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40 Detailed Digital Marketing Case Studies [2024]

In the rapidly evolving digital era, the effectiveness of marketing tactics can have a huge impact on the brand’s success. This collection of 40 detailed digital marketing case studies from globally recognized companies offers a deep dive into the tactical approaches and innovative solutions that have reshaped consumer interactions and carved success stories across various industries. From leveraging cutting-edge technologies like augmented reality and artificial intelligence to embracing community-driven initiatives and personalized user experiences, each case study presents a unique challenge faced by the brand, the strategic response implemented, and the resultant impact on market presence and consumer loyalty. These 40 narratives not only highlight the transformative potential of effective digital marketing but also serve as a valuable learning resource for marketing professionals seeking to understand the dynamics of customer engagement and brand growth in the digital era.

Related: Surprising Digital Marketing Statistics & Facts

1. Airbnb – Leveraging User-Generated Content

Task or Conflict:

Airbnb, despite its revolutionary concept, faced significant challenges in scaling trust and global brand awareness. Operating in a highly competitive travel industry, Airbnb needed a cost-effective strategy to resonate emotionally and authentically with potential customers worldwide, without resorting to expensive traditional marketing techniques.

To overcome this challenge, Airbnb capitalized on user-generated content by motivating both parties to share their unique lodging experiences through images and stories on different platforms. They facilitated this by creating hashtags and launching contests to motivate participation. Airbnb’s strategy was not merely about collecting content but about fostering a community-centric brand that values customer experiences and stories as the core of its marketing.

Overall Impact:

• Considerable increase in organic reach across different online platforms.
• Enhanced brand trust and credibility, which translated into increased bookings globally.

Key Learnings:

• User-generated content can serve as an impactful and economical marketing tool.
• Building a brand community can help in enhanced user loyalty and organic brand promotion.

2. Nike – Digital Brand Transformation

Nike faced the challenge of maintaining relevance and connection with its diverse consumer base in a rapidly changing digital landscape. As consumer behaviors shifted towards more digital interactions and personalized experiences, Nike needed to find innovative ways to engage with its audience beyond traditional advertising and retail settings.

Nike addressed this challenge by fully embracing digital transformation with the launch of various mobile applications, such as the Nike Training Club and Nike Run Club, which integrated workout plans, running tracking, and community challenges into their user experience. They also harnessed the power of data analytics to offer personalized product recommendations and tailored fitness advice, thereby creating a more engaging and customized user journey.

• Drastically improved user engagement rates, with millions of downloads and active users on their apps.
• Strengthened brand loyalty and community feel among Nike customers, leading to increased sales both online and in-store.
• Digital tools and apps can significantly enhance customer engagement and loyalty when used to provide value beyond the traditional sales experience.
• Personalization and community building are crucial for maintaining brand relevance in a digital-first consumer market.

3. Tesco – Virtual Store

Tesco was looking to expand its market presence in South Korea without the substantial costs associated with opening new physical stores. The challenge was to reach a tech-savvy and time-constrained commuter population who valued convenience and efficiency in their shopping experiences.

Tesco’s innovative solution was to create virtual stores in subway stations, where busy commuters could shop while waiting for their train. They placed life-sized billboards of store shelves with products bearing QR codes in subway stations. Commuters could scan these codes using Tesco’s mobile app to add items to their virtual shopping cart, making their daily commute time productive for shopping.

• Positioned Tesco as the top online grocery retailer in South Korea.
• Achieved a substantial increase in customer base and online sales, effectively transforming the grocery shopping experience.
• Digital innovations that blend into the daily routines of customers can lead to high engagement and conversion rates.
• Utilizing commonplace technology like QR codes can effectively connect the physical and digital shopping environments, catering to the modern consumer’s desire for convenience and efficiency.

4. Spotify – Data-Driven Personalization

Spotify faced the challenge of differentiating itself in the saturated music streaming market. With numerous services offering similar catalogues of music, Spotify needed to find a way to stand out and retain users in a competitive landscape where user preferences and engagement could make a significant difference.

