The digital marketing world has changed in ways we couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago – and no one knows this better than Alastair Banks. From his early days co-founding Optix Solutions during the dot-com boom to now leading innovative ventures like Your Digital Future, he’s experienced the highs and lows of the digital landscape. In this exclusive MG interview, we got the chance to chat with Alastair about what it’s really like building a business from the ground up, why personal branding matters more than ever, and what he sees coming next for digital marketing in 2025. Get ready for a deep dive into his inspiring journey and the insights that could shape the future of your digital strategy!
Starting with your entrepreneurial journey, you co-founded Optix Solutions while still at university. What challenges did you face at such an early age, and what motivated you to start your own business instead of working for someone else?
It’s a great question, and thinking back 25 years, it’s incredible to see how much has changed. There were three of us – computer science students from 1997 to 2000 – right in the middle of the dot-com boom. Back then, Google didn’t exist; it was all about AltaVista and Ask Jeeves. eBay hadn’t arrived yet either – QXL was the big auction site at the time. We’d learnt HTML as part of our course, which was the language of the web in those days, and that gave us a bit of an edge.
We spotted an opportunity to build websites for friends and family with businesses. At the time, most people in business had no real understanding of the internet or what it could do for them. Half the challenge was convincing them that this wasn’t just a passing fad – it was going to change everything! Back then, marketing was all about brochures and exhibition stands; websites weren’t even on the radar.
So, we started having those conversations. We had our own computers, which helped, and we worked on small projects alongside our studies. In 1999, while still in our second year, we decided to set up the business as a limited company. Our final year of university was mostly focused on coursework, but we kept the business going on the side.
Then came the big decision: what to do after graduation? We were studying in Exeter, but we were all from different parts of the country – Essex, Oxford, and the Isle of Wight – so there wasn’t a natural place for us to settle. Meanwhile, our friends were heading off to London or Manchester to start their careers.
We had a choice to make. Instead of following the traditional path, we decided to take a chance on the business. The day after graduation we rented a four-bedroom house in Exeter. We turned one of the rooms into an office, setting up three desks in a triangle with an old chest of drawers in the middle, where we placed a fax machine – believe it or not! We shared a dial-up connection, taking turns using it – me for sales calls, Dave for uploading websites, and James for designing and gathering inspiration.
It was very different, but we decided to give it a go. We had nothing to lose, and we thought, “Let’s see what happens, or we can always go out and get jobs.” We had solid computer science degrees, so we could have easily gotten well-paid programming jobs. It wasn’t an easy decision, but I don’t remember it being that difficult either. It felt like we had nothing to lose, so we took the leap – and here we are today!
What advice would you give to someone starting a business today?
There are a few things here. Planning it all out properly and understanding whether there is even a market for something is crucial. It’s easy to come up with an idea and think it’s really good, but not necessarily know if it actually is or if people will want to buy it. You can save yourself a lot of time by talking to people who might be potential buyers to understand if there’s a market there. Ultimately, I suppose it’s about validation more than anything else.
But beyond business stuff, I always say do something you love. There’s that saying, “If you choose a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” It’s cheesy, but honestly, it’s true. I know a lot of people my age who hate their jobs. I don’t get it. I’d rather earn less and do something I enjoy.
Building a personal brand is extremely important. For anyone starting a business, this has been the most important thing for me and my company. My personal brand has led to opportunities for us, for the business. There’s probably not a single week that goes by without me getting an opportunity on LinkedIn, whether it’s to talk about X, Y, or Z, help with marketing, or do a talk somewhere. But all of this is only possible because I started building my personal brand 20 years ago.
So, when I stand in front of people now and say, ‘Just get started, build your connections,’ I mean it. Take opportunities, even if it’s public speaking and you’re scared. Do it, because that’s how you grow, and those are the experiences that can change your life.
And lastly, never stop learning. Whether it’s reading books, listening to podcasts, or having mentors, always be open to advice. I’m still always trying to get better.
Optix Solutions has evolved a lot over the years. How have your core values changed, and where do you see the company going in the future?
It’s all about staying aware of the market around you – the things people want, the things they don’t want, and what they’re getting elsewhere. A good example is web design.
We don’t really build websites anymore, but we did for 20 years. It was a tough call to stop, especially with a team in place, but the reality was we weren’t making money. Platforms like WordPress came along, and people could build their own websites for next to nothing. We were struggling to add value.
That’s a classic example of a pivot. We started as a web design company, focused on that for about five years, then expanded into marketing – SEO, PPC, email marketing, all that. We got in early on it and have continued offering those services.
