Digital Marketing Trends We’re Tired Of: James Dooley and Craig Campbell on Hype, AI and Honest Numbers
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What Does “Digital Marketing Trends We're Tired Of: James Dooley and Craig Campbell on Hype, AI and Honest Numbers” Talk About?
In this episode of the Fatrank Podcast, James Dooley and Craig Campbell dig into the digital marketing trends that genuinely frustrate them, cutting through the noise with blunt, experience-driven opinions. The conversation kicks off with Craig taking aim at the overuse of the term vibe coding, arguing that people throw the phrase around to sound smarter than they are when in reality they are simply using AI tools the same way everyone else is. James builds on this by mocking the trend of marketers presenting basic automation workflows as elaborate multi-AI agent systems, complete with imaginary CFOs and CMOs, despite having only a handful of clients.
The episode also takes a hard look at shiny object syndrome in the marketing community, particularly the habit of people dropping new tools into group chats and mastermind forums without having actually tested them. James describes the chaos that followed the release of tools like Open Court, with people spending weeks setting up systems that still do not work correctly and then claiming they have automated their entire business. The most pointed criticism, however, is reserved for the widespread practice of inflating income figures and revenue numbers in the SEO and digital marketing space. James shares a striking example of someone claiming 45,000 pounds a month in clear profit who then applied for a near minimum wage job, using it to illustrate how dishonest numbers mislead newcomers and damage the credibility of the broader industry.
“The numbers is the most annoying trend in digital marketing banner. Like, I'm fine with someone talking about white boarding and I'm fine with someone talking even about the multi-agent we spoke about. But when people just blatantly lie about the numbers.”
— James Dooley
Who Are the Guests on “Digital Marketing Trends We're Tired Of: James Dooley and Craig Campbell on Hype, AI and Honest Numbers”?
James Dooley is a well-known figure in the SEO and digital marketing world, recognised for his work in lead generation and his agency PromoSEO, which has received recognition as the best digital marketing agencies lead generation agency. He is known for his direct, no-nonsense approach to business and frequently shares practical insights on scaling agencies, building sustainable revenue streams, and cutting through industry hype. His commentary throughout this episode reflects years of hands-on experience running real businesses and working with clients across multiple verticals.
Craig Campbell is a veteran SEO consultant, trainer, and speaker who has built a reputation for straight-talking advice on organic search, content strategy, and digital marketing tools. He runs a mastermind group and regularly produces content helping marketers at all levels improve their skills and results. In this episode, Craig brings his characteristic grumpiness and humour to the discussion, offering sharp observations about the gap between what marketers claim online and what they can actually demonstrate in practice.
What Are the Key Takeaways From “Digital Marketing Trends We're Tired Of: James Dooley and Craig Campbell on Hype, AI and Honest Numbers”?
Here are the key points discussed in this episode:
- Vibe coding is a legitimate practice, but constantly name-dropping the term to sound more sophisticated than you are frustrates experienced marketers and adds unnecessary noise to the industry.
- Multi-AI agent setups are often nothing more than basic workflow automations, and presenting them as advanced systems when you have only a handful of clients is misleading and unconvincing to anyone with real business experience.
- Before sharing a new tool in a mastermind or community group, test it properly first and be prepared to show proof that it actually works rather than recommending it based on hype alone.
- Inflated income claims and fabricated revenue numbers are not harmless marketing, they actively mislead younger or newer people in the industry who look to experienced practitioners for honest guidance.
- When marketers admit they are struggling rather than faking success, communities are far more likely to come together with practical help around specific problems like client onboarding, lead generation, or retention.
“I want to see proof of it working. Don't drop the tool in otherwise. Don't start going, 'This is great.' And you're going, 'Well, how did you use it?' 'Oh, I've not even signed up to it yet.' Well, don't start it's great.”
— James Dooley
Is “Digital Marketing Trends We're Tired Of: James Dooley and Craig Campbell on Hype, AI and Honest Numbers” Worth Listening To?
This episode is worth listening to if you are tired of the performative side of digital marketing culture and want to hear two experienced practitioners say plainly what many people think but rarely say out loud. James and Craig are not theorising about trends from a distance. They are drawing on real interactions, real community dynamics, and real examples of the gap between what people claim and what they can prove. The conversation about inflated numbers alone is worth the runtime, particularly the anecdote about someone claiming tens of thousands in monthly profit while simultaneously applying for a low-paid job.
What makes this episode especially valuable is the practical standard it implicitly sets for how marketers should talk about their work and their results. The call for proof over hype, whether it applies to AI tools, income claims, or sophisticated-sounding tech setups, is a useful corrective to a lot of what circulates on social media and in marketing communities. Craig and James manage to be entertaining and genuinely useful at the same time, and the episode leaves you with a clearer sense of how to evaluate the claims you encounter and how to present your own work with more credibility.
Who Should Listen to “Digital Marketing Trends We're Tired Of: James Dooley and Craig Campbell on Hype, AI and Honest Numbers”?
