Employee-generated content isn’t just a trend — it’s the future of marketing.

In this episode of the Ahrefs Podcast, we dive deep into the world of Employee Generated Content (EGC) and short-form social video with Melissa Laurie, founder and CEO of Oysterly Media.

Discover why authentic, employee-created video content published on brand channels is quickly becoming essential for companies that want to stand out. Melissa explains how to do EGC right — and why audiences are craving genuine interactions over polished ads.

She breaks down the powerful “Triple A Effect” of EGC:

Attracting top talent,

Retaining engaged staff,

And accelerating sales with real product showcases.

You’ll hear why Gen Z doesn’t magically know how to make great social content, how to structure a video that hooks attention in seconds, and why even the Singapore Police Force is jumping on the trend.

Melissa shares real-world frameworks, production tips, and success stories from companies like Hilton and Microsoft.

In this episode:

(00:00) Intro

(01:57) What is Employee-Generated Content (EGC)?

(03:32) Posting from employee accounts vs company accounts

(09:27) Using EGC to help with employee disengagement and recruiting

(15:35) Examples of successful Day in the Life videos

(21:00) Frameworks for EGC videos

(31:59) Does trend-jumping work for companies?

(35:36) Misconceptions about EGC

(41:26) Hacks for making solid short-form videos

(48:00) Consulting vs outsourcing for social media content

(50:13) The ROI of short-form video for businesses

(55:42) Making the shift from sales to social media

(58:15) Outro

We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Ahrefs Podcast!

Be sure to like, subscribe — and tell a friend.

Where to find Melissa:

LinkedIn: Melissa Laurie

Website: oysterlymedia.com

Where to find Tim:

LinkedIn: Tim Soulo

X: @timsoulo

Website: timsoulo.com

AI Overviews are changing search — but not in the way Google wants you to think.

In this episode of the Ahrefs Podcast, Tim Soulo sits down with Kevin Indig to discuss the real impact of AI on search behavior, website traffic, and SEO strategy.

Kevin analyzed over 5 billion search visits and found that while people are searching more often, they’re spending less time per session — and zero-click searches are on the rise.

But this isn’t just about traffic.

Kevin argues that SEO isn’t dying — it’s just entering a new investment cycle. The smartest companies are already shifting resources toward AI visibility, building tools, and rethinking how they show up in ChatGPT and beyond.

In this episode:

(00:00) Intro

(02:39) How is search changing?

(06:20) Revenue vs traffic

(10:30) How AI Overviews are changing

(13:46) Join Kevin at Ahrefs Evolve

(14:23) How to show up in AI Overviews (and is it even useful?)

(20:10) AI Overview volatility

(26:02) Queries vs prompts

(31:11) External validation: the key to ranking on AI Overviews

(35:13) Is SEO dead?

(42:50) Ranking in AI Overviews vs ChatGPT

(49:18) What you should be optimizing with AI

(01:05:42) Vibe coding in action

(01:07:21) Outro

We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Ahrefs Podcast!

Be sure to like, subscribe — and tell a friend.

Where to find Kevin:

LinkedIn: Kevin Indig

X: @Kevin_Indig

Website: mkt1.co

Where to find Tim:

LinkedIn: Tim Soulo

X: @timsoulo

Website: timsoulo.com

Referenced in this episode

👤 People

Dmitry Gerasimenko

Ryan Law

Rand Fishkin

Eric Siu

🏢 Companies & Brands

Ahrefs

Google

OpenAI

Similarweb

ChatGPT

Ramp

🛠️ Tools / Platforms

Claude

Humata AI

AirOps

v0 by Vercel

Cursor

Relevance AI

📚 Frameworks & Concepts

AI Overviews (Google SGE)

Vibe Coding

Zero-Click Searches

First Mover Advantage

Information Gain (SEO Strategy)

#SEO #GoogleAI #AIOverviews #AhrefsPodcast #KevinIndig #SearchMarketing #DigitalMarketing #AIContent #LLMSearch #ZeroClickSearches #ContentStrategy #AIinMarketing #VibeCoding #MarketingAutomation #aiseo

Emily Kramer (Founder of MKT1 and the Dear Marketers podcast) has led marketing teams at Asana, Carta, and Astro (acquired by Slack).

After working in-house, she became an advisor, consulting with B2B startup founders on marketing approaches across growth stages, audiences, and GTM motions.

She’s seen it all.

We chatted about positioning fundamentals, product vs. content marketing, the growing founder-influencer trend, and her personally coined Fuel and Engine Framework that identifies which part of a broken marketing machine needs fixing.

In this episode:

(00:00) Intro

(01:38) How Will AI Change Startup Marketing and Advising?

(07:53) The First Steps to Startup Marketing

(14:56) Join Emily at Ahrefs Evolve

(15:35) The 12 Marketing Advantages Framework

(16:43) Getting Your Messaging and Positioning Right

(22:40) The Fuel and Engine Framework

(28:59) The 30% Juice Rule for Startups (DEBUNKED)

(34:57) The Difference Between Product Marketing and Content Marketing

(40:11) Examples of Ultra-Successful Campaigns & Measuring the ROI

(49:13) Category Creation vs Roles

(51:28) The Rise of Ecosystem Marketing

(59:34) Is SEO Dying?

(01:01:21) Founders as Influencers

(01:07:57) The Shortcut to Building Brand Influence

(01:14:10) Outro

We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like, subscribe, and tell a friend.

—

Where to find Emily:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilykramer/

Website: https://www.mkt1.co/

Where to find Tim:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/

X: https://x.com/timsoulo

Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

—

Referenced in this episode:

👤 People:

Dave Fallarme – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dfallarme/

April Dunford – https://aprildunford.com/

Dustin Moskovitz – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_Moskovitz

Ryan Law – https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingslow/

Dmitry Gerasimenko – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmytrogerasymenko/

🏢 Companies & Brands:

Owner – https://owner.com/

Carta – https://carta.com/

Airbnb – https://www.airbnb.com/

Clay – https://www.clay.com/

Asana – https://asana.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/

Substack – https://substack.com/

🛠️ Tools / Platforms:

ChatGPT – https://chat.openai.com/

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/

Reddit – https://www.reddit.com/

TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/

Google – https://www.google.com/

📚 Frameworks & Concepts:

Fuel & Engine Framework – https://mkt1.substack.com/p/fuel-engine

Marketing Advantages – https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/find-and-accelerate-your-marketing

Percent Juice Rule – https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/high-impact-content

Category Creation vs Design – https://www.aprildunford.com/post/dont-let-customers-decide-what-your-product-is

Ecosystem Marketing – https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/ecosystem-marketing

Business Potential – https://blog.timsoulo.com/business-potential-the-most-important-metric-in-content-marketing/

🌐 Other:

Hashtag Angels – https://www.hashtagangels.com/

—

#StartupMarketing #MarketingStrategy #EmilyKramer #Ahrefs #B2BMarketing #ContentMarketing #FuelAndEngine #EcosystemMarketing #PersonalBrand #MKT1