Ahead of the Game
100 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago -Want a taste of the real-life digital marketing game? Supercharge your marketing skills and sharpen your mindset with incisive insights from industry experts. The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by The Digital Marketing Institute, hosted by Will Francis.
Subscribe to all DMI Ahead of the Game podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or watch on video at YouTube. And check out the DMI's extensive knowledge library and join up for free. https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/aheadofthegame
Homepage Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
The Evolving State of AI Search
April 19, 2024 13:51 - 1 hour - 85.7 MBThere's a lot going on with search and the effects of AI, and no-one's sure where it's all headed! One voice of reason is this week's guest, Luke O'Leary, who emphasizes the fundamentals of search marketing that won't change: good UX and optimization, understanding your audience, solid content, and testing. Luke and host Will Francis look at how the role of an SEO is changing, the latest E in E-E-A-T, how TikTok works as a search platforms, the partnership between Google and Reddit, where ...
Professional Services Marketing with Heart
April 05, 2024 16:06 - 59 minutes - 81.7 MBHow do you market an organization made up of diverse individuals - in this case a global firm of over 700 legal professionals? We were delighted to have an insightful conversation with Roy Sexton, head of marketing at Clark Hill, on how marketing can be a force for good, the overlap between B2B and B2C marketing, working on a company's personal brand, considerations about putting your marketing behind social movements, and lots of tips for marketers at any stage of their career. Roy tells ...
Understanding Your Audience with Rand Fishkin
March 22, 2024 13:38 - 1 hour - 87.7 MBIn this episode, we get to mine the mind of marketing great, Rand Fishkin, creator of Moz and SparkToro, among other ventures. Rand and our host Will Francis have a wide-ranging discussion covering the state of marketing in 2024, how he created SparkToro to allow marketers a better way to understand their audiences, who’s using the tool to best effect, issues around personal branding, and quite crucially – as we’re heard before on the podcast – why we need to keep the human side of marketi...
The Human Touch in AI Copywriting
March 08, 2024 10:34 - 1 hour - 100 MBAI is now an integral part of copywriting. But how do we consider the line between craft and automation, between efficiency and creativity? How do we balance the human touch? In this episode, DMI podcast producer and today's host, Emma Prunty, is joined by marketing strategist Julie Atherton, and veteran copywriter and AI educator Kerry Harrison. Some of the key points in an insightful, wide-ranging conversation: Which AI tools work best for copywriters How to ensure the 'human' remain...
The State of GA4 Today
February 23, 2024 09:35 - 47 minutes - 65.4 MBGoogle Analytics 4 (GA4) has been up and running for several months now, and people have plenty of opinions about it. What’s great about it? What’s not so great about it? And how can you make it work for you? We invited experts Cathal Melinn, and Chris Coomer, VP of Data Analytics and Insights at NPAccel, to discuss the present and future of GA4 with podcast host, Will Francis. ---------------- The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute and is avail...
The Value of Social Media Marketing
February 09, 2024 16:15 - 1 hour - 93 MBHow do you measure success in social media? Is it worth it? And how do you explain it to your non-marketing colleagues and stakeholders. Well, this week we get to talk with a real expert, the founder and CEO of renowned social management management platform Agora Pulse, Emeric Ernoult. Host Will Francis quizzes him about how the platform stands out from close competitors like Hootsuite and Buffer by focusing on analytics and ease of use. Their chat also touches on differences between pla...
Boost Your Career in 2024
January 26, 2024 11:43 - 55 minutes - 76.5 MBAre you looking to change your job role or your career? Do you have a clear vision and a postive mindset to get you there? We invited the Mindful Recruiter Morgan Cummins on the podcast to share more of his wisdom and tips on tackling the job of developing your career. He talks with host Will Francis about smart networking, working on your LinkedIn profile (and your CV/resume), interview tips, learning to use AI tools, and developing simple habits to broaden your outlook. He also offers ...