Over time, things shifted. Web design declined, and marketing took over. About five years ago, we became purely a marketing company. We now have around 25 staff, including a Director of Design with experience at big brands like Virgin and PlayStation. He’s a huge part of our creative efforts.
A lot of our clients come to us for campaign marketing, social media (especially organic), and exhibitions. We also have a performance marketing team with experts in SEO and PPC to help clients there too.
What we’re really trying to do is focus on the strategic space above the tactical services. Tactics like SEO and PPC are easy for clients to swap between companies, but strategy, and understanding why you’re doing something, is the big question.
So, when someone says, ‘I want SEO,’ my first question is, ‘Why?’ Most of the time, they don’t really know. They’ve heard it’s necessary but don’t understand why or how it fits into their bigger picture. If they can’t answer, they could end up wasting time and money.
Because we’ve been around so long, we can sit in that strategic space, which makes us a trusted partner. Once that happens, clients are less likely to move away from us. And of course, we have the tactical expertise to deliver what they need, too!
Do you have any book or podcast recommendations for aspiring entrepreneurs and marketers?
I tend to listen to stuff that’s relevant to marketing. One of my favourites is This Old Marketing, hosted by the guys behind the Content Marketing Institute in the States. It’s pretty well-known in the marketing space, although it might be a bit niche if you’re not into that world.
What I love about it is how laid-back they are, but still totally up to date with everything. It’s really good. I also listen to a few random, more niche podcasts from other industries that aren’t necessarily related to marketing, but they offer interesting perspectives.
When it comes to books, I sort of break them into categories. For business, one book that really made a difference for me is How to Win Friends and Influence People. I first read it when I was starting Optix at 19, and then came back to it 15 years later. It’s definitely an old one, but the advice in it still resonates. It teaches you how to approach people and situations in a way that’s timeless.
Another great one in the business realm is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Classic stuff, but it really sticks with you!
Oh, and congratulations on launching your Marketing Assessment tool! What prompted you to create this tool, and how does it align with your vision for improving marketing effectiveness?
Thanks! Basically, the idea for the tool had been on our minds for ages. I remember back in the day, HubSpot created their website grader, which pretty much launched their brand in the early 2010s. It stuck with me because every year I’d think, ‘Could we create something similar that’s valuable for people, gives them a score – because everyone loves a score – and also offers some useful tips and advice?’
When I came across ScoreApp, a product created by Daniel Priestley, I knew this was the tool we needed. Before that, if you wanted to create a tool, you’d have to custom-build it, and there was no guarantee it would work. But ScoreApp gave us the platform to build what we had in mind. So, we went ahead and created it!
Can you walk us through how the Marketing Assessment tool works, and what kind of insights it provides to users about their marketing strategies?
It’s a pretty in-depth assessment with 23 questions, and it’s not something you rush through in 30 seconds with a cup of tea. You really need to sit down and spend about 5-10 minutes on it, but that’s how you get the useful insights.
The backend logic includes various scoring mechanisms that assess areas of your digital strategy – fundamentals like customers, owners, content, and more. It categorises your answers into three sections: data, brand, and another area. After that, it gives you a score out of 100 and provides a score for each of those three sections, along with suggestions for improvement.
It’s still in its early stages, so we’re gathering feedback to refine it, but the main objective is to help people uncover what they might not know about their marketing. With marketing being such a vast field, it’s easy to overlook key elements, like customer personas, social media content calendars, or SEO. The tool is designed to bring those areas into focus.
Now, as we move into 2025, there are a few digital marketing trends to keep an eye on, and we’re still seeing some of the shifts we touched on earlier. There’s the ever-growing importance of personalisation, the rise of AI tools for automation, and the increasing demand for interactive content. But I’d love to hear your thoughts on any trends you’re seeing or anything you’d like to highlight going forward.
In your opinion, what are the biggest digital marketing trends businesses should focus on in 2025?
The big trends right now are all about AI. AI is massive! In fact, I spend a lot of my time these days chatting about generative AI, especially how tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude are shaping everything.
There’s a big difference between AI used in generative tools and AI in search engines, especially when you’re thinking about how things are listed in large language models (LLMs). The issue is that all AI gets lumped together, and people tend to just group everything into one box. So, I spend a lot of time helping separate these thought processes.
Let’s break it down a bit: first, generative AI. This is all about tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude. The focus for 2025 is going to be on making sure your teams are efficient with these tools. The key? Don’t rely on free versions. Invest in the paid tools, because the free ones just aren’t up to par. But that’s not enough – you need to give your teams proper training with experts who understand how to use these tools effectively. Otherwise, they’re just going to fumble around and waste time.
