Remove the friction quietly costing you conversions, customer loyalty, and brand reputation.
Most brands don’t realize where or how friction shows up in their customer experience – until it’s already negatively impacting sales and trust.
Get clarity, confidence, and a concrete plan in as little as two weeks.
The Cost of Friction
(and What It’s Doing to Your Brand)
Every day, brands lose potential customers they’ve invested significant time, money, and effort to attract – and don’t even realize it.
It’s not that the product missed the mark. It’s that the experience made people feel like it wasn’t built for them.
Friction shows up quietly. It hides in everyday moments that shape how people see and feel about your brand – for example:
An important link that’s too hard to find.
A lack of representation in your imagery or testimonials.
A layout that isn’t designed with accessibility or neurodivergence in mind.
A video that’s missing captions.
Messaging that doesn't match a specific customer's needs, priorities, or context at that moment in their journey.
The gap between what your brand intends to communicate or deliver and the impact it actually has on consumers.
These moments happen in every industry – even for brands with the best intentions.
And often, the brand has already invested in serving different types of customers. But when customers can’t access, recognize, or benefit from what you’ve created, that investment won’t deliver the results it should.
You don’t have to imagine it. Here’s what it looks like in real life – straight from the people experiencing it.
For instance, this Spanish-speaker went to this website for a car brand and could not find the place to change the website content into Spanish (even though the brand had already invested resources in translating the content). The friction prevented him from taking the next step forward.
And this Black woman struggled to find enough people who looked like her, that weren’t also workers on this hotel’s Instagram account. That friction caused her to hesitate to book a stay.
This hearing impaired woman struggled to watch a long-form interview of a podcast on YouTube because the visuals in the 30-second introduction were so overwhelming, she couldn’t focus on the captions. The friction prevented her from taking the next step forward.
This gay man experienced friction when he was on a hotel website and couldn’t find anything that made it clear that he would feel safe if he chose to stay there. That friction impacted his buying decision-making process.
And this woman who follows a gluten-free diet struggled to find the information she needed about menu items that were safe for her to eat on a restaurant’s website. That friction caused her to be frustrated with the experience the restaurant delivered, before ever setting foot in the door.
Each of these seemingly small moments represents a person who wanted to engage, but saw something that made them hesitate or walk away.
Multiply that across every campaign and channel, and the cost becomes clear: lost revenue, wasted ad spend, and disappointed customers who quietly move on.
The good news? Once you know where and why the friction is happening, you can fix it – often with small but powerful changes that deliver measurable results.
That’s exactly what the Friction Finder Growth Audit is designed to do.
How the Friction Finder Growth Audit Works
You don’t need to guess where friction is costing your brand growth – or how to fix it. Each audit follows a proven, collaborative process designed to turn insight into action and give you a clear path forward.
Step
1
Align on the growth challenge
We start by clarifying your business goals, priority segments, known challenges, and where friction may be limiting results. This ensures the audit is focused on what matters most to your business.
Step
2
Find the friction
I conduct a comprehensive review of the relevant parts of your marketing and customer experience to uncover where friction may be getting in the way of attracting, converting, serving, and retaining customers.
Depending on the scope of the audit, this may also include gathering direct feedback from your ideal customers through user testing, so we can see where friction is showing up through their eyes, not just ours.
Step
3
Prioritize what happens next
You receive a clear assessment of what I found, why it matters, and my recommendations for removing the friction. Then, we’ll work together in a results and action session to prioritize the opportunities, answer questions, and determine what your team should tackle first.
Here’s what that kind of clarity and confidence looks like in action:
“
I learned so much. And I think it’s also amazing to see how at the beginning I was a bit, not pessimistic, but in a way I was thinking, “wow, we are not doing enough, it’s so tough.” And instead now, I mean that I also have a clear understanding, I have a new light and I find myself finding a bit of these inclusive bits in different parts and brand activities and so on, something before I didn’t really recognize. [I have a lot of] optimism and for sure a great and new perspective on the topic and how to deal with it so I think for sure you managed to equip us with a lot of good knowledge that we can for sure already use and spread to our colleagues and even in our normal daily life.