Spotify’s approach was to harness the vast amounts of data they collected on user listening habits to create hyper-personalized experiences. They developed algorithms for features like “Discover Weekly,” which provides users with a playlist tailored to their tastes every week. This strategy was rooted in predictive analytics and machine learning, aiming to anticipate user preferences and introduce them to new music seamlessly.

• Considerably increased user engagement on the platform.
• Boosted subscription rates as users found more value in personalized content.
• Leveraging user data for personalization can highly distinguish a service in the market.
• Continuous innovation in user experience can drive both retention and acquisition.

5. Domino’s Pizza – Digital Ordering Innovation

Domino’s was striving to enhance sales and streamline the customer ordering process. The fast-food industry is notoriously competitive, and Domino’s needed to innovate to make ordering as convenient and quick as possible for customers seeking instant gratification.

Domino’s revolutionized the digital ordering process by introducing an array of ordering methods, including a pioneering “pizza emoji” text order system and a robust digital platform that works seamlessly across various devices. They also utilized voice recognition and artificial intelligence to predict customer preferences and speed up the ordering process.

• Digital orders rose dramatically to account for a huge portion of total sales.
• The company’s stock price increased due to improved operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
• Streamlining the customer experience with technology can lead to substantial increases in sales and efficiency.
• Innovative ordering options can set a company apart in a competitive industry.

Related: How to learn Digital Marketing?

6. GoPro – Harnessing Advocacy

GoPro needed to amplify its brand presence and deepen user engagement in a market where consumers are bombarded with countless digital advertisements. The challenge was to make GoPro not just a product but a part of its customers’ adventure narratives.

GoPro’s strategy focused on turning their customers into brand ambassadors by encouraging them to share their thrilling videos and images taken with GoPro cameras. They launched the “GoPro Awards” to incentivize user content submission with rewards, effectively using this content in their marketing campaigns to showcase the camera’s capabilities.

• Enhanced brand loyalty and created a massive repository of authentic user-generated content.
• Fostered a strong community of GoPro users who are engaged and regularly contribute content.
• Encouraging user-generated content can create a vibrant community and provide authentic marketing material.
• Rewarding customer contributions can increase engagement and brand loyalty.

7. ZARA – Agile Social Media Strategies

ZARA faced the challenge of maintaining its fast-fashion leadership while transitioning to a digital-first retail approach. They needed to keep up with rapid fashion trends and consumer expectations on social media, where trends can change overnight.

ZARA employed an agile social media strategy that mirrored its renowned supply chain flexibility. They quickly adapted campaigns and content to reflect the latest fashion trends and consumer feedback, using a data-driven approach to tailor their marketing efforts to real-time insights.

• Increased engagement on social media platforms, driving both online and offline traffic.
• Enhanced brand perception as trendy and responsive among consumers.
• Agility in social media marketing can effectively align with and capitalize on consumer trends.
• Data-driven content adaptation can lead to higher consumer engagement and satisfaction.

8. Slack – B2B Content Marketing

Slack needed to establish itself in the crowded B2B tech market, where differentiation is crucial for capturing the attention of business customers. The challenge was not only to stand out but also to articulate the value of Slack’s platform in streamlining communication across diverse teams and enterprises.

Slack’s strategy involved utilizing high-quality, informative content marketing to address common communication challenges faced by businesses. They created a variety of content types, including case studies, whitepapers, and blogs, which demonstrated how Slack enhances productivity and integrates with various business tools. This approach helped position Slack as a thought leader in workplace communication.

• Successfully established thought leadership in the B2B communications sphere.
• Saw a significant increase in adoption rates among businesses, leading to a larger user base.
• High-value content that addresses specific industry pain points can effectively engage and convert B2B audiences.
• Establishing thought leadership through content is vital for differentiation in the B2B technology sector.

9. Unilever (Dove) – Campaign for Real Beauty

Dove sought to challenge beauty industry norms and redefine what beauty means to women around the world. The brand faced the task of shifting perceptions in a market saturated with idealized, often unattainable beauty standards, to foster a broader, more inclusive definition of beauty.

Dove launched the “Campaign for Real Beauty” by featuring real women with diverse body types, ages, and ethnicities in their advertisements. This strategy was complemented by a series of videos, workshops, and storytelling initiatives that highlighted personal beauty stories, aiming to inspire confidence among women and provoke conversations about beauty standards.

