Redefining Digital Strategy: Insights from Jordan Lomax, Founder of The Social Lab Australia

We're thrilled to bring you an exclusive Q&A with Jordan Lomax , the dynamic founder of The Social Lab Australia. With a career that spans top-tier roles at Spotify , OMD Worldwide , and Shopbop , Jordan has established herself as a leading voice in the world of paid media and digital strategy. Not only is she the mastermind behind a successful agency, but she is also a respected educator who teaches her own courses and holds a contract with the WA Small Business Development Corporation, where she conducts marketing workshops for business owners.

In this insightful interview, Jordan shares her journey from corporate roles to entrepreneurship, the challenges she faced during her career reset, and how she discovered her true calling in the digital space. We delve into the lessons she learned from founding her agency, explore the future of paid media, and gain valuable advice for anyone looking to navigate the ever-changing digital landscape.

Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned marketer, or simply curious about the world of digital strategy, this Q&A promises to offer a wealth of knowledge and inspiration.

Can you share your career journey to date and some pivotal moments of your career working for top marketplace brands like Spotify and Shopbop?

I grew up in Western Australia, and back then, it really felt like if I wanted to make it in marketing, I had to be on the East Coast. During my final year, I did an internship with MediaCom, where I worked on a Victoria Bitter pitch that made me realize I wouldn’t get opportunities like that if I stayed in Perth. (Though I don’t believe that’s true anymore - opportunities are everywhere now with how connected the world has become!) So, right after graduation, I packed my bags and moved to Sydney.

What really helped me break into the marketing world was having both marketing and design skills, which wasn’t common at the time. OMD Sydney loved that combo, and they hired me for a split role in social media management and design. Nowadays, it’s pretty standard with Canva for social media roles to include content creation, but back then, it gave me a real edge. OMD was the perfect launchpad for my career, letting me work on some of the biggest brands in the country while learning to handle intense deadlines. Plus, it gave me some of my closest friendships, which made settling into Sydney so much easier.

After about a year, Shopbop (an OMD client I worked on) approached me to become their AUNZ Marketing Manager, working remotely from home. At the time, working from home every day was unheard of! That role gave me the flexibility to start consulting and freelancing, which laid the foundation for how I work now. It was a turning point, showing me it was possible to work for myself and earn a living that way.

Later, I landed a dream gig as Social Marketing Manager for Spotify AUNZ, which I see as my "big break" in the industry. Having a brand like Spotify on my resume opened so many doors and helped me shake off the imposter syndrome I’d been struggling with for years - giving me the confidence to back myself and start something of my own, for real.

Needing extra funds for a PropTech startup I was launching led me to create The Social Lab. What started as a side hustle to pay our developers has grown into what it is today - something I’m really proud of!

What inspired you to take a career break?

I actually credit it to a conversation I had with one of my clients, Caitlin Dennehy. I don’t know if she even knows or remembers this, but we were talking about the constant stress of freelancing and the pressure I felt to always be available for my clients. I told her that I was worried if I wasn’t quick enough/available enough or didn’t offer a good price, clients would just go somewhere else. Caitlin said something to the effect of "People don’t work with you because you’re quick and cheap - they work with you because you’re really good at what you do, and your skill set is so unique.”

This probably sounds super cliché, but that was a total revelation for me. It made me realise that even if I stepped away for a couple of months, my clients wouldn’t just replace me. They knew the value I brought, and I could trust that the work would still be there when I returned (and that's exactly what happened with Caitlin - who's still a client, even after the three month break!).

This new mindset opened the door for two things that really made the career break possible. The first was a camper van renovation my husband and I worked on during COVID. We spent weekends working on the van as a lockdown project to stay sane, and it became our escape. Once restrictions eased, we’d take off, disappear into the middle of nowhere with our dog, and just enjoy the simple pleasure of being outside under the stars, with no phone reception. It became our way to recharge - mini-breaks whenever we needed them.

The second was our decision to move back to Perth. During COVID, it felt like all I did was work - long hours at the laptop with no real break, and it started to wear me down. After the van renovation, we thought, why not take it further? Instead of flying back to Perth, we could drive, taking a road trip from Sydney to Perth around the top of Australia.

Originally, I thought there was no way I could take three months off work. Vaughan was all for it, but I kept pushing back, thinking, "Marketing will change too much while I’m gone!" and "I'll lose all my clients and have to start again!". But I also started to think - if not now, when? When would I ever have the chance to take three months off again? We were planning to settle down and buy a house in Perth - there wouldn’t be another window like this.

