Advertising is in a state of change.

TikTok, Instagram Stories and Reels are latest ‘short-form heroes’ that keep us hooked for hours but why are we spending so long scrolling through quick, snackable content? Is it because the human attention span is shrinking and we can no longer focus on long-form pieces?

Well, to answer the question, hosts Alex and Joe dive into the psychology of how our attention spans work with Dr. Christopher Hand and teach you how to create content that not only grabs attention but is the right length for your audience.

Follow Simon, Mana and the team behind The Founders

Being largely unregulated, the influencer scene is the ‘Wild West of marketing’ but why are influencers so effective and is the word 'Influence' really the correct word to be using?

Alex and Joe take a look into the psychology behind so-called influence online with Cecilie Traberg, a Psychology PhD student at The University of Cambridge. Cecilie explains how we, as humans, influence and are influenced.

Accounts Director at Campfire, Sophie Angell also explains why you might have been left disappointed with the return on a recent influencer campaign.... but have no fear, Sophie also shares the'Golden Rules' for influencer marketing.

With social media apps serving us ads that suspiciously align with our recent conversations, we've probably all had someone tell us that 'Our devices are always listening, you know'... is this true?

To see whether our phones are eavesdropping or whether it's actually us, Alex and Joe explore the psychology behind our online behaviours with Senior Lecturer at The University of Cambridge, Dr Amy Milton.

Discover how Facebook knows what ads to serve us as well as checking in with Liam Davies, Campfire's Head of Paid, to find out what data Facebook do and don't have access to…

When you think of crisps, tea or laundry detergent, who do you think of first? You'll have picked some brand names pretty quickly, but why did you think what you did?

You might be inclined to think that you chose the brands you did because 'They've been around the longest' and so getting your brand to be the one people think of first may feel like an impossible task but that's not always the case when it comes to brand awareness.

Smaller brands can compete for that top spot in a customers mind and so in this episode, Alex and Joe explore how humans remember and recall brands by chatting to Psychology PhD student at Sydney University, Marie Dietz.

This episode lays out what you need to be doing to get remembered.

It seems strange to think that an innocent like or share on social media be so impactful or even dangerous but from global warming to medical advice, there's fake news about almost everything online.

Fake News' is often a term used as a joke or as a political 'slur' but is it really is having an impact on the way the world works, but how?

Alex and Joe welcome back Cecilie Traberg, PhD psychology student at The University of Cambridge, onto The Deep Dive to explain to us how fake news is made with human psychology in mind, why it can be so dangerous and why we all need to be aware of the effect our online actions are having.

Throughout the season so far, we've looked at how best to market your brand on social by looking into human psychology but we haven't yet spoken to business owners who have created, built and grown their company using social media primarily.

In this episode, we speak to Dan Murray-Serter who is the founder of 'brain food' supplement subscription brand, Heights. You might also know him as the co-host of the popular Secret Leaders podcast.

Alex and Joe thought that Dan would be an immensely insightful person to speak to, not only because of Heights' strong ties to psychology and the inner workings of the human brain but because he is a 'Founder' too.

Throughout the episode, Dan shares his first hand advice and insights on building an online business, on social media.

If you're a social media marketeer, you've probably wondered why brands still spend so much money on traditional marketing tools like billboards and TV ads when paid social offers a much more targeted and direct means of speaking to probable customers.

Well, there are pros and cons to both and so to understand how best to target your audience with your message, Alex and Joe welcome back Liam Davies, Head of Paid at Campfire. Liam offers his insights into why brands may still use traditional strategies as well as sharing his ‘Golden Rules’ of using paid social, properly.

All apps have a lifecycle and some end up dying out completely, but how can a social media app go from being so popular to suddenly not existing at all or beingseen as uncool?

Well, you might not have put much thought into this topic before but it's really important to understand social media usage trends so that you can be as agile as possible and futureproof.

In the final installment of season 1, Alex and Joe take on a more 'think piece' approach to this episode and share their thoughts on what determines app popularity in a world where all of them are fighting for your time.

