Ahead of the Game

The word "fractional" gets bandied around a lot these days. But what does it really mean, and how can a CMO be fractional?In this episode of the DMI podcast, host Will Francis sits down with Peter Murphy Lewis of StrategicPete.com and a successful fractional CMO. Peter shares his journey from launching a travel business in South America to becoming a data-driven marketing strategist for a wide range of industries, including software, finance, media, and even zoos. 🔹 What you’ll learn: What a Fractional CMO is and why the role is booming Who actually needs a CMO, and who doesn’t The biggest marketing mistakes Peter made and what he learned The most in-demand digital marketing skills for 2025 Why LinkedIn newsletters and automation are underrated goldmines How and why Peter builds high-performing remote teams using global talentPeter also talks about the power of vulnerability in leadership, his intern-to-MVP framework, and why he believes AI is an opportunity, not a threat.Check out Peter's documentary on YouTube - People Worth Caring About------------------------- 00:06 – Introduction 00:54 – What is a Fractional CMO? 04:38 – Does Every Business Need a CMO? 06:49 – Peter’s Background & Path to Becoming a Fractional CMO 09:18 – Performance-Based Marketing Contracts: Pros & Cons 12:36 – Biggest Early Career Mistakes & Lessons Learned 16:05 – How Digital Marketing Has Changed in 15 Years 18:26 – Leveraging Global Talent for Growth 21:06 – Peter’s Internship Model: Training Future Marketers 23:32 – The Importance of Soft Skills in Digital Marketing 27:09 – Coaching, Feedback, and the Power of Vulnerability 33:42 – The Most In-Demand Marketing Skills for 2025 36:09 – The Role of AI in Marketing 42:50 – The Top Marketing Trends for 2025 46:46 – Advice for Young Marketers & Entrepreneurs 49:25 – Where to Find Peter Online-------------------------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!

In this second episode of our trends insights for 2025, host ⁠⁠Will Francis⁠⁠⁠⁠ introduces the ideas and tips brought to bear in the DMI's trends webinar held on December 2024. We talked to lots of other experts about their predictions for this year, and you can listen to them in Part 1 here. In this episode: Alison Battisby of Avocado Social discusses key social media trends, from Bluesky to EGC to customer collaboration. Clark Boyd of Novela considers the state of paid search and Performance Max and how we'll see a lot more of AI agents. Luke O'Leary of Neil Patel Digital look at AI search and content reveals research on attitudes to AI vs human-generated content. He also joins Will to answer questions on the fly during the webinar Q&A. ------------------------- Join Will in his 4-part live masterclass next month - the Social Media Playbook for 2025! Podcast listeners can avail of a discount with the code DMIPODQ2. Sign up here. ------------------------- 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! You can also drop us a line with topic or guest suggestions at podcast (at) digitalmarketinginstitute (dot) com.

New year = new predictions for the world of digital marketing! The DMI's podcast host ⁠Will Francis⁠⁠ talked to eight experts across digital marketing about what marketers can expect to see and what they should focus on during 2025. We have so many amazing insights to share, so we've broken this podcast into two episodes! Catch episode 2 here. ------------------------ Join Will in his 4-part live masterclass next month - the Social Media Playbook for 2025! Podcast listeners can avail of a discount with the code DMIPODQ2. Sign up ⁠here⁠. ------------------------- In this first episode, Will hears a range of thoughts of the opportunities and challenges coming up. Jim Lecinski, Professor of Marketing at Northwestern-Kellogg, sees AI shifting from productivity improvements to enabling transformative business growth, customer data platforms (CDPs) becoming more cloud-native and AI-powered, and marketers needing to prepare for Gen Alpha. -- Check out our ⁠January 22 webinar on Youth Marketing⁠. -- Nikki Lindgren, founder of agency Pennock, sees community engagement and alignment with brand values becoming crucial for beauty & lifestyle brands, increased use of machine learning-based marketing campaigns, and growth in fractional CMO/marketing director roles to support emerging brands. -- Listen to our full episode with Nikki Lindgren on DTC Marketing -- Brian Corish, founder of Elemental AI, isn't the only person to talk about the rise of AI agents that can autonomously execute marketing tasks and workflows . He also sees the need for marketers to develop more holistic, creative, and cross-functional skills to deal with the changing landscape. Fractional CMO and documentarian Peter Murphy Lewis sees LinkedIn organic content and newsletters as highly effective marketing tactics, the leveraging of LinkedIn automation tools to connect with prospects, and webinars remaining a powerful top-to-bottom of funnel marketing strategy. You'll hear more from Peter in an upcoming episode. Mischa McInerney, CMO of the DMI says soft skills are even more critical as AI becomes more pervasive, while companies need to upskill their workforce on AI adoption, and marketers prove the value and outcome of applying new efficiencies. ------------------------- 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! You can also drop us a line with topic or guest suggestions at podcast (at) digitalmarketinginstitute (dot) com.

