10 golden rules for digital marketing success
November 4th 2024
Setting up for success
The biggest challenges facing the digital marketing teams we spoke with are at their core ‘classic
marketing problems’. To address these challenges, winning businesses have highly integrated digital
marketing teams, which are empowered to invest flexibly and responsively.
1. More Marketing Than Digital
To succeed, digital leaders should focus on understanding what their product or service solves for
customers. By iterating and testing ways to consistently bring this value to life, brands stand out. Clear
senior leadership is crucial for integrating the product and business strategy with digital marketing,
avoiding reliance on fads or clickbait that might stray from the brand's authenticity.
Irrespective of team structure and use of outside agency support all the winners we spoke to retained
senior marketing leadership that can consistently bring that product and business strategy point of view
into the day-to-day execution of digital marketing campaigns.
2. Integrated, Agile Digital Teams
Winning companies blend digital seamlessly into marketing. Lean, agile teams promote high ownership
and rapid decision-making, keeping digital marketing aligned with product and marketing goals. Balance
is key—efficient teams blend creativity with quantitative skills while focusing on delivering unique brand
experiences.
Which perhaps comes to one of the biggest areas of debate: what skills do you need to own in-house
to succeed? There is no “right” or “wrong” here and indeed there are companies today having success
with very different models. What is key is that as a CMO you are clear on the “why” for outsourcing
work, and have planned to make sure you maintain alignment and rapid feedback with your digital
execution.
3. Flexible Investment
Encourage teams to manage resources as though they were their own. Avoid rigid annual budgets and
focus on adaptable resource allocation based on evolving marketing conditions. Rigidly adhering to
outdated KPI structures can trap teams; instead, prioritise impactful spending and encourage the
flexibility to shift resources.
Resource scarcity concentrates the mind; especially when the scarce resource is cash. Founders and
Executives at early-stage companies have all worked hard to build simple, effective and actionable
feedback loops to support effective capital allocation into their marketing teams. These tend to not be
overly complex, but they are universally: (1) understood by the whole marketing team (2) clearly linked
to company growth and success and (3) reinforced with clear measurement and high visibility.
Alongside that, there is a willingness to accept that you aren’t always in control and that returns and
results will not be linear. One result that came up repeatedly was a high level of comfort with volatility
in marketing investment and returns: with spend often varying by month by even 3-4x, and an
acceptance that an annual “budget” would often be deployed erratically (and may well need to be
revisited during the year).
Communicate your story end-to-end
To be a winner in today’s environment you need to understand and be able to articulate your
consumer proposition and what differentiates you through compelling storytelling and memorable
content that will stand out from the crowd.
4. Ads Are Only the Start
Build agility in your customer acquisition approach to test various offers, landing pages, and customer
journeys. As seen with HelloFresh, evolving acquisition tactics toward LTV-focused propositions helps
balance initial conversions with sustainable growth.
A winning business needs to be an expert at more than just advertising creative. It should recognise
that different customer segments will respond better to different incentives, propositions and conversion
journeys (including win back campaigns). Perpetual evolution is required, always balancing the benefits
of greater conversion against initial order profitability and the “hidden cost” of the incentive to cancel
and come back.
5. Define Digital Fame Through Authenticity
As brands scale, maintaining authenticity is challenging but essential. Digital content must align with
the brand’s mission, avoiding diluted messaging or over-reliance on best practices that don’t serve
unique goals. The “Competitor Test” can be a useful tool: switch your ad’s colour and font with a
competitor to see if it remains distinctly yours.
6. Content Creation Must Operate at Pace
With faster creative wear-out rates, particularly on META and TikTok, success hinges on producing and
iterating high-quality content quickly. Some brands, like WineDrops, find success by maintaining a high
volume of new creative weekly. Creative modularity—where key elements like hooks, core messages,
and CTAs are interchanged—can extend the life and ROI of top-performing ads.
The view that ‘velocity is crucial as it defines the pace of learning’ has led many digital leaders to invest
in in-house creative teams. The traditional view of the spreadsheet / quantity digital marketeer is
evolving; the ability to identify and produce new creative concepts that resonate with the buying
audience is increasingly key.
Does this mean the end of the agency model? Not necessarily, but it does mean the need for very clear
SLAs around pace and iteration. One area in which outsourced support is increasingly being used is
the application of tech and AI to iterate upon winning creative concepts; taking ads that are working and
splicing in new hooks and CTAs which can extend campaign life and ROI. What is clear is that the old-
school cadence of campaign planning, creation, execution and then an agency debrief is no longer fit
for purpose.
Fine tune the engine
7. Understanding LV at pace
Short campaign lifespans require close-to-real-time feedback to effectively harness winning
strategies. Predictive modelling of customer-level LTVs ensures optimal allocation of resources and
rapid iteration on successful campaigns. When you get a ‘hit’ creative, you can’t invest as much
behind it and wear out is happening faster – so teams need to be agile.
8. Beware of Over-Reliance on ‘Rules of Thumb’
Digital marketing can’t rely on yesterday’s strategies in today’s landscape. As the industry evolves,
the best teams develop tools and processes that allow them to spot shifts in trends, maintain
discipline in investment, and continually optimise returns.
9. Adapt Quickly to Platform Rules
Platforms like META and Google control the rules and have incentives that may not align with your
goals. Healthy scepticism and quick adaptation to platform changes are key to maximising outcomes.
Remember that the ad platforms, and all their advisors and teams, just want to sell their inventory.
10. Expand Acquisition Channels Before the Need Arises
Channel diversification is crucial for long-term success. Building organic traffic and content-led
strategies early on ensures a stronger marketing foundation, especially as paid channel effectiveness
fluctuates. For growth-stage companies, focusing on one or two channels is fine, but make organic
growth a priority before scaling complexities arise.
These ten principles provide a roadmap for sustained digital marketing success. As competition
intensifies and platforms continually shift, brands must adopt a mindset of agility, integration, and
authenticity. Successful digital strategies aren’t just about driving immediate clicks or conversions;
they involve building lasting relationships, refining customer insights, and remaining adaptable to the
rapidly evolving digital ecosystem.By embedding these core principles across the organisation,
brands can stay ahead, creating a scalable foundation for long-term growth and resilience in an ever-
changing market.
Jointly authored with John Franklin & Thomas Charlick, Parners