• Successfully shifted consumer perception of beauty, promoting a more inclusive view.
• Strengthened customer loyalty and brand alignment with core values of diversity and authenticity.
• Marketing campaigns that resonate emotionally and challenge societal norms can create powerful brand affinity.
• Authenticity in advertising can lead to deeper customer connections and loyalty.

10. Coca-Cola – Share a Coke Campaign

Coca-Cola needed to rejuvenate its brand and increase beverage consumption among younger demographics globally. The challenge was to create a personalized connection with consumers in a way that felt genuine and encouraged social sharing.

Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign replaced the iconic Coca-Cola logo on bottles with common first names and invited people to find bottles with their names or those of their friends and family. The campaign was amplified through social media, encouraging customers to share their personalized Coke bottles online using specific hashtags.

• Revitalized global brand engagement, particularly among teens and young adults.
• Triggered a worldwide trend of personalized consumer goods that led to increased sales.
• Personalization at a mass scale can effectively engage consumers and foster a personal connection with the brand.
• Social media can be a impactful tool for amplifying interactive marketing operations and driving consumer participation.

Related: Design Tools to help you become a better Digital Marketer

11. Amazon – Prime Day Optimization

Amazon sought to boost its annual Prime Day sales and enhance customer loyalty in a market crowded with competing sales events. The challenge was to distinguish Prime Day from other sales and drive both participation and revenue across global markets.

Amazon utilized targeted email marketing campaigns, personalized shopping recommendations, and exclusive Prime member promotions to drive engagement. They also leveraged their massive logistics network to ensure fast delivery, enhancing the customer experience and encouraging repeat purchases during the event.

• Record-breaking sales figures each year, surpassing previous Prime Day events.
• Increased Prime membership sign-ups, reinforcing customer loyalty and recurring revenue.
• Personalization and exclusive benefits can effectively drive participation and customer loyalty during large-scale promotional events.
• Efficient logistical support can enhance customer satisfaction and drive repeat business during high-demand periods.

12. LEGO – Reviving a Brand

LEGO faced a severe decline in sales in the early 2000s, with risks of bankruptcy looming due to outdated product offerings and a failure to engage a new generation of children.

LEGO revamped its marketing strategy by integrating digital experiences with physical play. This included partnerships with popular franchises for themed LEGO sets and developing interactive digital platforms where children could share their creations.

• Successfully reversed the sales decline, returning to profitability.
• Expanded their customer base to include both children and nostalgic adults.
• Combining digital experiences with traditional products can breathe new life into classic brands.
• Strategic partnerships can effectively expand market reach and relevance.

13. Ford – Euro 2020 Sponsorship Activation

Ford aimed to leverage its sponsorship of the UEFA Euro 2020 to enhance its brand visibility and connect with a diverse European audience, amidst a cluttered advertising environment.

Ford developed an interactive campaign that included a virtual reality experience allowing fans to “sit” in a Ford while taking a virtual tour of football stadiums. They also used real-time social media updates linked to game events to engage viewers.

• Increased brand engagement across Europe, particularly during game times.
• Enhanced brand association with innovation and excitement.
• Out-of-the-box advertising can develop unforgettable brand experiences and enhance user engagement.
• Real-time social media engagement can effectively capitalize on event-driven marketing opportunities.

14. IBM – Smarter Planet Initiative

IBM wanted to position itself not just as a technology provider but as a thought leader addressing global challenges through innovation, needing to shift public perception and increase business engagements in new verticals.

The “Smarter Planet” campaign was launched, utilizing extensive content marketing, including thought leadership articles, case studies, and partnerships with academic institutions to demonstrate how technology can solve real-world problems.

• Successfully shifted IBM’s brand perception towards that of a global innovator.
• Increased engagement in new industry verticals, including healthcare and renewable energy.
• Thought leadership can effectively shift brand perception and open new market opportunities.
• Content marketing can be a dominant device for demonstrating product relevance and company values.