Data Privacy in an AI Landscape
January 05, 2024 13:44 - 54 minutes - 74.2 MBHow do you care for the data you collect from leads and customers? Can you be sure it's secure, especially with the more widespread use of AI-powered LLM systems? In this episode, host Will Francis has a fascinating discussion with Sean Falconer about how companies of any size can securely store customer data, how fines from data regulations like GDPR and CCPA are putting increased pressure on companies, and how AI models can be trained on data while still protecting privacy. Sean is ...
2024 Trends in Digital Marketing
December 15, 2023 18:00 - 1 hour - 118 MBYes - it's that time. For our most popular podcast of the year! We've talked to 6 of our experts about what they see as the key things to look out for during 2024 in digital marketing. AI is of course the main focus, but we get to look more closely at it within the realms of social media, paid ads, marketing strategy, careers, and search (SGE). Just some of the other areas they have suggested we watch include Instagram Threads (will it really take off now?), LinkedIn (which is now over 1 ...
AI with DMI: OpenAI Updates, Handmade AI Tools, Fabric Genie
December 01, 2023 21:04 - 49 minutes - 68.6 MBThe AI space is where it's at - so we've launched this series to cut through the noise. We're going to talk about tools and devlopment and what it means for digital marketers and what you can do about it. Our regular host, and digital marketer, Will Francis is joined by SEO expert Danny Richman. In Episode 2: recent changes to OpenAI, some handy Google sheets Danny has created with the help of AI, ideas on using AI for social media content, and, not least, a very cool product Danny rec...
Mindfulness in Marketing
December 01, 2023 18:16 - 49 minutes - 67.8 MBBeing mindful in marketing can mean anything, from taking a pause before answering an email, to considering your creativity and learning to deal with negative emotions. In this episode, host Will Francis has a fascinating conversation with Andrew Simon at SAP in Canada who works in marketing technology but has an official side hustle as a mindfulness coach within this global giant. Stay tuned to the end to get Andrew's top three tips anyone can take away into their own professional life...
How Useful is AI in Digital Marketing?
November 10, 2023 14:20 - 41 minutes - 57.4 MBJust how useful is ChatGPT turning out to be, a year after it blasted onto the scene? How anyone can advise anyone else on how they should be using AI? These are some of the questions that come up in this wide-reaching conversation with two DMI experts, host Will Francis and Clark Boyd. Clark also tells us about his new AI-powered learning solution called Novela. ------------------ The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute and is available on ...
Get Started with AI in Marketing
October 20, 2023 10:31 - 49 minutes - 67.3 MBWe're joined on this episode by Jim Lecinski from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, who has been studying and writing about AI in a brand's marketing function for years. He takes host Will Francis through a framework for establishing how to incorporate AI in your strategy, considering the (evolving) pros and cons, risks and massive opportunities available with AI technologies. "Marketers are in the prediction business. Machine learning is a prediction technol...
A Look Inside SGE
September 29, 2023 16:58 - 32 minutes - 44 MBIs Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) actually going to change the world of search? Google's new AI-powered search is still just in Beta, and only avaiable in the US, Japan, and India (as of now) but we wanted to get some insights into it to share with you. Lindsey Schrant, a senior SEO manager with Neil Patel Digital joined host Will Francis to describe how she's using SGE, its challenges and limitations, and indications of how it will affect how we do search. This episode is a...
Mental Wellness for Social Media Pros
September 15, 2023 07:00 - 53 minutes - 74.1 MBIf most of us feel overwhelmed by social media, how does the owner of a social media agency manage to stay balanced? In this episode, Will Francis chats with Zack O'Rourke of Social Directions agency to find out more. They dig into how he keeps and promotes efficiency, deals with his team and with clients, develops the creative juices, and still finds time for a swim in the sea. --------------- The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute and is avai...
Success in Destination Marketing
August 25, 2023 15:30 - 44 minutes - 60.9 MBEPIC is the Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin and it has used both digital and offline channels to become extremely adept at destination marketing, winning several awards along the way. Challenging the notion that museums are dreary rooms full of dusty artifacts, EPIC tells the story of Ireland's heritage using a goldmine of digital, immersive stories that become a content marketer's dream. Aileesh Carew, CEO at EPIC (and a DMI graduate) joins Will Francis to explore how ambient digital...