I’d taken short “breaks” before but they never really felt like breaks. I was always thinking about what I had to do when I got back. This time, I wanted to fully switch off. I wanted to let go of all my clients for a while and truly clear my mind - which I guess is how I ended up travelling Australia in a 2003 Toyota Hiace for 87 days!

Starting a new venture can be daunting. What were some unexpected lessons you learned when founding The Social Lab?

Oh man there's a lot, but here's the main ones!

- Working with the right people is SUPER important. Early on, I had a few challenging employee experiences (get me a wine someday, and I’ll tell you all about them!). I quickly realised it’s not just about hiring people with the best skills - it’s about finding genuinely good humans. You want to work with people you actually enjoy being around because work takes up such a big part of your life. If you don’t like who you’re working with, it’s a recipe for burnout.

- Don’t oversell yourself or make promises you can’t keep. When you’re starting out, it’s tempting to say yes to everything and try to be everything to everyone just to land the clients. I remember taking on projects and telling myself, "We’ll figure it out as we go." But that can backfire. If I could do it again, I’d focus on clearly defining our niche and core services and sticking to what we’re really good at, rather than trying to be a jack-of-all-trades.

- Setting boundaries is a game-changer, and it’s something that took me a little longer to learn. In the beginning, I was so scared to say no. I’d agree to insane deadlines or work on weekends because I didn’t want to let anyone down. But over time, I learned that it’s okay to set boundaries, and 99% of the time, people respect them. Learning to say, "I’m busy, I can’t do this until next week," was empowering and funnily enough - practicing that in a business context with clients has helped me set boundaries in my personal life too.

How did you realise that paid media and digital strategy were your true calling?

I knew paid media / digital strategy was my true calling when I realised it was the perfect balance between creativity and data. Early in my career, I noticed that focusing too much on one side of the spectrum would leave me feeling unfulfilled - spending too much time on spreadsheets and data would bore me, while too much design work would drain my creativity. In the paid media and digital strategy space, I found the ideal mix of both. It allowed me to be super creative with design, branding and ad creative, while still relying on data to inform decisions.

Once I figured that out, I started actively seeking out clients, projects, and roles that gave me the opportunity to work at that intersection.

With the rapid evolution of digital marketing, how do you see the landscape of paid media changing in the next few years?

The digital marketing landscape has changed so fast, and for a while there, we were really spoiled with all the data we had access to. But with more focus on customer privacy now, that's shifting - and it means we’re going to have to get more creative with paid media.

It used to be as simple as throwing an ad in front of someone who visited your website and most likely you'd be hitting a fairly decent ROAS, but with all the new privacy regulations, we can’t rely on those same tactics anymore. Instead, we’ll have to rethink our approach and, in a way, go back to the basics - good old Marketing 101.

In the next few years, I think we’ll need to focus more on building real relationships with people through great content and storytelling, rather than just depending on tracking data. It’s about being more thoughtful in how we connect with audiences and creating campaigns that feel genuine and human, not just targeted by algorithms. This shift is kind of exciting though because it’ll push brands to be more creative and authentic. The ones that really focus on connecting with their audience in a meaningful way are going to be the ones that stand out, especially as we move into a world where data access is more limited.

What trends or technologies will significantly impact social media management and digital strategy?

I know it’s the obvious answer, but AI is going to have a massive impact - no question. Most people are already familiar with tools like ChatGPT, but there’s a whole world of AI-powered marketing tools out there that we’re only just starting to tap into. I’m constantly researching new tools, and with things like ManyChat offering AI-driven customer conversations, the ability to create your own custom GPTs, and AI-powered sales forecasting based on marketing efforts, I think we’re on the brink of a big shift.

AI is going to completely change how we approach digital strategy and social media management. Ideally, it’ll free up more time for us to be creative, but I’m also excited about how it could finally give us better ways to measure and track the impact of top-of-funnel channels like social media against actual sales. That’s something that’s been tricky to nail down, and AI has the potential to give us clearer insights and better metrics to work with.

As a Digital Marketing Educator, what are the most important skills for aspiring digital marketers?