15. Adidas – Digital Shoe Launch

Adidas needed to launch a new line of running shoes and wanted to stand out in a highly competitive market, aiming to reach a global audience while highlighting the technological advancements in their product.

Adidas created an augmented reality app that allowed users to virtually try on shoes and participate in a digital scavenger hunt that led them through interactive challenges based on shoe features. This was complemented by influencer partnerships to drive awareness and engagement.

• Generated significant global buzz and high consumer engagement online.
• Achieved high sales volumes immediately following the launch.
• Innovative use of augmented reality can provide engaging and unique consumer experiences.
• Influencer partnerships can amplify reach and credibility in product launches.

Related: Simple Ways to get better at Digital Marketing

16. Pepsi – Refresh Project

Pepsi aimed to rejuvenate its brand and foster a positive corporate image in the face of growing health concerns about sugary drinks. They needed a campaign that would resonate broadly and foster substantial consumer engagement.

The Pepsi Refresh Project was a community-focused campaign that allowed people to submit and vote on projects for Pepsi to fund. The initiative focused on social good and community development, utilizing social media platforms to maximize engagement and participation.

• Improved brand image as socially responsible.
• Created widespread consumer engagement through voting and participation in the campaign.
• Brand alignment with social responsibility can enhance corporate image and customer engagement.
• Interactive and community-focused campaigns can drive substantial consumer participation and loyalty.

17. Samsung – Galaxy Launch

Samsung faced the challenge of launching their new Galaxy smartphone in a market dominated by Apple’s iPhone. They needed to differentiate their product and create a compelling argument for consumers to switch.

Samsung embarked on a comprehensive marketing campaign that highlighted the Galaxy’s superior tech specifications and user-friendly features compared to the iPhone. The campaign included high-profile television ads, social media challenges, and interactive pop-ups where consumers could experience the technology firsthand.

• Successfully increased market share in the smartphone industry.
• Enhanced consumer perception of Samsung as a leader in technology innovation.
• Highlighting product advantages through comparative advertising can effectively influence consumer purchasing decisions.
• Interactive marketing experiences can deepen consumer engagement and brand loyalty.

18. Google – Education Initiatives

Google aimed to expand its influence in the education sector but faced skepticism from educational institutions about the applicability and security of digital tools in educational settings.

Google launched a series of educational initiatives, including Google Classroom, which offered a seamless, integrated platform for managing teaching and learning. They provided robust security features and collaborated with educators to tailor their tools to classroom needs.

• Widely adopted by schools worldwide, becoming a staple in digital education.
• Strengthened Google’s reputation as a valuable partner in education technology.
• Tailoring technology solutions to meet specific industry needs can lead to widespread adoption.
• Collaborations with industry professionals can enhance product design and market acceptance.

19. MasterCard – Priceless Campaign

MasterCard needed to differentiate itself in a crowded credit card market and foster deeper emotional connections with its customers, moving beyond transactional relationships.

The “Priceless” campaign was launched, featuring stories of unique and emotional experiences made possible by MasterCard, emphasizing the card’s role in facilitating priceless life moments. The campaign was supported by partnerships with travel, dining, and entertainment sectors to offer exclusive experiences to cardholders.

• Successfully resonated with customers on a deeper level, strengthening brand loyalty.
• Increased usage of MasterCard for booking experiences and high-value purchases.
• Emotional branding can create deeper consumer connections and loyalty.
• Exclusive partnerships can enhance the value proposition of a product.

20. Netflix – Global Expansion Strategy

Netflix needed to expand its subscriber base internationally but faced challenges related to content relevance and local competition in various countries.

Netflix invested heavily in local content production, creating original series and films that catered to local tastes and cultures. They also optimized their user interface to accommodate multiple languages and cultural nuances, improving user experience globally.

• Significantly increased international subscriber numbers.
• Enhanced global brand recognition and loyalty through culturally relevant content.
• Investing in local content can significantly improve market penetration and customer satisfaction in new regions.
• Cultural customization of product offerings can enhance user experience and brand loyalty internationally.

Related: How  to use AR/VR in Digital Marketing?

