Ahead of the Game
By Digital Marketing Institute
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. digitalmarketinginstitute.com/aheadofthegame
Ahead of the GameMay 03, 2024
How to be a Digital Nomad
Travel the world in this week's episode! Host Will Francis peeks into the digital nomad life, chatting with Chris Cerra and Michelle Coulson. Chris founded the platform RemoteBase for finding remote accommodation and Michelle built HR platform Remote Rebellion out of frustration with companies calling people back to the office.
They have tips for newbies, choosing the right destinations, essential gear, and the challenges and rewards of remote work. We also get some insights from Chris on his remarkably successful email newsletter and MIchelle's approach to LinkedIn.
BONUS - Download our Free Guide with 10 Top Tips for Digital Nomads!
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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 as a video podcast on YouTube.
A transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Want to let us know other topics you'd like to hear us cover, or want to be a guest on the show? Just drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
The Evolving State of AI Search
There'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 AI might take the search sector and how to prepare for it.
Luke O'Leary is VP of Media Strategy & Operations at Neil Patel Digital, EMEA. He also tells us about his career and the interesting differences he's seeing between marketing and the world or work, having moved from California to London.
FURTHER READING on the DMI
- A Guide to Google E-E-A-T
- Preparing for AI Search with Google Search Generative Experience (SGE)
- AI in Digital Marketing
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 as a video podcast on YouTube.
A transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Want to let us know other topics you'd like to hear us cover, or want to be a guest on the show? Just drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
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Professional Services Marketing with Heart
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 host Will Francis about his advocacy for LGBTQ+, and how his background in theater has influenced all areas of his marketing skills, including how to manage a team and approaches to using storytelling in marketing.
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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 as a video podcast on YouTube.
A transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Want to let us know other topics you'd like to hear us cover, or want to be a guest on the show? Just drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Understanding Your Audience with Rand Fishkin
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 marketing balanced with AI.
Stay tuned to the end to find out what the 10-year-old Rand wanted to be when he grew up (and Will’s similar answer) – let’s just say neither of them planned to be a firefighter or a marketing entrepreneur!
Watch this episode on YouTube.
Check out Rand's latest venture, Snackbar Studio. ---------------
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.
A transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Want to let us know other topics you'd like to hear us cover, or want to be a guest on the show? Just drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
The Human Touch in AI Copywriting
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' remains part of the strategic and creative process, such as through Kerry's concept of an 'AI sandwich'
- Ethics in the application and development of AI
- Transparency between clients and copywriters about AI use and implementing AI policies
- Gender bias in AI models and what we can do about it...
- ...the ongoing importance of encouraging girls and women in tech
Listen to the end to hear Julie and Kerry's top takeaway tips for copywriters!
Contact info:
Julie's website Small Wonder
Kerry's website and her newsletter, Minds and Machines
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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.
A transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Want to let us know other topics you'd like to hear us cover, or want to be a guest on the show? Just drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
The State of GA4 Today
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 available on our website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
A transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Want to let us know other topics you'd like to hear us cover, or want to be a guest on the show? Just drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
The Value of Social Media Marketing
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 platforms, what are 'vanity metrics', upcoming trends, Emeric's 4 top tips, and making sure to monitor the tip of the iceberg... ----------------
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.
A transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Want to let us know other topics you'd like to hear us cover, or want to be a guest on the show? Just drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Boost Your Career in 2024
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 some tips to employers who are hiring.
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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.
A transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Data Privacy in an AI Landscape
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 head of marketing at Skyflow, a data privacy vault service, and host of the Software Huddle podcast.
Further reading on the DMI library: GDPR and Marketing and the State of Data Privacy in 2024.
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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.
A transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
2024 Trends in Digital Marketing
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 billion users), the new E in EEAT (Expertise), as well as learning to be sceptical of Google and paying attention to the priorities of young audiences.
The 6 experts our host Will Francis chats with are:
Alison Battisby of Avocado Social, Cathal Melinn of Digital Basics, Nikki Lam of Neil Patel Digital, Brian Corish of Elemental AI, Morgan Cummins of TalentHub, and our own Ken Fitzpatrick of the Digital Marketing Institute.
Stay tuned to the end to get each of their top tips for diving straight into 2024.
Some excerpts for this episode were adapted from the DMI webinar on 2024 Trends, which you can watch back here.
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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.
A transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
AI with DMI: OpenAI Updates, Handmade AI Tools, Fabric Genie
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 recently built to shake up the world of old-school fabric production called Fabric Genie.