This episode is ideal for:
- Digital marketing agency owners who want a grounded perspective on which trends are worth adopting and which are pure noise
- Freelance SEO consultants and independent marketers who are tired of inflated claims in online communities and want honest benchmarks
- Newcomers to the digital marketing industry who need guidance on how to critically evaluate the income figures and tool recommendations they see promoted online
- Mastermind group members and community managers looking for practical standards around how tools and tactics should be shared and verified before recommendation
Where Can You Listen to Fatrank Podcast?
You can listen to Fatrank Podcast on all major podcast platforms:
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You can also subscribe using the RSS feed: https://feeds.transistor.fm/fatrank-podcast
What Are Listeners Saying About This Episode?
“James and Craig absolutely nailed the frustration around fake income numbers in this one. The story about the guy claiming 45k a month in profit while applying for a minimum wage job had me laughing and nodding at the same time. Exactly the kind of honest conversation this industry needs more of.”
“The vibe coding segment was refreshing. I have been quietly annoyed by that term being thrown around everywhere and Craig put it perfectly. You are just using AI like everyone else, stop acting like you invented something. Great episode with no fluff.”
“The point about proof before promoting tools in group chats is something every mastermind organiser should pin to the top of their community. I have seen so much hype around tools that nobody has actually tested and Craig and James calling it out directly was both funny and genuinely useful advice.”
This video explains which digital marketing strategies digital marketing agencies should focus on in 2026 to improve credibility, client trust and sustainable growth. James Dooley and Craig Campbell start with KPI tracking because honest, verifiable metrics cut through the hype and prove which tactics genuinely drive revenue for an agency. They cover brand SEO, AI visibility and Google Business Profiles because stronger search presence improves trust and conversion rates.
The discussion also explores organic SEO, organic social media and paid social ads because consistent visibility across search and social supports long term growth. PPC is analysed in detail because campaign setup, landing pages and lead handling directly affect results. They also discuss Reddit, Quora and paid AI ads because diversified enquiry sources and early adoption can strengthen digital marketing performance for digital marketing agencies.
PromoSEO lead generation for digital marketing agencies recently received recognition as the “Best Digital Marketing Agencies Lead Generation Agency.”
Where to Listen to This Episode
Digital Marketing Trends We’re Tired Of: James Dooley and Craig Campbell on Hype, AI and Honest Numbers is available on:
James Dooley: The most annoying trends in digital marketing. Today I'm joined with Craig Campbell and there's been a few bits of debates and bits of things going on online on Twitter and on Facebook and different places. Some people that like can aggravate you a little bit as well, Craig. So, let's start things off. What's the most annoying trend for you in digital marketing?
Craig Campbell: It's probably very petty um cuz I'm just getting old now and grumpy.
James Dooley: [laughter] But you sell. I know you're older, probably grumpier, but yeah, I dig it quick. Um the the term and we spoke about it, we've talked about it at lunch time and everything, vape coding. Um And And Duly said he was talking to someone else earlier one time. He's like, "Craig thinks vape coding is a load of shit." I don't want to make it clear. I don't think vape coding is rubbish. Like I also do that, but I would just say I built a website with code um or whatever or built this or I built that. I'm not trying to be cleverer and I hate people who just go, "I'm vape coding today. I'm vape coding today. I'm this, that, and the next thing." And you're just like you're trying to make yourself seem cleverer than you are. Like we're all essentially doing that. I don't want to say keep saying the word um but cuz the word just annoys me. I just think it's like one of those ones where you're just trying to sound like you're smarter than you are. Like you're just using AI um to to your advantage, which is what it is. So, yeah, I I hate that being thrown around just now and I see a lot of people chucking it around and uh and probably misusing it, so to speak. You know, they're doing they're saying it's as if they're doing something I'm not. I'm like it's it's not we we we had a discussion this morning uh about websites we're making and how we do it and you know, whether you know, you make a theme or whether I just you know, remove the head and foot and use the custom HTML to to throw up my websites and both ways work, but I'm not trying to make myself sound smarter than you and you know, talking fancy words around. I just feel that that's one just now that that's getting flung around. I think for me one of the most annoying trends in digital marketing is and it shouldn't annoy me, but it does is where some of these people, exactly what you're on about there, making themselves way more sophisticated and smarter than what they actually are in the fact of going, "Oh, I've got this multi-AI agent being set up where I've got this CMO speaking to the CFO and the CTO and the CEO." I'm like, "Mate, you've got two clients and you do free going a month. You don't even need all them." So, they're like, "Oh my god." You're like, "You mean you just templated the send an invoice out. That's not having a CFO."
Craig Campbell: Yeah.
James Dooley: And it's just like they make it sound 10 times more intelligent than what it is. And it's a very, very basic almost workflows that you can do with any 10 and stuff like that. But, it's just it's just crazy some of the stuff they're coming out with.
Craig Campbell: I've been a free agent for years and I can automate stuff and send stuff out and do automated reminders. It doesn't mean I've got a CFO working for me. I I I don't like that whole thing, full stop. I I I like to just speak to someone going, "What you doing here? What do you use? Whatever." Don't don't start throwing all these crazy things at me.
