Meet the Expert:
On this edition of Ask The Expert, we interview digital marketing and e-commerce expert Jinnie Austin. Over the years, we’ve worked with Jinnie both as a client and a partner for some of the outdoor industry’s most intriguing brands, including Feetures, Mountain Khakis, and TRAVOCA.
We admire Jinnie’s ability to blend the analytical and creative elements of marketing, moving seamlessly between strategy, data, and storytelling. Now, in her current role as the founder of Creative Intelligence Co., Jinnie works alongside emerging outdoor and endurance brands as a fractional CMO and strategic partner to help them scale.
In this interview, we ask Jinnie for her professional opinion on how brands should adapt in this new era of digital discovery. She addresses major questions through a brand perspective, covering topics that range from creating a unified digital marketing presence to AI’s role in digital marketing efforts.
When you think about a brand’s digital marketing “footprint,” what elements matter most beyond just having a website and social channels?
It’s not enough to simply exist on multiple platforms. The real impact comes from creating a cohesive story across them. Every touchpoint should feel like it’s part of the same narrative, whether a customer is seeing an ad, opening an email, or navigating your e-commerce site.
A cohesive story told across platforms relies heavily on two elements:
Brand Voice: A consistent, authentic voice is what makes people recognize and trust you. It’s how you cut through the noise and build loyalty over time.
Community: Today’s strongest brands don’t just broadcast; they create spaces for connection, conversation, and belonging.
Together, these turn a digital footprint from a simple collection of channels into a living brand presence.
What do brands often get wrong or overcomplicate in their digital marketing efforts?
Many brands swing too far in one direction: either they obsess over analytics and stifle creativity, or they lean so heavily into creativity that they lose sight of performance. The truth is, analytics should amplify creativity, not limit it.
One of the most effective things I’ve seen is pairing a highly creative marketer with someone who’s deeply analytical and having them collaborate on a project together. When they learn to see through each other’s lens, they not only create stronger campaigns but also develop a respect for how both sides drive impact. Often, those unlikely pairings become a brand’s strongest collaborators.
What are two lessons from your work with top outdoor and endurance brands that shape your approach to boosting digital marketing performance in D2C brands?
Lesson 1: Understand Your Customer Deeply.
Too many brands assume they understand their audience. They think they’re speaking their customers’ language, but often they’re missing the mark. Real connection comes from stepping into your customer’s shoes (or socks in my case), understanding their needs and motivations at a core level, and shaping marketing around that perspective. When brands do this well, everything from messaging to product storytelling becomes more authentic and more effective.
Lesson 2: Differentiate inspiration from distraction.
Inspiration can push a brand to take bold risks and unlock breakthroughs that put them ahead of the competition. But chasing every “shiny object,” whether that be the newest platform, tool, or trend, can derail focus and momentum. One of the key roles of a CMO or marketing leader is to help teams find that balance: embracing inspiration that drives growth while filtering out distractions that don’t align with long-term goals.
As AI starts to mediate consumer discovery, how should brands adapt their digital footprint to ensure they remain discoverable?
Meet AI head-on. Just as search engines reshaped marketing years ago, AI is reshaping it again. Brands need to adapt their SEO strategies to optimize not only for traditional search but also for AI-driven discovery.
That means focusing on structured, high-quality content that clearly communicates expertise, authority, and trust. Product descriptions, reviews, and FAQs should be optimized for natural language queries, since AI tools are pulling from context and conversational data, not just keywords. Clean, consistent data across your website and channels also matters. AI engines look for clarity, not clutter.
Equally important is leaning into first-party data and brand storytelling. As AI aggregates and summarizes, the brands that stand out will be those with unique voices, strong communities, and owned data that can’t be easily replicated.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to consumer brands worried that their organic traffic or ad performance is shrinking in the AI era?
Lean in and learn. Being afraid of AI or resisting it will only hold brands back. In the long run, that hesitation will cost market share. Marketing has always been about learning and adapting; AI is just the latest evolution of that truth.
From a technical standpoint, brands should treat AI as both a tool and a partner. On the paid side, platforms are increasingly a “black box,” with algorithms optimizing campaigns faster than humans can. Instead of fighting that, savvy marketers focus on feeding AI the right inputs: strong creative, clear audience signals, clean data, and compelling offers. On the organic side, AI-driven search is changing how consumers discover products, which means doubling down on first-party data, building communities, and creating content that demonstrates true expertise and authority.
In your opinion, what are the best ways for new/young consumer-facing brands to carve out authority and credibility right now?
Consistency: A clear, authentic brand voice that remains consistent across every touchpoint builds trust quickly.
Authenticity: Pair that with a genuine understanding of your customer, not just who they are demographically, but what motivates them and what problems they’re trying to solve and you create a foundation of credibility.
Partnering with a strong PR agency like Darby can take a brand from zero to sixty in terms of visibility and credibility. The right press and storytelling can fast-track awareness in a way that’s hard to replicate on your own.
What’s one “hot take” or hill you’re willing to die on when it comes to digital marketing?
Marketing and e-commerce cannot be operated in separate silos; they must function as one cohesive team. E-commerce isn’t just about transactions; it’s one of the most important places your brand story is told. If marketing and e-commerce are fragmented, the story becomes fragmented too. That disconnect costs both revenue and brand equity.
Customers may not be able to articulate what’s wrong, but they will feel it. They’ll sense the inconsistency, and they won’t respond to the experience in front of them. Aligning marketing and eCommerce ensures every touchpoint works together to build trust, drive sales, and strengthen a brand’s position in the marketplace.