Scaling Business Beyond Borders
July 28, 2023 04:47 - 45 minutes - 62 MBBuilding a business across international borders brings a host of challenges, from staying on top of international legislation and regulations to being mindful of cultural norms and nuanced differences in customer expectations. After all, if you don’t understand your customers, you may say the wrong thing. Successful internationalization of a business stems from the three A’s: access (markets), appetite (customers), and ability (technology). Maeve Kneafsey – serial entrepreneur, mentor, an...
The Importance of UX in Marketing
June 30, 2023 13:11 - 53 minutes - 72.8 MBUser Experience - UX - can be a mystifying term for many. Is it about design, or customer interface, or strategy? It's actually all of those things, along with learning to make commerical decisions based on real customer data. Brian Herron of award-winning UX agency Each&Other joins Will Francis for a eye-opening discussing exploring the prcoess that is UX. At the end he offers 3 top tips on what you can do today to start applying some best practice yourself to your marketing efforts. --...
AI with the DMI: Google integration, ChatGPT plugins
June 16, 2023 09:14 - 27 minutes - 37.8 MBThe AI space is where it's at - so we've launched this series to cut through the noise. We're going to talk about tools and devlopment and what it means for digital marketers and what you can do about it. Our regular host, and digital marketer, Will Francis is joined by SEO expert Danny Richman. This week they're talking about where search and AI is going after Google's integration, as well as some ChatGPT plugins they like (or don't) and a little-known app that Will's fallen for, called Ca...
Update! New AI Series Coming
June 14, 2023 11:51 - 1 minute - 1.66 MBWe're about to launch a new series within the podcast! Its' called AI with DMI and it'll be a regular chat between Will Francis and SEO expert Danny Richman - a smart, intelligent chat that will cut through the noise about AI and see how it really relates to digital marketers. Have a listen, in the meantime to our earlier podcast on The Impact of GPT on Marketers. ---------- The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute and is available on our website...
GA4 in Action
June 02, 2023 18:13 - 44 minutes - 61.4 MBAre you not quite ready for the full takeover of your world by Google Analytics 4 on July 1st 2023? We have you covered!! In this bonus episode of the DMI podcast, host Will Francis gets two long-time GA4 users to fill in the blanks, tell us what they like, what they miss about Universal Analytics, and what they'd really like to ask Larry and Sergey to get right in the next version of GA4. Along with lots of their own quick tips along the way. Sean McKenna is head of digital marketing at t...
How To Be a Professional
May 26, 2023 12:19 - 53 minutes - 74.1 MBWhat does it mean to be a professional in the working world today? According to executive coach Kevin Reid, "it's not just doing your job well. It's having the capability and the ability to be self aware. And to be in command of every aspect of your working life and be comfortable in yourself. It takes practice and it takes failure." Listen to more of Kevin's insights in this interview with host Will Francis. A transcript of this episode is available on our website, where you'...
How Ad Creatives Work
May 12, 2023 18:25 - 1 hour - 91.5 MBBefore we tell you about this week's episode - check out our podcast survey and be in with a chance to win an Amazon voucher! Ever wanted to peek inside the world of advertising creative, and see how Mad Men operates, in the 21st century, in Dublin? Host Will Francis is joined today by John McMahon, one of Ireland's most experienced (and funny) creative directors in advertising and marketing. He tells us about some challenging briefs he's had, like making carbon monoxide poisoning a catchy ...
Driving SaaS Growth with B2B Marketing
April 28, 2023 15:44 - 54 minutes - 75.2 MBWant to hear a first-hand account of running marketing from very early stage? Meet Amrita Mathur, VP of marketing at Superside, a B2B-focussed design services platform. She tells Will Francis how it worked out to join as marketing director before there was even a full product to sell, from essentially the beta stage. A transcript of this episode is available on our website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, p...
Digital Transformation in Action
April 14, 2023 14:18 - 22 minutes - 30.7 MBThis week's guest is Tom Kendall, head of digital marketing at IBM EMEA region and a member of the DMI's global advisory council. He chats with host Will Francis about his experiences at the huge company that is IBM and his background in digital-led initiatives in both B2B and B2C. Tom can be found on LinkedIn. A transcript of this episode is available on our website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcas...
