Lessons learned: How 11 brands are using digital marketing to transform their business

In a rapidly changing world, many advertisers are prioritising their digital marketing capabilities as a way of tackling their business objectives. We talked to 11 brands across three EMEA countries to learn more about their journeys toward digital marketing transformation.

How digital marketing drives business goals

They told us that improving digital marketing capabilities is vital to their business goals. In some cases, it is helping to evolve the core business – for example from carmaker to mobility provider. In others, it facilitates global reach, efficiency, customised messaging, and a consistent brand experience across environments.

According to the companies we spoke to, making these gains means shifting to become a digital-first culture. Key steps include: encouraging stakeholders to see the long-term benefits, helping the business to adapt to new technologies, and applying digital approaches to traditional channels.

Advertisers discuss why improving digital marketing capabilities is important for their business.

Digital marketing initiatives and the impact on business

Clients revealed that digital marketing transformation initiatives are making a vital impact on their businesses. Some are using machine learning to predict which users are most likely to buy their products or services – and therefore represent the greatest value to the business. Others are using attribution to see what channels users are coming from and investing accordingly. One brand is using video wherever possible because of its unique ability to convey a feeling.

Using digital marketing isn’t just about getting key tasks done, though. It can have a transformative effect on how the business is structured and operates. For instance, many companies are finding success by consolidating regional media buying into a single centre of excellence, making it possible to buy, optimise, and analyse across EMEA.

Advertisers communicate how they have been implementing digital marketing initiatives so far and the impact this has had on their organisation.

Results and learnings from digital marketing transformation

Brands and agencies shared their biggest learnings with us, affirming that it pays to be curious to try new tools, initiatives, and channels. As well as being brave, we heard that teams need to be more flexible in structure to allow new internal connections that produce better results. Communicate in simple language rather than making things overly technical or deep, quantify the improvements, track progress, and demonstrate the positive effects to gain buy-in from senior stakeholders in the organisation.

Digital marketing transformation is having a significant impact on how teams do their job. The ability to learn from campaigns helps companies continuously improve their digital marketing capabilities. Meaningful insights mean they can make campaigns better, and richer insights helps brands understand what users want.

Advertisers communicate what are the results and learnings that they have identified so far and the next steps moving forward.
Research: Driving strong business growth through data-driven marketing transformation