How 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...

In 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...

AI 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'...

Google 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...

How 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...

Are 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...

How 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...

Yes - 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...

The 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...

Being 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...

Just 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...

We'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...

Is 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...

If 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...

EPIC 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...

Building 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, and...

User 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...

The 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...

We'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. And don't forget to fill in our podcast survey - and be in with a chance to win a €50 Amazon voucher! ---------- The Ahead of...

Are 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...

What 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...

Before 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...

Want 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,...

This 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,...