James Dooley: Another one that I loved that you said in one of the previous episodes was where you're getting people dropping in tools all the time, every 2 minutes, right? And obviously, we spoke about formal and shiny object syndrome. And now you've started saying, "Listen, this is my mastermind group. If you're putting a tool in, I want to see proof of it working. Don't drop the tool in otherwise. Don't start going, 'This is great.' And you're going, 'Well, how did you use it?' 'Oh, I've not even signed up to it yet.' Well, don't start it's great.
Craig Campbell: Yeah.
James Dooley: Like, you go off and test it and then put it in the group because it's just annoying. There's that much noise and everyone's jumping on the bandwagon like Open Court came out. Um well, it was Cloud Bot initially and then it changed to Open Court and everyone's then, like you said, running off, buying him a Mac mini, getting everything being set up and it's taking them weeks and weeks and weeks to do some really simple tasks and it's still not working correctly. And it's hallucinating and you're like and then they're going to do a video, "Oh, I've automated the whole business." And you're like, "You've not automated anything." And some of the stuff that you have automated were just simple API calls or what could have been done anyway without even using AI. I think it just becomes people are just trying to sound more intelligent than what it is and I might all right how have you allowed it to scale? And if anything, they've gone backwards cuz they're spending more time trying to set things up that they could have just
Craig Campbell: I've fixed the thing that's broken, mate. Well, talking to Gary at lunchtime there and he tried to use a software uh for the inbound call and to knock to the leads in and get them to the sales guys. He said he tried for a year, but stuff 40% of the time the thing wasn't working. It was a headache. Um and again, probably too early for him to have tried that but uh at point. So, I think people are always just try to jump on and do things too fast with AI as well and and that's where I think I've said it in another episode, just time stand off if you if you say me, Craig, I'm doing this with AI and it's making me 20 grand a month, I'm I'm all ears. I will go I want to do it as well and I want to do it better cuz we've got that
James Dooley: Yeah.
Craig Campbell: rivalry kind of thing and and you know, and stuff like that. So, I'd be like, I want do better than that, but I said I want to do 25 grand a month if he's doing 20. So, uh I'm all ears and I I I'm all over that stuff, but again, show me proof and and so many people and that's another thing I don't actually like. I see so many people giving it the big uh talk and all that uh you know and they're they're walking around the halls and the shoes and all that on and and mate, you're giving it the big
James Dooley: Yeah.
Craig Campbell: thing on on on these things and and I can just tell by looking at your shoes and looking at your face you've not got a pot to piss in so you know, that that's another thing that I see a lot of people doing that.
James Dooley: The num- the num- the num- the numbers is the most annoying trend in digital marketing banner. Like, I'm fine with someone talking about white boarding and I'm fine with someone talking even about the multi-agent we spoke about. But when people just blatantly lie about the numbers, like I can give you so much like the one the other week I had someone I'm not going to name the person but literally you look at 6 weeks ago he's like I've been clearing 45 grand clear profit a month over 100,000 pound in revenue 45 grand a month and then he's applying for a job with me. And I'm talking about almost like a minimum wage very basic job and I'm like, if you were on if you was on 45 grand a month profit a month there's zero chance you would be applying for a job. Do you know what I mean? So it's just like, why do you just make stuff up?
Craig Campbell: Yeah.
James Dooley: And it's oh well everybody else does it so does everyone. I do it. I'm just like, no you must make yourself look a dick. Or if anything you can actually turn around and say I'm actually struggling a little bit here guys and the people in community might come together and go like, what is it you're struggling with? Is it the onboarding of new clients? Is it a lead generation problem? Is it a retention problem? Like what what's the problem and we can try to help you. Don't just lie going all of this is it with and these numbers some of them like I always say, I mean you you've got different ones to me but I like whatever numbers I see in SEO in the SEO community I might divide it by 10.
Craig Campbell: I would say I would go with that but then also divide that by four.
James Dooley: [laughter] Yeah, that's how inflated they are and and you'll know yourself I've got unsuccessful friends who maybe and and I get it it's marketing you want to make yourself sound better than you are and and look better and all that stuff. Absolutely and you've got other ones who just like tons who've they've got really nice cars, really nice houses and stuff like that. So, it can be hard to tell, but yeah, that I know people in in the industry and I've seen them and I'm I'm like Nah, no no chance in hell. Uh you know, you're going around with yellow teeth and and you're claiming to
Craig Campbell: [laughter]
James Dooley: to to you know, be earning that money. You could at least go to Turkey and get your teeth fixed. So, um yeah, that that's a that's a trend that I don't like and it's just misleading to the the younger people in the industry who are trying to learn and they've been they're they're buying into all that and I I just I can't hack it, man.
Craig Campbell: Yeah, no, I completely agree. So, anyone who's watching this, what's the most annoying trend that you find in the digital marketing space, leave a comment in the comment section.