Sustainability Manager,
Global Consumer Packaged Goods Multinational
“
What’s Reviewed in the Audit
Each audit is customized to the channels, assets, and audiences most relevant to your brand.
The goal: to surface the friction points that limit connection, conversion, and belonging – and provide a clear, actionable roadmap for improvement.
Customer Understanding
Because growth starts with knowing who you’re designing for – and how their lived experiences shape what they need.
This part of the audit evaluates how deeply your brand understands and reflects the audiences you aim to serve, and how effectively that understanding informs your marketing and customer experience.
- Buyer personas, audience profiles, or customer segmentation frameworks
- Customer research, insights, and other relevant data
- Alignment between target audiences and the experiences currently being delivered
Outcome
Uncovers gaps in customer understanding that may be creating friction throughout the customer experience.
Customer Journey & Experience
Because every touchpoint shapes how consumers answer a fundamental question: “Is this for someone like me?”
This review identifies the moments of friction and opportunity across your customer journey – from discovery and conversion through customer success and loyalty.
- Website experience and accessibility
- Social and community experiences
- Product and service touchpoints
- Purchase and conversion experiences
- Onboarding and post-purchase experiences
- Customer support and service
- In-store, on-site, or event experiences (where applicable)
Outcome
Reveals where your customer experience helps people move forward, and where friction may cause them to hesitate, struggle, or walk away.
Marketing Infrastructure & Alignment
Note: Included in full for select audit scopes. Foundational brand assets, such as guidelines and creative briefs, are reviewed across all audits.
Because the systems behind the scenes determine whether your team can consistently deliver the strategy and customer experiences you intend.
This review assesses how well your marketing infrastructure, processes, and tools enable your team to consistently deliver relevant, frictionless experiences for the different types of customers you aim to serve.
Depending on scope, this may include:
- Brand guidelines, visual identity systems, and tone-of-voice documentation
- Creative briefs and templates, campaign decks, and playbooks
- Influencer or collaborator briefs and playbooks
- Review and approval processes
- Creative workflows, from ideation through approval
- Roles, decision-making, and other processes that shape marketing execution
Outcome
Identifies where your marketing infrastructure supports consistent execution – and where internal friction may be undermining the customer experience and growth.
Messaging & Relevance
Because effective messaging isn’t just about what you say — it’s about whether the message is right for the specific customer at that specific moment in their journey.
This review assesses how well your messaging aligns with the needs, priorities, and context of the different customer segments you aim to serve.
Depending on scope, this may include:
- Core brand and value proposition messaging
- Audience or segment specific messaging
- Website and landing page messaging
- Email, paid media, search, and content
- Advertising and campaign materials
- Calls to action and conversion messaging
- Alignment between customer needs, messaging, and stage of the journey
Outcome
Identifies where messaging creates relevance and helps customers move forward — and where mismatches may be creating friction.
Customer Understanding
Because growth starts with knowing who you’re designing for – and how their lived experiences shape what they need.
This part of the audit evaluates how deeply your brand understands and reflects the audiences you aim to serve.
- Buyer personas, audience profiles, or customer segmentation frameworks
- Customer research, insights, and other relevant data
- Alignment between target audiences and the experiences currently being delivered
Customer Journey & Experience
Because every touchpoint shapes how people decide whether they belong with your brand.
This review identifies the moments of friction and opportunity across your customer journey.
- Website experience and accessibility
- Social and community engagement
- Digital marketing (email, paid media, search, and content)
- Product and service touchpoints
- Advertising and campaign materials (TV, radio, print, banner, and video)
- In-store, ons-site, or event experiences (where applicable)
Outcome
Uncovers gaps between how you define your customers and how they experience your brand.
Outcome
Reveals where your customer experience supports connection – and where it quietly pushes people away.
Internal Systems & Brand Alignment
Note: Included in full for select audit tiers. Foundational brand assets (like guidelines and creative briefs) are reviewed across all audits.
