:39.765Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/aeo-vs-geo-why-your-ai-search-strategy-needs-to-go-deeper-than-snippets https://img.youtube.com/vi/2VdJt_rxgtg/hqdefault.jpg AEO vs GEO: Why your AI search strategy needs to go deeper than snippets AEO and GEO get used interchangeably. They are not the same thing, and the difference matters if you are planning marketing for the next few years. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is a step beyond SEO — winning the snippet at the top of a Google result. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is about being treated as an authority by ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity, so you are cited inside the deeper research a user asks the model to do. Fractal leans GEO: rich, credible, original content. You want to be the recommendation, not just one more link in the list. https://www.youtube.com/embed/2VdJt_rxgtg 2026-02-26T07:31:12.230Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/the-7-step-framework-for-building-a-scalable-marketing-system https://img.youtube.com/vi/5Yij3PeoAqc/hqdefault.jpg The 7 Step Framework for Building a Scalable Marketing System Door-knocking and referrals are how you find your first customers. They are not a system, and they do not scale. Gerard walks through the seven steps Fractal uses to move a startup from early traction to repeatable growth: clear vision and goals, a core offer that solves a big problem, scalable systems, one focused digital channel, data-driven feedback loops, retention and lifetime value, and finally technology and AI scalers. The thread running through all of it: pick one channel, get good at it, and let data tell you where to put the next dollar. https://www.youtube.com/embed/5Yij3PeoAqc 2026-02-25T09:48:56.374Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/choosing-your-startup-marketing-strategy-consultant-vs-agency-vs-diy https://img.youtube.com/vi/IyZYOkwCqQ0/hqdefault.jpg Choosing Your Startup Marketing Strategy: Consultant vs Agency vs DIY Eventually every founder hits the point where they cannot do the marketing themselves. The next question is consultant, agency, or stay DIY. Gerard breaks down when each makes sense. Consultants work when you already have an execution team and need direction. DIY works when capital is tight, but the right partner there is a mentor, not a consultant. An agency gives a young company a full stack of talent — strategist, copywriter, designer, developer — without four salaries. The underlying point: advice is only as good as the execution behind it. Take it from people willing to roll up their sleeves and deliver. https://www.youtube.com/embed/IyZYOkwCqQ0 2026-02-17T00:00:00.000Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/the-secret-to-solving-your-positioning-problem-creating-a-versus-scenario https://img.youtube.com/vi/sCpkgWP_Cn8/hqdefault.jpg The Secret to Solving Your Positioning Problem: Creating a "Versus" Scenario If prospects do not "get" what you do, you probably do not have a product problem. You have a positioning problem. Gerard explains the "versus" scenario: position your brand as the ally and pick a clear antagonist for you and your customer to stand against. Usually the villain is not a competitor — it is the status quo, the way things are currently done. Dove fought unrealistic beauty standards. Apple fought the boring corporate PC. When you define what you are against, what you are for becomes obvious. https://www.youtube.com/embed/sCpkgWP_Cn8 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/the-founders-dilemma-in-house-hire-vs-marketing-agency https://img.youtube.com/vi/lN1LmPeodUk/hqdefault.jpg The Founder's Dilemma: In-House Hire vs. Marketing Agency When it is time to bring in marketing help, the instinct is to hire one person internally. Gerard argues that for most startups, an agency is the stronger play. Marketing is not one skill. It is strategy, paid, SEO, content, brand, CX — all running at once. A single hire gives you the shape of one person's expertise. An agency gives you a stack: visionary, planner, specialist, executor, bundled into one partnership at a fraction of the salary load. In-house makes sense later, once there is enough operational complexity to justify a mid-weight marketer bridging the internal team and external partners. https://www.youtube.com/embed/lN1LmPeodUk 2026-01-28T00:00:00.000Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/why-your-saas-signups-are-not-converting https://img.youtube.com/vi/3vCFCodqfsA/hqdefault.jpg Why Your SaaS Signups Are Not Converting Plenty of signups, almost no conversions. The instinct is to blame UX, mobile, or the pricing page. Those are rarely the real issue. Gerard's take: the pain point you are solving is not painful enough. B2B SaaS in particular asks people to change workflows, run integrations, and bring others along — nobody does that unless the problem genuinely hurts. The fix is not a price tweak. It is getting on calls with the people who signed up, working out what they were really trying to solve, and repositioning around a problem they cannot ignore. https://www.youtube.com/embed/3vCFCodqfsA 2026-01-22T00:00:00.000Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/scaling-from-10-to-100-customers https://img.youtube.com/vi/7Il6wYE58Bo/hqdefault.jpg Scaling from 10 to 100 Customers Ten customers means you have a flicker of product-market fit. Getting to a hundred feels like it should be more of the same, and it is not. Gerard explains why the jump from 10 to 100 is not about a broader net, it is about a sharper spear. The repeatable engine is built by layering micro-niches: pick one segment, build a dedicated landing page, hone the message, test with small spend, then move to the next. Do that enough times and the patterns emerge. The holistic message that scales is discovered in the trenches, not designed up front. https://www.youtube.com/embed/7Il6wYE58Bo 2026-01-16T00:00:00.000Z yes no https://fractal.com.au/videos/fractal-family-feature-ardacious-the-power-of-video-advertising https://img.youtube.com/vi/En1n-t2NpQw/hqdefault.jpg Fractal Family Feature: Ardacious & The Power of Video Advertising Ardacious is a Brisbane AR startup behind Ardent Roleplay, an app that brings tabletop games like D&D to life with augmented reality projections. In early 2021 their ads were not landing. The fix was a positioning shift. The real prospect was not the player, it was the Game Master — the storyteller who brings the rest of the table with them. The team produced a 25-second video of a medieval town going up in flames, scored and written in the language a GM uses to address their players. Twelve months on, the campaign had generated 2,840 results and 758 leads across 25 Meta campaigns at a 26.6% conversion rate. Proof of what the right positioning, delivered through video, can do for a niche product. https://www.youtube.com/embed/En1n-t2NpQw 2023-01-10T00:00:00.000Z yes no