21. Volvo – Safety Marketing

Volvo sought to reinforce its position as a leader in automotive safety in a market increasingly focused on electric and autonomous vehicles. The challenge was to communicate Volvo’s longstanding commitment to safety innovation in a way that resonated with modern consumers and differentiated it from competitors.

Volvo launched a multi-faceted digital marketing campaign highlighting its historical safety innovations and the integration of advanced safety technologies in its newest models. The campaign used emotional storytelling through customer testimonials and crash-test footage to highlight the life-saving impacts of their vehicles.

• Reinforced Volvo’s reputation as a leader in vehicle safety.
• Increased consumer trust and interest in newer Volvo models.
• Leveraging brand heritage in marketing can strengthen consumer trust and loyalty.
• Emotional storytelling can effectively communicate complex product features like safety innovations.

22. Adobe – Subscription Model Transition

Adobe faced the challenge of transitioning from traditional software sales to a subscription-based model, which was initially met with resistance from its long-standing customer base used to one-time purchases.

Adobe implemented a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that highlighted the benefits of the subscription model, such as continuous updates, cloud storage, and improved collaboration tools. They also offered transitional discounts and bundled offers to existing customers to ease the shift.

• Successfully shifted the majority of their consumer base to the subscription model.
• Achieved a steady increase in recurring revenue and customer satisfaction.
• Clear communication of product value changes can facilitate major business model transitions.
• Offering incentives can mitigate customer resistance to new pricing structures.

23. Patagonia – Environmental Advocacy

Patagonia aimed to enhance its brand commitment to environmental sustainability while driving sales. The challenge was to authentically integrate this commitment into their marketing strategy without appearing opportunistic.

Patagonia’s approach included high-profile environmental projects, such as “Don’t Buy This Jacket,” which encouraged responsible consumption. They underlined the longevity of their goods and their restoration services, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to reducing environmental impact.

• Strengthened brand loyalty among environmentally conscious consumers.
• Maintained strong sales despite the campaign’s call for reduced consumption.
• Marketing activities that align with core company values can connect deeply with users.
• Advocacy and authenticity in marketing can differentiate a brand in a competitive market.

24. Microsoft – Cloud Computing

Microsoft needed to solidify its position in the rapidly growing cloud computing market against strong competitors like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.

Microsoft focused on marketing its hybrid cloud solutions, emphasizing security, compliance, and seamless integration with existing on-premise infrastructure. They leveraged case studies of successful deployments in key industries to showcase their expertise and reliability.

• Enhanced market share in the cloud computing industry.
• Built reliance and integrity among enterprise customers.
• Focusing on unique selling propositions such as security and hybrid capabilities can capture a niche market segment.
• Case studies are effective tools for demonstrating capability and building trust.

25. Red Bull – Branding Through Sports

Red Bull faced the challenge of marketing an energy drink in ways that would continually capture the attention of a young, dynamic audience.

Red Bull created a unique brand image focused on extreme sports and adventurous lifestyles. They sponsored athletes, hosted extreme sports events, and produced high-adrenaline content that was shared widely across digital platforms.

• Successfully maintained a vibrant and exciting brand image.
• Increased global brand recognition and loyalty among target demographics.
• Investing in brand-aligned content and sponsorships can improve product identity and user engagement.
• Content that resonates with the brand’s audience can drive both online engagement and real-world participation.

Related: High-Paying Digital Marketing Jobs

26. Oreo – Real-Time Marketing

Oreo aimed to capitalize on real-time events to stay pertinent and appealing in the current social media era.

Oreo’s digital marketing team set up a “war room” during major events like the Super Bowl, allowing them to react instantaneously to live events with clever, themed social media posts. This strategy was highlighted by their famous “You can still dunk in the dark” tweet during a Super Bowl blackout.

• Gained extensive media coverage and social media buzz.
• Enhanced engagement and supporters on social media platforms.
• Real-time marketing can create significant brand buzz and viral potential.
• Preparing to leverage unexpected events can lead to high-impact marketing moments.

27. Toyota – Hybrid Cars

Toyota needed to drive adoption of its hybrid vehicles amidst skepticism about hybrid technology and performance concerns.

