The Worst Trends in SEO and Digital Marketing: James Dooley and Craig Campbell Speak Frankly
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What Does “The Worst Trends in SEO and Digital Marketing: James Dooley and Craig Campbell Speak Frankly” Talk About?
In this episode of Entrepreneurship Uncensored Podcast, James Dooley and Craig Campbell sit down for a frank, unfiltered conversation about the trends in digital marketing that frustrate them most. The discussion kicks off with Craig taking aim at the buzzword 'vibe coding,' arguing that people throw the term around to sound smarter than they are, when in reality they are simply using AI tools the same way everyone else is. James adds to this by calling out the trend of people describing basic workflow automations as elaborate multi-AI agent systems with a CMO, CFO, and CTO, when in reality they have two clients and a few invoice templates.
The conversation then shifts to the danger of unverified tools and shiny object syndrome, with Craig describing how people in mastermind groups drop recommendations for tools they have not even tried yet. James shares a real example of someone who spent a year trying to automate inbound call nurturing with a software that failed 40 percent of the time. Both hosts agree that AI adoption is moving too fast for many people, and the standard should be simple: show proof that something is generating real results before promoting it.
Perhaps the most pointed section of the episode focuses on fabricated numbers in the SEO and digital marketing community. Craig reveals a specific example of someone publicly claiming 45,000 pounds a month in profit while simultaneously applying for a near-minimum-wage job. James and Craig both express concern that inflated revenue claims mislead newer professionals trying to learn the industry, and suggest that honest conversation about real struggles would be far more valuable to the community than performative success.
“And it's oh well, everybody else does it. So I just thought I'd do it. I was like, no, it just makes you look like a dick.”
— Craig Campbell
Who Are the Guests on “The Worst Trends in SEO and Digital Marketing: James Dooley and Craig Campbell Speak Frankly”?
James Dooley is a well-known figure in the SEO and digital marketing world, recognised for his work in lead generation and affiliate marketing. He is the founder of PromoSEO, which was recently named the Best Digital Marketing Agencies Lead Generation Agency. James is known for his direct communication style and his insistence on results-based evidence before endorsing any strategy or tool.
Craig Campbell is a seasoned digital marketing consultant and SEO educator based in Scotland, with over two decades of experience in the industry. He runs his own agency and mastermind group, and is widely followed for his no-nonsense commentary on SEO trends, tools, and strategy. Craig is known for cutting through hype and speaking candidly about what actually works in practice.
What Are the Key Takeaways From “The Worst Trends in SEO and Digital Marketing: James Dooley and Craig Campbell Speak Frankly”?
Here are the key points discussed in this episode:
- Buzzwords like 'vibe coding' are often used to make ordinary AI tool usage sound more sophisticated than it actually is, which frustrates experienced practitioners.
- Describing basic automation workflows as multi-AI agent systems with executive-level roles is misleading and does a disservice to the industry.
- Tools and software should only be recommended once they have been tested and proven to work, rather than shared the moment someone hears about them.
- Fabricated revenue and profit numbers in the digital marketing community mislead newcomers who are trying to build real businesses and learn from credible mentors.
- Honest acknowledgment of business struggles opens the door to genuine community support, whereas fake success claims close it.
“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 why did you Oh, I've not even signed up to it yet. Well, don't start saying it's great.”
— James Dooley
Is “The Worst Trends in SEO and Digital Marketing: James Dooley and Craig Campbell Speak Frankly” Worth Listening To?
This episode is worth listening to because it strips away the performative layer that has built up around digital marketing discourse, particularly in the AI era. James Dooley and Craig Campbell speak from real experience and name the specific behaviours that erode trust in the industry, from inflated profit claims to premature tool endorsements. Unlike many marketing podcasts that stick to aspirational messaging, this conversation is grounded in critical thinking and practical accountability.
What makes it especially valuable is the specificity. Craig shares a real example of someone claiming 45,000 pounds a month in profit while applying for a minimum wage job, and James references a client who wasted a year on a lead nurturing tool that failed 40 percent of the time. These are not hypothetical scenarios. For anyone building a digital marketing business or trying to evaluate advice from online communities, this episode provides a useful filter for separating genuine expertise from noise.
Who Should Listen to “The Worst Trends in SEO and Digital Marketing: James Dooley and Craig Campbell Speak Frankly”?
This episode is ideal for:
- Digital marketing agency owners who want to cut through industry hype and focus on strategies that deliver measurable results
- SEO professionals and consultants evaluating AI tools and automation platforms before committing time or budget to them
- Newer marketers and freelancers who follow online communities and want guidance on how to critically assess the advice and income claims they encounter
- Mastermind group members and community managers looking for frameworks to maintain quality standards around tool recommendations and peer accountability
Where Can You Listen to Entrepreneurship Uncensored Podcast?
You can listen to Entrepreneurship Uncensored Podcast on all major podcast platforms:
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You can also subscribe using the RSS feed: https://feeds.transistor.fm/entrepreneurship-uncensored-podcast
What Are Listeners Saying About This Episode?
“Finally two people saying what everyone is thinking. The part about someone claiming 45k a month profit while applying for a minimum wage job had me laughing out loud because I have seen exactly that kind of thing in Facebook groups. Craig and James give you a proper reality check.”
“The vibe coding rant at the start is absolutely spot on. I have been in enough Slack groups to know exactly the type of person they are describing. Really refreshing to hear experienced marketers call this stuff out rather than play along with it.”
“James's point about the AI nurturing software failing 40 percent of the time really hit home for me. I wasted months on a similar setup last year. This episode would have saved me a lot of headaches if I had heard it sooner.”