We’re doing a lot of training within our company and with clients, helping their marketing teams use AI the right way. But, equally important, you need to know the risks and challenges. Set proper processes and policies to ensure the tools are used responsibly and to their full potential.
Then, there’s the search engine side of things. This is where things are really shifting. In my 25 years of working in search engines, I’ve never seen a change like this. Google’s dominance – especially here in the UK, where it has 80-90% of the market – is about to be challenged. People aren’t just turning to Google anymore. They’re going to tools like ChatGPT or Copilot, asking for help instead.
This shift has already started, but we’re not seeing the full impact in the stats yet. But make no mistake, this change is coming, and it’s going to change the way we approach visibility in the search engine market.
How do you see generative AI reshaping the role of marketers, especially in terms of content creation and strategy development?
Right now, people are starting to turn to tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and other large language models for help. This shift has already begun, but we aren’t yet seeing it in the stats – Google still holds most of the dominance. However, it’s coming, and that’s going to change everything. For brands that wanted to be found a year ago, the focus was on Google, Bing, and maybe some social media. Now, they need to think about this whole other world of large language models.
So, how do you get listed when someone asks ChatGPT a question or uses Copilot? The strategies for that are not the same as traditional search engines. This is where new concepts like Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) are emerging. It’s becoming a key topic for agencies like ours to discuss with clients: ‘You might be optimised for Google, but are you optimised for ChatGPT? What do we do about that?’ It’s a whole new area, and clients are still catching up on this.
But that’s not all. With the rise of a cookie-less future – where websites and browsers won’t track users in the same way – marketers will face even more challenges. They’re going to get less data and, probably, less traffic. This is going to make the next 12 to 24 months pretty tough for marketers. The challenge is that if employers don’t fully understand why this is happening, they’ll likely blame their marketing teams for the dip in results.
I spend a lot of time helping marketers navigate this shift, and I even run a community for marketing leaders to keep them up to date on these trends. Every two weeks, I drop a new video about the hottest topics or what they need to know to stay ahead. It’s crucial right now, especially as these shifts could make things pretty difficult in the coming year.
If you’re interested in learning more or staying on top of the latest trends, you can check it out at marketingleaders.community.”
What’s next for you, both personally and professionally? Are there any exciting new projects you’re working on that you can share?
I’m really busy with all of the things I mentioned above. If anything, I want to do less this year, but I fear that won’t happen. What I want to focus on this year is the agency and the changes it’s facing, particularly in relation to AI. I want to help it adapt and develop services to better assist our clients in that space. This will take a lot of effort, especially since we have a significant growth strategy for the agency. We aim to double in size over the next two years, so my main focus will be on that.
I’ll also continue with the community I just shared in the chat and my talks. I enjoy traveling to other nice European countries and having the opportunity to speak at conferences about topics like the ones we’re discussing today.
Besides your work, what are some hobbies or interests that you’re truly passionate about?
As for hobbies, my personal passion is sports, particularly skiing. However, I spend most of my time these days with my kids. They’re 10 and 9, and they’re involved in a lot of sports. I love watching them improve in sports like badminton and cricket.
What’s one travel destination on your bucket list that’s not typically found in travel guides, and what intrigues you about it?
I’ve just been offered the chance to go to Greece for a conference, and I’m really excited about it because I’ve never been there. I’d love to go to America as well. I’ve been there personally, but never on business, so the opportunity to speak at an American university would be amazing. If that ever comes up, I’d be thrilled.
What’s a surprising or unusual fact about you that people might not expect, something that doesn’t typically come up in your professional bio or interviews?
I played ice hockey for 10 years! I was first put on the ice at around five and played until I was about 15 or 16. I actually got quite good at it, but I never carried it into adult life. Still, I was pretty good back then.
Finally, what was the best piece of advice you were ever given?
I think, really, if I had to pinpoint one thing that has truly changed my perspective on life and the world, it’s all about helping others, reciprocity. It’s about offering help without any expectation of return. A good example of this would be this blog. There’s no transactional value for us in doing this. Hopefully, you’ll gain something from it. I’m giving up my time for it, and I’m enjoying it, but I’m not approaching it thinking, ‘Oh, I must get a lead from this’ or something like that. Over the course of my career, because I’ve done a lot of these things, it has happened, but that’s not the intention. So, I guess this ‘give to get back’ mentality is probably one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned, even though I’m not sure if anyone ever directly gave me that piece of advice.
