We catch-up with Honcho’s Head of Digital PR, James Roach, and find out his thoughts on the biggest opportunity for search marketers in 2027, his digital PR journey, the one thing he’s doing different in his current role, dreams of being a music producer and much more! 

What got you into digital marketing and digital PR?

The need to be creative. I was in a totally different industry for a long time (media, ITV) and although I had some great times, I started going down a road that was getting more and more technical, and further away from being creative. So I decided to make the change and use what transferable skills I had at the time to get myself into an SEO agency called Distilled, as the project manager in the Digital PR team. That’s where the journey started.

What’s the biggest opportunity for search marketers/digital pr’s in 2027?

 Not sure if it’s the biggest, but something to certainly consider, is of course making sure you are visible in LLMs, especially chat GPT. We’re literally working with clients now who are being cited more and more in there, and it is actually converting. One of our clients made in excess of £30k in a month from chat GPT referrals alone, a massive jump up. Considering how much organic traffic is being squeezed in the SERP due to the amount of paid ads being served, it really is something to consider.

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 What’s been the biggest challenge faced in your role over the last 12-month’s?

Understanding the role of AI and making sure we’re utilising it in the best way, to improve efficiencies and aid us in everything we do, whilst making sure we don’t rip the heart and soul out of what we do. Happy to report that we have achieved this now, having implemented tools and agents that are genuinely improving how we do things and supercharging what we do. What’s been great is that it’s taken away the grunt work, whilst allowing us to find way more opportunities then we would have done before.

How do you switch off?

 I love going to the gym, spinning and weights. This has replaced Muay Thai which I had to stop due to a torn achilles. I love music, so whenever I get the chance to attend an old persons day rave I will, as well as DJing myself too. Something I should have probably grown out of by now, is gaming, but i still do love to game come an evening if I have a spare hour.

In your current role, what 1 thing are you doing differently to last year?

Reporting better. This is something that has always been an issue for digital PR, and I can honestly say that with the use of AI and experience,I have finally cracked it. We’re able to show the impact of our work visually and in ways that are easy to understand and translate back to CEO’s. Live dashboards with visible reporting metrics have been rolled out to all our clients and they have gone down a treat. On top of just reporting, they are actually highlighting areas of weakness in some of our clients’ offerings, so we’re able to provide suggestions on products they might want to consider etc. it has been really powerful.

What’s your proudest achievement to-date?

In life generally it would be having and raising two wonderful kids with my Wife. Professionally it would be overcoming my fear of public speaking and finally hitting the stage. I can’t believe it took me so long, and I genuinely love it now.

What TV series/boxsets are you binging at present?

Traitors obviously, I was kinda late to this party, but my wife and kids like it and they’ve roped me in. Other than that, I tend not to really do long box sets as I have the attention span of a gnat. Give me a good documentary any day.

Fun fact about you?

 I used to want to be a music producer, and in my hey day I produced an RnB song for a member of Prince’ New Power Generation, which was cool.

 What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

Hmm, I can tell you the worst advice I’ve been given. Don’t get too close to your colleagues as it makes it harder to discipline them. Worst advice ever.

 Saturday Night Takeaway – What are you ordering?

 Oh blimey, if there is one thing I love, it’s food that isn’t good for you. Therefore I’ll literally eat anything that’s going. At the moment though I do have a thing for chicken sheesh kebabs with all the salad. Including the onions please.

Which brand or digital marketer do you admire the most for their expertise/opinions/achievements in the industry

Can I name a few please as there are so many. First off, Chris Ailey, head honcho at honcho. The depth of his knowledge and expertise is just vast, plus he’s just an amazing individual and the poster child for great leadership. I think many agency owners could learn a thing or two from him for sure.

On top of that I really admire the work that Amanda Walls puts in with all her speaking, getting the Cedarwood name out there, and lastly, Stephen Kenwright is always dropping knowledge bombs and I appreciate a lot of his insights.

About James…

With more than a decade of experience in digital PR, content and creative services, James has built and led high-performing teams at some of the UK’s leading search and marketing agencies.

His expertise spans creative campaign ideation, content strategy, media outreach and brand storytelling, helping businesses earn meaningful coverage, authority and links that drive real business impact. Having held senior roles at Croud, Distilled, StrategiQ and Re:signal, he has worked across a wide range of sectors delivering award-winning campaigns for household brands.

James has judged the Global Agency Awards and the Business Tech Awards, is a LinkedIn Top Voice, and speaks regularly at industry events including the Digital PR Summit.

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