Two skills stand out for me:

1. The ability to ask why. I can't stress this enough. Being able to think critically and not just accept data at face value is so important in marketing. You need to be curious and investigate - why did something work or not work? What’s behind that data point? This kind of critical thinking is so valuable and, honestly, not as common as it should be. To do this well, you also need some basic data analytics skills. It’s not about being a data scientist, but you should be able to dig into the numbers and understand what's happening beneath the surface.
2. Truly understanding your customers. At the heart of marketing is the ability to get inside your customers' heads and understand their needs, challenges, desires, and motivations. It’s not just about knowing the surface-level demographics; it’s about diving deeper into what makes them tick. What are their pain points? What keeps them up at night? What do they really need, even if they can’t articulate it yet? The best marketers are the ones who can blend empathy with strategy - they listen to what their customers are saying (and not saying) and build experiences that are tailored to meet those needs. At the end of the day, customers want to feel understood and valued, and your job as a digital marketer is to make sure they do.

How has teaching and mentoring students influenced your own approach to digital marketing?

Teaching and mentoring have had a huge impact on how I approach digital marketing, and honestly, I think I’ve learned just as much from my students as they have from me! Every time I mentor or teach, I get exposed to new ways of thinking and fresh ideas. It’s like a constant stream of creativity and innovation, which keeps me on my toes and helps me see the industry from different perspectives.

One big shift is how I’ve learned to simplify things. When you’re teaching, you can’t just throw a bunch of jargon at people - you’ve got to break it down in a way that’s easy to understand and digest. I’ve carried that over into my own work, where I now see marketing less as this big, complicated puzzle and more as a series of smaller, manageable pieces. It’s really helped me approach problems one step at a time, making everything feel more doable and less overwhelming.

Plus, teaching has been super useful for my communication skills. Explaining things clearly and concisely in the classroom has made me much better at communicating with clients. I’m able to translate complex strategies into everyday language, which makes the whole process smoother and more collaborative. 

How do you maintain a balance between your work at The Social Lab and your teaching roles, and what strategies do you use to stay motivated and inspired?

I try to keep a healthy balance between my work at The Social Lab and my teaching roles - roughly a 50/50 split. It’s super important for me to be hands-on with digital marketing to teach it well (I strongly believe to teach something, you need to be doing it in the real world too!), so I never dive too deeply into one without making space for the other. That said, teaching is a whole different energy requirement. It’s incredibly rewarding but can be exhausting, and when I take on too much teaching, I really feel it. Sometimes, I just need those quiet days with my headphones on, tackling projects solo at my laptop. I’ve also realised the importance of carving out time intentionally. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is the need to set boundaries. In the past, I’d teach a full-day course and then immediately jump onto my laptop to catch up on a whole day’s worth of client work. Not only did that leave me completely drained, but it wasn’t great for the quality of my work either. Now, I block out two days when I have teaching on the schedule - one for the workshop itself and the next day with no meetings. That way, I can focus, catch up on work, and avoid falling behind without running myself into the ground.

For me, staying motivated and inspired is all about variety. Jumping between running The Social Lab and teaching keeps things fresh and exciting. When I’m in the classroom, my students’ energy and new perspectives always inspire me - it’s like a creativity boost that I can bring straight back into my client work. On the flip side, working hands-on with clients gives me real-world stories and examples to share with my students. It’s a great cycle where both roles feed into each other and keep me on my toes.

But beyond that, I’m really intentional about balance. I’ve made a strict rule to never work weekends, and I always carve out time for the things that recharge me - whether it’s taking my dog for a walk, catching up with a friend for coffee on a Tuesday afternoon or squeezing in some downtime to just switch off. I’ve learned that burnout kills motivation faster than anything, so making space to relax and disconnect is key for me. 

Looking back at your career so far, what are you most proud of, and what would you do differently if given the chance?

What a big question! Most proud... raising investment with Leasy (the proptech startup) was a huge career highlight for me. We were two young female co-founders and all the odds were against us, and yet somehow we managed to raise investment, leading us to fly to San Francisco and show our product at TechCrunch, one of the biggest Tech Expos in the world. Proud is probably an understatement of that one!

And what would I do differently? I've been trying to come up with an answer for this one and am really struggling! I honestly believe everything happens for a reason and any "mistake" that happened along the way turned into a new opportunity (in hindsight of course!). I think if there was one thing, it would be to be more intentional with who I wanted to work with earlier on. Now I know how to do that, but for many years I'd say yes to clients even when there were 84 red flags telling me not to - and the red flags were always right. If I could go back, I'd definitely tell my past self to just say no if you don't think it's the right fit for you.

Jordan is the owner of The Social Lab . Visit their website at https://thesociallab.co.

You can also follow Jordan Lomax on Linkedin for Insights and articles.

For employment opportunities and a list of Who in the Zoo jobs, please see our website: Who in the Zoo - Recruitment.