Toyota launched an educational campaign that included test-drive events, informational videos, and customer testimonials highlighting the reliability, performance, and environmental benefits of their hybrid models.

• Increased sales and market share in the hybrid vehicle category.
• Strengthened Toyota’s reputation as a leader in automotive innovation.
• Educational marketing can effectively address consumer skepticism and boost product adoption.
• Demonstrating product benefits through real-life experiences can enhance consumer trust and interest.

28. BuzzFeed – Content Virality

BuzzFeed needed to maintain its dominance in the digital media space amid increasing competition from other content platforms offering similar viral-type content.

BuzzFeed optimized its approach to content creation by leveraging data analytics to understand what makes content shareable. They focused on creating highly engaging, visually appealing content tailored to specific audiences and distributed across various social platforms.

• Maintained high engagement rates and growth in readership.
• Solidified its leadership in developing viral content.
• Data-driven content creation can effectively maintain engagement in a competitive market.
• Tailoring content to platform-specific audiences can maximize shareability and reach.

29. IKEA – Augmented Reality App

IKEA faced the challenge of enhancing customer shopping experience and minimizing returns due to size mismatches or style misfit with their furniture.

IKEA launched an AR app that allows users to visualize furniture in their own space before buying. The app, integrated with IKEA’s digital catalog, enables users to see how different furniture styles and sizes fit and look in their actual living spaces.

• Reduced return rates due to size or style mismatches.
• Enhanced customer satisfaction and increased sales conversions through the app.
• Augmented reality can significantly enhance the online shopping experience.
• Providing solutions that reduce consumer uncertainty can lead to higher satisfaction and sales.

30. Canva – Democratizing Design

Canva aimed to make design accessible to non-designers, competing against professional design software that requires significant skills and training.

Canva developed an intuitive, user-friendly platform with drag-and-drop features and an extensive library of templates. Their marketing focused on empowering users with no prior design experience to create professional-level designs easily.

• Rapid growth in user base, including small businesses, educators, and marketers.
• Established Canva as a leader in accessible design tools.
• Making professional tools accessible to a broader audience can capture a significant market share.
• User-friendly design and effective educational marketing can drive adoption and loyalty.

Related: History of Digital Marketing

31. Fitbit – Community-Driven Fitness

Fitbit needed to differentiate itself in a crowded market of wearable fitness technology and engage users on a long-term basis.

Fitbit enhanced its devices with social features that allow users to interact with friends, challenge each other, etc. They focused on building a community around fitness, highlighting a lifestyle rather than just a product.

• Increased consumer engagement and retention rates.
• Strengthened brand loyalty through a community-centric approach.
• Community features in tech products can enhance customer engagement and product stickiness.
• Promoting a lifestyle and building a community can have more impact than concentrating solely on the features.

32. Sephora – Beauty Insider Loyalty Program

Sephora faced the challenge of increasing customer loyalty and repeat purchases in the competitive beauty retail market.

Sephora revamped its Beauty Insider loyalty program to offer more customized incentives, exclusive experiences, and beauty classes. The program utilizes customer data to tailor recommendations and promotions, enhancing the personal connection with the brand.

• Increased frequency of repeat purchases.
• Enhanced consumer faith and contentment with customized experiences.
• Loyalty programs that offer personalized experiences can improve user loyalty.
• Utilizing customer data effectively can lead to more fruitful marketing policies.

33. New York Times – Digital Subscription Growth

The New York Times needed to adapt to the digital age, facing declining print subscriptions and the challenge of monetizing digital content.

The NYT introduced a flexible digital subscription model, which included tiered pricing levels to attract a broader audience. They invested heavily in quality journalism and digital content to provide value that justifies the subscription cost.

• Successful growth in digital subscriptions, offsetting declines in print.
• Strengthened brand reputation as a leading news provider in the digital age.
• Providing high-quality content is crucial for monetizing digital platforms.
• Flexible pricing models can appeal to a broader range of consumers.

34. L’Oréal – Embracing Digital Beauty Tech

L’Oréal faced the challenge of personalizing the beauty shopping experience in a digital environment, where customers traditionally rely on in-store trials before purchasing makeup and skincare products.