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The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute and is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, email us.
Mindfulness in Marketing
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 life.
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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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
How Useful is AI in Digital Marketing?
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.
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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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Get Started with AI in Marketing
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 technology. Wow, what a perfect intersection!" Jim Lecinksi
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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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
A Look Inside SGE
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 adapted from Lindsey's webinar - you can watch that on-demand here and see visuals of what she's describing. Or read our quick guide to SGE. ------------------
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Mental Wellness for Social Media Pros
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.
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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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
We want to know more about you, our listeners! Please take a few minutes to fill out our online survey to let us know what you love, like, and want more of in the DMI podcast! You'll even be in with a chance to win a €50 Amazon voucher! Visit the survey on www.digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/survey
Success in Destination Marketing
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 marketing has led to strong word-of-mouth promotion of the museum as a top European tourist destination of choice.
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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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Scaling Business Beyond Borders
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 advisor to businesses in many countries – joins Will Francis for an in-depth discussion about how you can scale your business beyond borders. ------------------
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
The Importance of UX in Marketing
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 efforts.
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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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
We want to know more about you, our listeners! Please take a few minutes to fill out our online survey to let us know what you love, like, and want more of in the DMI podcast! You'll even be in with a chance to win a €50 Amazon voucher! Visit the survey on www.digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/survey
AI with the DMI: Google integration, ChatGPT plugins
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 Call Annie.
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AI with the DMI is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute and is available on our website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
We want to know more about you, our listeners! Please take a few minutes to fill out our online survey to let us know what you love, like, and want more of in the DMI podcast! You'll even be in with a chance to win a €50 Amazon voucher! Visit the survey on www.digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/survey
Update! New AI Series Coming
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.
---------- 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.
A full transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you'd like to send us some feedback or be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
GA4 in Action
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 the Digital Marketing Institute.
Cathal Melinn is a digital marketing consultant and trainer.
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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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
How To Be a Professional
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 you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
How Ad Creatives Work
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 subject, the dynamics between brand, business and entertainment, and he offers tons of novel advice on how to bring creativity into your work - whatever your job might be.
NEW! We want to know more about you, our listeners. Please take a few minutes to fill out our online survey to let us know what you love, like and want more of in the DMI podcast! You'll even be in with a chance to win a €50 Amazon voucher! Visit the survey here or go to www.digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/survey
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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Driving SaaS Growth with B2B Marketing
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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Digital Transformation in Action
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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Emotional Wellbeing in the Workplace
We 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 issues, a very different environment yet she tells us of the many common issues facing people in any situation.
A full 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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Marketing with Webinars
In 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 is available on our website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you have other feedback for or would like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
The Impact of GPT on Marketers
Unless 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 thoughts recorded specially for the podcast. All brought to you by our podcast (and webinar) host Will Francis.
If you're not penalised by Google for badly-written content, you'll be penalised by your readers and then Google will penalize you after because they'll see that your readers didn't like it... Clark Boyd
Listen to the end to hear Danny's and Clark's top 3 tips on what to do next with AI to help you in your digital marketing role.
Danny's own tools, that he built himself, including a recipe-generator, alt tag generator and keyword helpers can be found on his site for free here.
Some of the resources mentioned for following AI developments mentioned are Google Alerts:
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.
A full transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
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If you'd like to send us some feedback or be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Why is Branding Important?
A 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 out there, not just your obvious competitors, and see who is offering a solution to a user's core problem.
2. Doing nothing is often a solution to a problem.
3. Think about where you can be different.
4. Then start the creative process.
Check out Crowdspring's focus group tool
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.
A full transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us! If you'd like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Running a Modern Agency
On 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, and life, have changed - to the point where things couldn't really be better! She offers insights into working with clients in a data-driven age, how to start and run your own agency while maintaining the right focus for your offerings, getting referrals, why awards and industry-recognition are so important (for clients), looking after your staff through training and benefits, as well as tips on how to deal with an agency from the other side.
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.
A full transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
If you'd like to be a guest on the show, drop us a line at podcast@digitalmarketinginstitute.com.
Successful Social Selling
Consultant, 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 with industry leaders, among many other topics. Julie and Sean leave us with many practical sales tips on considering TikTok and other socials for selling, and the importance of consistency and genuineness in fostering leads.
If you are interested in buying Julie's latest book "B2B Social Selling Strategy" then listen now to get an exclusive discount code from Julie.
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.