Emotional Wellbeing in the Workplace
March 31, 2023 12:10 - 53 minutes - 73.3 MBWe can never stop finding new ways to achieve that all-important balance between life and work, so in this episode host Will Francis chats with an expert on the issue, with unique experience and insights into dealing with modern work pressures. Catherine Mooney works in the pyschological health team at a multinational social media company in Dublin and deals daily with employees, and their challenges, all over the world. Prior to that she worked with disadvantaged men and mental health issu...
Marketing with Webinars
March 17, 2023 12:03 - 51 minutes - 70.6 MBIn this episode we look at how webinars can be included as part of your overall digital marketing strategy. Host Will Francis is joined by Hannah Scherer, head of marketing at webinar and events platform Big Marker to talk about how webinars and live or recorded events can help nurture your audience and enhance your brand value. Hannah also featured on a DMI webinar on how to plan, run and evaluate your webinar marketing, available to view on our website. A full transcript of this episode...
The Impact of GPT on Marketers
February 24, 2023 10:53 - 35 minutes - 48.8 MBUnless you've been on the moon the last few months, you'll have heard lots about GPT and Chat GPT - the chatbot built upon it. But as a marketer, what does this hyper-acceleration in predictive AI actually mean for your job, the world of search, advertising and content, and how can it actually open new opportunities? This episode features digital transformation expert Clark Boyd and SEO expert Danny Richman chatting during the Q&A of our recent webinar on GPT, as well as tips and futher tho...
Why is Branding Important?
February 03, 2023 11:34 - 54 minutes - 74.4 MBA brand is every interaction someone has with your business. Your brand identity is one part of that. Host Will Francis chats with Jason Byer of Crowdspring about what businesses of all levels, B2B or B2C, need to think about when approaching their branding, elements of authenticity and trust, and trends he sees coming down the line - like personalization and the rise of artificially generated designs. Jason's top tips on getting started on your brand or rebrand: 1. Look at other brands ou...
Running a Modern Agency
January 13, 2023 12:57 - 49 minutes - 39.4 MBOn the first episode of this bright new year, host Will Francis welcomes Rhoan Morgan to the show. Rhoan is founder and CEO of the MarTech agency DemandLab, host of Revenue Rebels podcast and a monthly columnist for CMSWire. "Saying no is actually one of the most important things you have to learn because the agency will die unless you are quite specific and focused about what briefs you take on" Rhoan Morgan. Working in marketing over several decades, Rhoan recounts how agency services, ...
Successful Social Selling
December 09, 2022 11:53 - 49 minutes - 67.6 MBConsultant, founder, strategist, and author Julie Atherton and customer relationship growth manager at Intercom Sean Gallagher join host Will Francis to tell us why Social Selling is more about value than sales. Julie and Sean discuss their original research, which Sean worked on while undertaking his master’s dissertation under Julie’s supervision. They also talk us through how a personal and company profile can complement one another, and how to go about starting meaningful relationships ...
2023 Trends in Digtal Marketing
November 25, 2022 11:19 - 49 minutes - 67.4 MBIt's here! Our roundup of 11 experts across digital marketing with their insights on what to look out for in 2023. Here's just some of the things they see coming up that marketers of all levels need to think about: the need to address cost of living crisis, a shift within infuencer marketing, social media going back to its roots and seeing some decentralization, further personalization and a push back to one-to-one interaction, data skills, the rise of super-apps, where is automation going, ...
Market Research 101
November 11, 2022 11:01 - 45 minutes - 62.8 MBHow do brands know what their audience thinks or expects? By asking them, of course! That's the role of an insights expert like Katrina Noelle, founder of KNow Research . She joins Will Francis on the podcast to explain how that asking is done, and all that happens from that initial point of contact through to the all-important final insights - and even pearls - that come from the process. They chat about how market research has changed over the decades (short answer - customer expectations)...