L’Oréal invested in augmented reality and artificial intelligence technologies to create a virtual try-on app, allowing customers to see how different products look on their own skin. The app also provided personalized skincare recommendations based on user skin analysis conducted through their mobile device cameras. This technology was heavily marketed through social media and online advertising to drive app downloads and engagement.

• Significantly increased online sales and customer interaction with the brand.
• Enhanced customer satisfaction through personalized and innovative shopping experiences.
• Digital technologies like AR and AI can effectively bridge the gap between online shopping and the need for product trial.
• Personalization in the beauty industry enhances customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

35. Duolingo – Gamification of Learning

Duolingo faced the challenge of making language learning engaging and retaining users over long periods.

Duolingo implemented gamification strategies in their app, including points, levels, and daily streaks, to make learning languages fun and addictive. They continuously updated their app with new languages and features to engage audiences.

• Significantly increased user retention and daily engagement.
• Expanded globally, ranking among the most popular language learning apps.
• Gamification can make educational content more interactive and improve retention rates.
• Regular updates and new features keep users interested and encouraged in using the application.

Related: Predictions about Digital Marketing Future

36. Warby Parker – Online Eyewear Customization

Warby Parker needed to overcome consumer hesitation about buying prescription glasses online without trying them on first.

Warby Parker introduced a home try-on program where consumers can shortlist five frames to try at home for free before buying. They combined this with a robust online virtual try-on feature that uses augmented reality to simulate the glasses on the user’s face.

• Reduced barriers to online purchases of eyewear.
• Increased user contentment and sales conversions.
• Innovative trial options can overcome traditional barriers to online shopping.
• Augmented reality can effectively bridge the gap between online and offline shopping experiences.

37. Tesla – Direct Sales Model

Tesla aimed to revolutionize the car buying experience but faced legal and market resistance against its direct sales model, bypassing traditional dealerships.

Tesla persisted with its direct sales approach, focusing on educating users about the advantages of electric vehicles through experiential showrooms and interactive displays. They also engaged in legal battles to secure the right to sell directly in various states.

• Established a successful direct-to-consumer sales model.
• More control over brand identity and user experience.
• Direct sales models can provide significant advantages in controlling the brand experience.
• Educational marketing can effectively shift consumer preferences and overcome market resistance.

38. Chanel – Leveraging Heritage in Digital Marketing

Chanel needed to maintain its iconic brand status while transitioning to a digital-first marketing strategy, ensuring they connect with a younger audience without losing their established customer base.

Chanel leveraged its rich heritage by creating digital storytelling campaigns that intertwined its history with modern elements. They utilized high-quality visuals and collaborated with contemporary artists and influencers to remain relevant and appealing across generations.

• Successfully engaged both younger and older demographics.
• Maintained a luxury brand image in the digital marketplace.
• Integrating brand heritage with modern digital marketing can appeal to a broad audience.
• High-quality content and strategic influencer partnerships can elevate brand perception in the digital era.

39. Under Armour – Connected Fitness Strategy

Under Armour sought to differentiate itself from other sports apparel brands by integrating technology into its product offerings.

Under Armour acquired several fitness app companies to create a connected fitness community that tracks and shares health data. They integrated these apps with their apparel and footwear, offering consumers a comprehensive fitness monitoring system.

• Created a unique ecosystem combining apparel, footwear, and digital health tracking.
• Strengthened brand loyalty among tech-savvy fitness enthusiasts.
• Integrating digital technology with traditional products can create a unique market position.
• Building a brand community can improve user loyalty and engagement.

40. Disney – Streaming Service Launch

Disney needed to enter the competitive streaming market controlled by established players such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The challenge was to carve out a niche and attract subscribers to yet another streaming platform.

Disney leveraged its extensive library of beloved classics, along with exclusive new content from popular franchises, to launch Disney+. They marketed the platform with a nostalgic appeal combined with the excitement of new, exclusive releases, utilizing cross-promotions through their theme parks, merchandise, and television networks.

• Quickly amassed millions of subscribers worldwide.
• Successfully established Disney+ as a key player in the streaming market.
• Exclusive content and strong brand heritage can be pivotal in differentiating a new entrant in a crowded market.
• Leveraging existing brand ecosystems for cross-promotion can significantly boost the launch of new services.