A full transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
2023 Trends in Digtal Marketing
It'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, new responses to the shift in data, GA4, serious use of AI, consumers' expectations of brands, and lots more!
We were delighted to have our host Will Francis chat with:
Ken Fitzpatrick of the DMI, Neal Schaffer, Caitlin Seele of Drift , Kate Toon, Clark Boyd Julie Atherton, Alison Battisby, Cathal Melinn, Katrina Noelle, Stephen Walsh, and Chris Coomer of Neil Patel Accel
From now until the end of the year, we will feature on our library further investigation of what 2023 may bring, including our December 13 free webinar.
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.
A full transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Market Research 101
How 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), tools for social listening, AI as friend or foe, and the importance of clean, reliable, and secure data. She offers advice on tools you can use, and adopting a mindset of listening to your audience at a myriad of sometimes surprising touchpoints.
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.
A full transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today
You can learn more about Katrina on her Twitter.
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Katrina's top 3 tips - Marketing Insights
1. Don't jump in and start doing research.
2. Write down a list of "I wish I knew" before doing any research
3. Place at any customer touchpoint an opt-in to sign up for participating in research.
Integrate Your Email Marketing
Email 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 funnel and how to exploit the new reality of first-party data.
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.
A full transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today and gain access to our ultimate email marketing guide.
You can learn more about Drift on their website, Twitter, LinkedIn, and on their podcast, Conversation Starters.
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Digital Marketing Skills for Today & Tomorrow
What 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 similar patterns of needs and gaps in marketing skills around the world.
So what are Mischa's tips for your top three skills? An understanding of data, an interest in CX & UX, but also those soft skills you've learned on the job or in your free time. Listen in to also hear her take on the role of creativity, hybrid working, and, as a bonus, some of her standard interview questions.
A full 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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Creativity in B2B marketing
B2B 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 Linda Mullen, Dominik Schneider, and Lee Odden.
Did you witness any other creative and fun B2B marketing practices? Share your experience with us now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
A full 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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute.
If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
How to be More Productive
As 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 helpful and insightful as always.
For more productivity tips and hacks, check out the full episode with each expert:
Productivity Tips for Freelancer Marketers with Joe Williams
Staying Productive while Running your own Company with Alison Battisby
How does a career coach manage his own time? with Kevin Reid
A full 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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Data Insights in Digital Marketing
As 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 scientist at Trust Insights and co-host of the super popular podcast Marketing Over Coffee. A recognized thought leader and speaker he is a best-selling author of a dozen books, and has shaped five key fields: Google Analytics adoption, data-driven marketing and PR, modern email marketing, marketing data science, and artificial intelligence/machine learning in marketing.
They mention the classic Bob Stone book Successful Direct Marketing Methods with its foundational principle of Audience, Offer, Creative.
A full 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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Creating Content for TikTok
Are 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 first time, TikTok is the way to go.
A full 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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Data Protection 101
Many 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 into data protection - he's so good at demystifying the whole issue, he's even written the book of Data Protection for Marketers.
A full 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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
2022 Trends in Digital Marketing - Refocus
Earlier 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 regarding the customer experience. We also touched on the Metaverse, NFTs, AI, Google's ever-evolving cleverness, and how brands can plan strategically. In an ever-immersive world, we looked at how video is becoming so much more accessible, the importance of TikTok and YouTube, and learning to live with automation. And that's just some of what we covered!
You can view the full transcript on our website. While you're there, check out the DMI's extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Digital Marketing Career Kickstart - Re Air
With 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 support from within your current job, inclusion issues, and the dreaded “imposter syndrome”.
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, guides, templates, advice, and more! Join for free today.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
A Chat About Chatbots
Ever 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 episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Marketing for Tourism
Pack 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 spectrum of learning in the program.
A full 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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
SEO & Omnichannel Marketing
This 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 be a win-win for your digital marketing.
A full 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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
The Importance of Digital Accessibility
Digital 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 the importance of screen readers like JAWS to open up opportunities to a greater audience. In Cori’s words: “as a person with a disability, I'm not looking for a handout, I just want to be able to use my technology to complete actions and to maintain independence.”
A full 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, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
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.e!
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Power up your Social Commerce
Host 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 watch Alison's webinar on Social Commerce on the DMI website.
View the episode transcript on the DMI 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 for free today.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
Marketing for Nonprofits
In 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 for free today.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!
From Agency to Inhouse
In 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, Spotify, and YouTube.
Check out the DMI's extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today.
And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!