Integrate Your Email Marketing
October 28, 2022 08:37 - 47 minutes - 65.6 MBEmail marketing has been around for a while, but it’s still the ideal channel to span the entire marketing funnel. And it’s free! In this episode, host Will Francis talks to Head of Digital Marketing at Drift, Caitlin Seele, on how we can integrate email marketing with all other strategies and keep it as part of the overall conversation. They chat about subject lines, smart scheduling, and A/B testing, as well as logistics of aligning internal strategies to nurture tactics throughout the fu...
Digital Marketing Skills for Today & Tomorrow
October 14, 2022 12:18 - 36 minutes - 50.5 MBWhat are the top skills you need today for a successful digital marketing career tomorrow? Should you be a generalist or a specialist? Is there still room for more traditional marketing skills? In this episode, host Will Francis chats with DMI's Chief Marketing Officer, Mischa McInerney about where she sees a clear need for marketing skills today, especially in roles that didn't exist 10 ago - e.g. in automation, omnichannel, CRO, data science. A recent survey by DMI of 500 CMOs saw simila...
Creativity in B2B marketing
September 30, 2022 09:29 - 41 minutes - 57.5 MBB2B marketing hardly comes to mind when discussing fun and creative practices in digital marketing. Is it because B2B marketing is just boring? Is there room for creativity in B2B marketing? In this edited episode, Host Will Francis brings you some of the most creative and unusual B2B marketing practices mentioned during his previous chats with B2B marketing experts. Banks being cool, dentists using TikTok, and B2B influencer campaigns are some of the topics Will discusses with our experts ...
How to be More Productive
September 16, 2022 10:58 - 53 minutes - 74.1 MBAs we go back to the office or try out a hybrid working setup, staying productive while maintaining one’s mental health is as important as ever. In this edited episode, Host Will Francis brings you some of the best productivity tips and methods unearthed during his chats with some of our previous guests. Whether it’s using the Mind Map method, trying out Deep Work, or simply Eating (and Swallowing) the Frog, the tips from our experts Joe Williams, Alison Battisby, or Kevin Reid are as helpfu...
Data Insights in Digital Marketing
September 02, 2022 09:14 - 45 minutes - 62.9 MBAs modern marketers, we are swamped by numbers coming from all directions. How do we manage all this data, demystify it, and use it to our best advantage? Host Will Francis chats with Chris Penn to look at data from different and interesting angles. They talk about Regression analysis, using R and Python, GA4 and GDPR, along with lots of interesting real world metaphors! Chris also offers 5 key takeaways that any marketer can start using today. Chris is the co-founder and chief data scienti...
Creating Content for TikTok
August 19, 2022 08:48 - 44 minutes - 61.8 MBAre you making the shift to using videos on your social platforms? Have you started thinking about using TikTok but don't know where or how to start? In this week's episode, podcast host Will Francis meets social agency Simply Social who work around the clock to stay on top of trends for their clients. General manager Peter Shannon and Olive Maher offer advice on marketers looking to set started with TikTok, and keep going with it. Indeed if you're a brand starting on social media for the fi...
Data Protection 101
August 05, 2022 10:20 - 43 minutes - 59.9 MBMany marketers are still confused when it comes to regulations around data privacy. While GDPR is the best known data regulation, it has been a catalyst for other data privacy developments around the world, from California to Singapore and Brazil. Your business is only as compliant as the least trained person on your team, so ongoing training of existing staff is essential. In this episode podcast host Will Francis chats with Steven Roberts, a veteran of marketing who has made the shift int...
2022 Trends in Digital Marketing - Refocus
July 22, 2022 13:20 - 1 hour - 93.7 MBEarlier this year, we looked ahead at some of the emerging trends and changes to monitor in 2022. It is now time to revisit and reflect on these insights as they have proven to be still topical and pressing as ever. So, join host Will Francis and 8 experts and practitioners across the industry to look at where digital marketing is at in 2022 and how it is responding to societal changes post-COVID. Will and the guests looked at issues around recruitment and upskilling and key factors regardin...
