
Ahead of the Game
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://my.digitalmarketinginstitute.com/auth/register?podcast
Latest episodes

Jan 5, 2024 • 54min
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.

Dec 15, 2023 • 1h 26min
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.

Dec 1, 2023 • 50min
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.

Dec 1, 2023 • 49min
Mindfulness in Marketing
Andrew Simon, a marketing technology professional at SAP in Canada, discusses the integration of mindfulness in marketing, emphasizing the importance of taking pauses, creativity, and managing negative emotions. He shares top three tips for professionals to enhance mindfulness in their own lives.

Nov 10, 2023 • 42min
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.

Oct 20, 2023 • 49min
Get Started with AI in Marketing
Jim Lecinski from the Kellogg School of Management discusses AI in marketing, exploring its impact on marketers, the risks and opportunities it presents. They also delve into the transition from brand strategy to AI, the future of virtual reality, and the importance of leaders engaging with operations.

Sep 29, 2023 • 32min
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.
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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.

Sep 15, 2023 • 54min
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

Aug 25, 2023 • 44min
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.

Jul 28, 2023 • 45min
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.
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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.