This video explains which digital marketing strategies digital marketing agencies should focus on in 2026 to improve credibility, client retention and measurable results. James Dooley and Craig Campbell start with KPI tracking because honest, verified numbers are the only way to prove that a strategy or tool actually works for this niche. 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
The Worst Trends in SEO and Digital Marketing: James Dooley and Craig Campbell Speak Frankly is available on:
James Dooley: the most annoying trends in digital marketing. Today I'm joined with Craig Campbell. There's been a few bits of debates and bits of things going on online, on Twitter, and on Facebook, in 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, because I'm just getting old now and grumpy. by yourself. I know you're older, probably grumpier, but get I dig in quick. Um the the term we've spoke about it, we've joked about it at lunch time and everything. Vibe coding. Um and and Douly said he was talking to someone else earlier at lunch. He's like, Craig thinks V coding is a load of [h__h] I want to make it clear. I don't think V coding is [h__h] Like I also do that, but I would just say I built a website with Claud or whatever or I've built this or I've built that. I'm not trying to be clever. And I hate people who are just going I'm v coding today. I'm V coding today. I'm this that the next thing and you're just like you're trying to make yourself seem clever than you are. Like we're all essentially doing that. I'm not going to say keep saying the words, but because 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 [h__h] just using AI um to to your advantage, which is what it is. So yeah, 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 seeing as if they're doing something I'm not. I'm like it's it's not we when we had a discussion this morning uh about websites what 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 header and footer 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 and you know chucking fancy words around. just feel that that's one just now that it's getting flung around.
James Dooley: 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 themsel way more sophisticated and smarter than what they actually are in the fact of going oh I've got this multiAI 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 got two clients and you do free gone a month. You don't even need all that."
Craig Campbell: So they're like, "Oh, am I gone?" You're like, "You mean you just templated that they send an invoice out? That's not having a CFO."
James Dooley: And it's just like they make it sound 10 times more intelligent than what it is. And it's very very basic almost workflows that you can do with NA10 and stuff like that. It's just it's just crazy some of the stuff they're coming out with. I've had [h__h] free agent for years and I can automate stuff and send stuff out and do automated reminders. That doesn't mean I've got a CFO working for me. So I I don't like that whole
Craig Campbell: [h__h]
James Dooley: thing full stop. I I I like to just speak to someone going, "What are you doing here? What did you use? Whatever. Don't don't start throwing all these crazy things at me." 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 two 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.
Craig Campbell: Yeah.
James Dooley: Don't drop the tool in otherwise. Don't start going this is great and you're going why did you Oh, I've not even signed up to it yet. Well, don't start saying it's great.
Craig Campbell: Yeah. Like you go off and test it and then put it in the group because it's just annoying. is that much noise and everyone's jumping on the bandwagon like open claw came out um well it was claw bought initially and then it changed to open claw and everyone's then like you said running off buying a a Mac mini getting everything being set up and it's taken 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 doing a video oh I've automated the whole business and you're like you're not automated anything and some of the stuff that you have automated were just simple API calls of what could have been done anyway without even using AI. And I think it just becomes people are just trying to sound more intelligent than what it is. And I'm like, "All right, how have you allowed it to scale?" And if anything, they've gone backwards because they're spending more time trying to set things up that they could have just [h__h] fixed the thing that's broken.
James Dooley: We're talking to Gary at lunchtime there and he tried to use a software for the inbound call and to nurture the leads and and get them to the sales guys. said he tried for a year but [h__h] 40% of the time the [h__h] thing wasn't working. it was a headache and again probably too early for him to have tried that but at that point so I think people always just try to jump on and do things too fast with AI as well and that's where I think I've said it in another episode just time standoff is if you say to me Craig I'm doing this with AI and it's making me 20k a month I'm I'm all ears I will go [h__h] I want to do it as well and I want to do it better because we've got that
Craig Campbell: rivalry kind of thing and and you and stuff like that. So, I'd be like, I want can do better than that, but I said I want to do 25 grand a month if he's doing 20.
James Dooley: So, I'm all ears and I'm all over that stuff. But again, show me proof and and so many people and that that's another trend. I don't actually like I see so many people giving it the big uh talk and all there you know and they're they're walking around with holes in their shoes and all that on and and you know like mate you're giving it the big
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 pot to piss in.
James Dooley: So you know that that's another trend that I see a lot of people doing that
Craig Campbell: the the numbers is the most annoying trend in digitizing ban on like I'm fine someone talking about vibe coding I'm fine 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 like the one the other week I had someone I'm not going to name the person but literally you look at six weeks ago he's like I've been claiming 45 gone clay profit a month, over £100,000 in revenue, 45 grand a month, and then he's applying for a job with me. And I'm talking almost like a minimum wage, very basic job. And I'm like, if you're 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 just make [h__h] up?
James Dooley: Yeah.
Craig Campbell: And it's oh well, everybody else does it. So I just thought I'd do it. I was like, no, it just makes you look like a dick. Or if anything, if you actually turn around and say, I'm actually struggling a little bit here, guys. And the people in the community might come together and go, "All right, 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, "Oh, this is it." 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.
James Dooley: I would say I would go with that, but then also divide that before. That's how inflated are. And you'll know yourself. I've got unsuccessful friends who maybe 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 dress like tramps or get really nice cars, really nice houses and stuff like that. So, can be hard to tell, but yeah, I know people in in the industry and I've seen them and I'm like, nah, no chance in [h__h] earth. uh you know, you're gonna run with yellow teeth and and you'll claim to to to you know, be earning that amount money, you'd at least go 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 are trying to learn and they're being that 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.