Overnight growth on social media is rarely a reality for many but for the founders of Feel Good Club, wives Aimie and Kiera Lawlor-Skillen, it was a well earned growth-spurt. Feel Good Club have captivated their audience on Instagram by knowing how to make content that really hits the spot when times are tough and our mental health is at an all time low.

This episode tells the story of Aimie and Kiera and their journey from mental health passion project to a bustling coffee shop and events space in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

Follow Simon, Mana and the team behind The Founders

Great Influence is an agency, founded by Ash Jones, that specialises in personal branding. Great Influence boasts clients who are the founders of global brands such as MyProtein, and business leaders and speakers such as marketing behemoth, Steven Bartlett. Ash knows how to get brands, business owners and creators big and small noticed in a busy online landscape.

This episode will give you the advice and tools you need to get your personal brand off the ground and why you can benefit from people knowing your name.

Community is key when it comes to growing and engaging with an audience online but it does not come easily. This episode is for the community builders (and the wannabes) amongst us.

Sharmadean Reid MBE is the founder of The Stack World, a members platform dedicated to connecting and inspiring women and supporting them economically. She previously worked as a brand consultant spotting trends for the bigwigs at global brands like Nike and ASOS before building the extremely popular WAH Nails in 2009. It’s safe to say that she is to thank for the nail art trend that’s still booming 12 years on… *That’s* how good she is.

We’ve all been lured in by those cheesy, carby, delicious looking food-porn videos on social media but be honest… have you ever actually made one of the recipes? Well, Ben Lebus is here to change that. After founding MOB Kitchen at University, Ben has gone on to release 5 cookbooks, collaborated with major global food brands and has amassed a following of almost 1m.

This podcast explores what it takes to build an online brand, how to continue when it feels like nobody's listening and Ben’s plans for the future.

Take a peek into the way Steven Bartlett's mind works when it comes to marketing, entrepreneurship and what it takes to build a multi-million pound business... Steven is the founder of Social Chain, Host of the Diary of a CEO podcast and is the latest Dragon ‘in the Den’.

This episode sees him open up about the hard-truths of making it, how powerful being ‘bad’ can be at the beginning of your journey and how he’s gone from Wallpark, his first business, to being a household name.

Personal Trainer, Alice Liveing has amassed an Instagram following of over 700k through sharing her workouts and fitness advice online but in the last few years, she’s launched her fitness app Give Me Strength and her approach to social media has changed completely.

Alice opens up to Alex and Joe about how her content has evolved from a focus on muscles to mental health after realising that social media, including her content, was fuelling unhealthy exercise and eating habits. She also shares her tips on building a large following online and her journey from influencer to entrepreneur. You can find Alice online @aliceliveing and @givemestrengthapp.

After his first dating app failed to gain traction, Matt McNeill Love, went on to co-found a new dating app called Thursday. Unlike its predecessor it’s a huge hit - but how and why?

Matt chats to Alex and Joe to discuss how their guerrilla marketing strategy enables a steady flow of viral posts, how his failings led to success and how the @thursdaydating instagram page has become the most engaged dating app page in the world. For an app that only works one day per week, you’d think people would forget and lose interest but it’s in fact the total opposite, with them selling out in person dating events across the world. If you need inspo for a marketing campaign or strategy that has personality, listen up.

Ooni pizza ovens - If you don’t have one, you know someone who does. They give you Neapolitan pizzas at home but the brand seemed to suddenly come out of nowhere... But how?

Co-founder of Ooni, Darina Garland, shares their start-up story, how they built their brand into a household name and why being authentic and transparent with their customers is so important. A truly inspirational story for the brand builders and founders of product-based businesses.

We’ve got a secret, we’ve been keeping from you...

We’ve come to the end of season 1 and in this bonus episode, Alex and Joe reveal the secret final questions that’s been answered by every guest at the end of their interview. Yes, we’ve kept their responses from you... until now.

Find out what the minds behind MOB Kitchen, Ooni and Social Chain had to say, plus big news about the future of Breaking Social.