Digital Marketing Career Kickstart - Re Air
July 06, 2022 16:27 - 43 minutes - 59.2 MBWith a war raging and an impending recession, many of us are reconsidering our career paths and/or development. So in this re-aired episode, you will get brilliant tips, key insights, and guidance on how to reflect on your career to make sure your career goals stay on track. Focussing on how to improve your personal or “soft” skills, host Will Francis and guests Morgan Cummins (director of TalentHub) and Paul Farrer (founder of Aspire) discuss the importance (or not) of values, getting supp...
A Chat About Chatbots
June 24, 2022 09:20 - 40 minutes - 55.3 MBEver considered how your business might benefit from using chat marketing? In this episode, host Will Francis meets Anna Tutckaia, head of marketing at ManyChat, to learn about where this fast-developing form of marketing is helping brands and customers. By building a chat platform on Facebook, Messenger or Instagram, you are essentially meeting your customers where they already are. A full transcript of this episode is available on our website, where you'll also find all our other episod...
Marketing for Tourism
June 10, 2022 10:20 - 43 minutes - 59.7 MBPack your suitcase out and get ready to explore a historic corner of eastern Canada! In this episode, host Will Francis chats with tourism marketer Neil McKenzie all about how he operates the Yarmouth & Acadian Shores site in beautiful southwestern Nova Scotia. Using CrowdRiff as a UGC aggregator they continue to explore an omnichannel approach to content as the tourism sector starts to open up fully in 2022. Neil is also a graduate of the DMI and explains how he benefitted from the full spe...
SEO & Omnichannel Marketing
May 27, 2022 08:46 - 55 minutes - 76.7 MBThis week's episode is an especially exciting one for us - it's the first to mark the June launch of our new Search Marketing course created in collaboration with Neil Patel. We're joined today by one of his expert team, Matt Santos, who is VP of Products & Strategy at Neil Patel Accel. He has a breadth of experience across organic and paid search and in this episode he brings his expertise to a clear explanation of SEO strategy and techniques, and how an omnichannel approach to SEO can only...
The Importance of Digital Accessibility
May 13, 2022 09:39 - 49 minutes - 68 MBDigital accessibility is more than a catchphrase, or a legal requirement – it’s a mindset that brands and marketers need to be much more aware of and consider building into their strategy. In this week’s episode, host Will Francis meets with Mark Miller and Cori Perlander of leading US-based accessibility consultancy TGPi. Cori shares her experience of seeing and hearing the internet on a daily basis, and Mark – also the host of the TPGI podcast – explains the ideas behind WCAG, VPATs, and t...
Power up your Social Commerce
April 29, 2022 08:44 - 47 minutes - 65.2 MBHost Will Francis is joined by Avocado Social founder Alison Battisby to discuss how marketers can take full advantage of the rise of shopping within social media platforms. From Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to TikTok, consumers are becoming ever more used to shopping in these environments and they look at brands that are doing it well, how to use videos and influencers, how to work with platform guidelines, and where it's all heading. To see some of these examples in action, you can ...
Marketing for Nonprofits
April 15, 2022 11:04 - 48 minutes - 67 MBIn our 50th episode (!) we were delighted to be joined by Sheena Horgan of Drinkaware Ireland to discuss the differences, and commonalities, of nonprofit and corporate marketers. View the full transcript on our website. The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute and is available on our website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Check out the DMI's extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join ...
From Agency to Inhouse
April 01, 2022 07:00 - 44 minutes - 35.5 MBIn this episode host Will Francis chats with Ewoudt Cloete, PhD about his transition from working in an agency environment to running a team inside one of Africa's largest retailers, MassMart (part of the Walmart family). Ewoudt also discusses his academic background, experience as a DMI student and gives us an insight into digital marketing in South Africa. The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute and is available on our website, Apple Podcasts, S...
The Pulse of Healthcare Marketing
March 18, 2022 12:11 - 50 minutes - 68.9 MBWhat are the traits and challenges of marketing within the pharmaceutical and healthcare space? Host Will Francis chats with David Hunter, veteran healthcare marker with Havas Lynx and now with his new venture, The Considered. They also look at how it worked to launch that agency's new brand during Covid. The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute and is available on our website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Check out the DMI's extensiv...