Because the systems behind the scenes determine whether inclusion and consistency are built into everything you create.
This review assesses how well your internal processes enable your team to deliver inclusive, frictionless experiences for all the people you desire to serve:
- Brand guidelines, visual identity systems, and tone-of-voice documentation
- Creative briefs and templates, campaign decks, and playbooks
- Influencer or collaborator briefs and playbooks
- Review and approval processes
- Creative process (ideation to approval)
Messaging & Relevance
Because effective messaging isn’t just about what you say — it’s about whether the message is right for the specific customer at that specific moment in their journey.
This review assesses how well your messaging aligns with the needs, priorities, and context of the different customer segments you aim to serve.
Depending on scope, this may include:
- Core brand and value proposition messaging
- Audience or segment specific messaging
- Website and landing page messaging
- Email, paid media, search, and content
- Advertising and campaign materials
- Calls to action and conversion messaging
- Alignment between customer needs, messaging, and stage of the journey
Outcome
Ensures your internal infrastructure supports – not hinders – customer experiences that drive growth.
Outcome
Identifies where messaging creates relevance and helps customers move forward — and where mismatches may be creating friction.
“
The company determined that the multicultural segment was a strategic growth lever, but we did not have expertise in house to run a marketing strategy. As we established the team, we started working with Sonia to get an idea on how we are currently doing from a multicultural, and inclusive marketing in general markets perspective. Sonia was an incredible partner where she was able to audit our currently advertising portfolio with her team and give a comprehensive POV on not only images, but approach and strategy. She also gave detailed recommendations and rationale on what we could do better. Overall, the learnings really helped to maximize our ability to engage with different audiences and to drive the business.
Sonia also was an important part of pulling through the work as she became an integrated member of the brand team when we were reviewing creative briefs, creative and copy. Her insights and expertise helped us ensure that we were implementing the right imagery, tone, stories and messages to the right audiences.
Marketing Director at Global Fortune 500 Company
[Fortune Global 500]
“
Who’s Leading Your Audit
Hi, I’m Sonia Thompson — a Growth Marketing & Customer Experience Strategist who’s spent years helping brands attract, convert, and retain more of their ideal customers.
Before my time as a consultant, I spent almost a decade in marketing at Johnson & Johnson, learning firsthand how big brands build customer loyalty — and where friction often hides. I also earned my Green Belt in Six Sigma and hold an MBA from Florida A&M University – a combination that grounds my approach in both strategy and systems thinking.
Since 2017, I’ve helped organizations of all sizes do the same, applying those lessons to make inclusion a growth driver, not just a value statement.
I have partnered with brands across industries — from healthcare to finance to consumer goods — including Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk, Merck, UNC Health, BioLife (a Takeda company), and Henkel (supporting brands like got2b, Schwarzkopf, Persil, and Perwoll) — along with smaller, fast-growing brands that wanted to remove friction and better connect with the people they serve.
Across industries — healthcare, tech, and finance — the goal is the same: help brands grow by understanding, including, and serving more of their customers, better.
Through my Frictionless Growth Marketing platform — the podcast (part of the HubSpot Podcast Network), newsletter along with my columns for Forbes and Inc. — I share the tools and insights brands need to turn inclusion into a growth advantage.
Every Day You Wait, Friction Keeps Costing You
You’ve already invested time, energy, and resources to attract the right customers. But if your customer experience wasn’t built with all of them in mind, you’re losing opportunities for brand growth and making a bigger impact.
When you remove friction, something powerful happens: your customers feel seen, your team delivers with confidence, and your brand becomes a place where more customers achieve success and stay loyal over time.
The Friction Finder Growth Audit shows you exactly where and how friction shows up — and gives you the strategy, systems, and insights to keep it out.
Because when every customer feels like you designed your products, communications, and experiences with them in mind, your brand grows stronger, faster, and more sustainably.
Ready to remove the friction, and take the limits off your growth?
Ready to remove the friction, and take the limits off your growth?