Want to look inside the strategies of a successful DTC agency working in the beauty and lifestyle area? This week, host Will Francis⁠⁠⁠ chats with Nikki Lindgren, founder of digital agency Pennock, about where she's seeing the best ROI for DTC beauty and lifestyle brands. Nikki shares unexpected insights about advertising channels, the evolution of social commerce including TikTok Shop, and what's working in performance marketing today. 3 top tips from Nikki: Don't overlook Reddit - it's an efficient ad platform reaching audiences who aren't on traditional social media Focus on Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) instead of ROAS to better understand overall campaign performance Use programmatic native advertising to appear alongside relevant articles where your audience is already engaged. ------------------------- 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!

Want to know how to get your own podcast up and running as part of your branding strategy? This week, host ⁠Will Francis⁠ is joined by Harry Morton, founder of top podcasting agency Lower Street, who talks us through how to develop a show strategy, production best practices, and effective promotion tactics to grow your audience. This episode is adapted from Harry's webinar with the DMI which you can watch in full on our library. 3 top podcasting tips from Harry. Really understand what your audience wants. Be creatively brave. And, remember - when it comes to measuring success a download is not a listen! ------------------------- 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!

On this week's episode of Ahead of the Game, Will Francis is joined by Catherine Flynn, Director for Agency Development and Marketing Education at LinkedIn APAC. From her early days at Eircell and Facebook (Meta) to her current role, Catherine discusses her 20+ year career in marketing, touching on the evolution of B2B marketing and why creativity is more crucial than ever to connect with today's decision-makers. Plus, we learn why Catherine sees working closely with sales and product teams as key to B2B marketing success. ---------------- 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!

Are you making sure your brand appears the way you want to when people search for it in Google? That's what Jason Barnard has set out to tackle for his clients, and in thie episode he downloads plenty of tips to host ⁠Will Francis⁠ on how to own your profile on Google and AI-driven search. Check out Jason's free downloadable guides at his site Kalicube. 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!

In this week's episode, host Will Francis speaks with Niamh Delaney, co-founder of TeamVirtual, who shares her journey from providing virtual assistant services to coaching others in building their own businesses. They chat about the role of different social media platforms and strategies, as well as email, in generating leads and maintaining strong relationships. Niamh is a great believer in the power of community support, especially when dealing with challenges and while working as a digital nomad between Ireland and Australia, and points inbetween. Find Niamh Delaney on Instagram and her 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, guides, templates, advice, and more! ⁠Join for free today⁠. And if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us!

In front of the microphone this week is DMI's own head of marketing, Mischa McInerney. Her particular passion is the psychology of marketing and she chats with Will Francis about all aspects on the "Why", covering  examples of some key brands who have benefitted from smart application of the science. 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!

In this episode, host Will Francis⁠⁠⁠⁠ chats with ⁠ Archana Haarnack, Pinterest specialist. They explore what makes Pinterest such a unique social platform, and how organizations can build their brands there. (It’s not just for arts and crafts!) They also tease out some best practices and creative strategies for posting on Pinterest, as exemplified by brands such as HOOG and MADE. And they highlight some common mistakes that people make when they try to establish themselves on the platform. Looking to expand your social media skills? Don’t forget to register for our upcoming Instagram webinar. --------- The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute and is available on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube, Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠all other podcast platforms. 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 the podcast team!