Related: Digital Marketing Internship vs. Taking a Course

Closing Thoughts

These digital marketing case studies underscore the transformative power of strategic, data-driven marketing initiatives across a diverse array of industries. By examining these examples, it becomes clear that whether through embracing technological innovations, capitalizing on brand heritage, or engaging with communities in meaningful ways, companies can significantly enhance their market position and forge deeper connections with their audiences. Each case study not only narrates a story of challenge and solution but also distills critical lessons about the adaptability, creativity, and forward-thinking necessary in today’s digital marketing landscape. For businesses aiming to refine their marketing strategies, these insights offer invaluable guidance on harnessing digital tools to foster customer loyalty, drive engagement, and accelerate growth. Ultimately, these narratives celebrate the ingenuity of marketers in navigating the complexities of the digital world and crafting campaigns that resonate profoundly with consumers globally.

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Digital Marketing Case Studies: 35 Examples for Online Success

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Table of Contents

Digital Marketing Case Studies

Content marketing case studies, appsumo grew organic traffic 843% & revenue 340%  – omniscient digital marketing case study.

In this digital marketing case study, you’ll find out how Omniscient Digital used a four-part approach to grow AppSumo’s organic website traffic by 843% and the revenue from that traffic by 340$. Includes details on the research process, strategy development, content production, and building links to those web pages.

From 0 to 100,000 Visitors Per Month  – Optimist Digital Marketing Case Study

This online marketing case study example shows you how Optimist took a startup called College Raptor from 0 to 100,000 organic sessions per month. It focuses on the big-picture strategy that was used to achieve that result and explains why it worked. This is a good case study example that demonstrates what successful content creation and promotion look like for startup businesses.

American Kennel Club Increased Online Traffic by 30%  – Contently Digital Marketing Case Study

If you’re in the animal niche and looking for good Internet marketing case studies that can help you grow your website with content creation, then this article by Contently can help. Inside, you’ll learn how the company used a digital content strategy to increase website traffic by 30% for the American Kennel Club. This method attracted both new puppy owners and seasoned dog lovers and resulted in $26.6 million in content value.

3,532 New Beta Users for alwaysAI  – Beacons Point Digital Marketing Case Study

Beacons Point is a digital marketing agency that partners with B2B companies in software and technology to execute results-driven online campaigns. In this case study example, you’ll learn how Beacons Point discerned the right market for alwaysAI, a software company, to target prospects with the content they wanted, and transform the audience into an avid user base using a well-researched Internet strategy and content planning process. As a result, alwaysAI gained 3,532 new beta users, 20,000 monthly website sessions, and a 2,021% increase in traffic within just 10 months.

Online Marketing Strategy Drives 452% Increase In Organic Traffic  – Top Rank Digital Marketing Case Study

Check out the full list of 15+ Content Marketing Case Studies here .

SEO Marketing Case Studies

How i increased my organic traffic 652% in 7 days  – backlinko digital marketing case study.

Learn how Brian Dean from Backlinko used the “Skyscraper Technique 2.0” to increase his organic SEO traffic to one of his web pages by 652%. It’s also the same approach that helped a brand new post hit the #1 spot on Google within a few weeks. This online marketing case study example is full of screenshots, key findings, and guided steps for you to follow.

From 126 to 121,883 Unique Visitors In Under 6 Months  – Ahrefs Digital Marketing Case Study

This digital marketing case study example focuses on Northmill, a Fintech company founded in Stockholm. It reveals how you can analyze your top business competitors to develop higher-quality SEO content that can gain a large amount of traffic and convert those readers into customers. Read this case study to find out exactly what Northmill did during the search engine optimization campaign to go from 126 unique visitors to 121,883 in under 6 months.

From 0 to 75,000 Visits A Year  – Ryan Darani Digital Marketing Case Study

In this case study, you’ll get complete details on the challenges, limits, budgets, and timeframes for a client in the property industry that went from 0 clicks per day to 300-400 on average with only 60 pieces of content on the website. This is a good SEO marketing case study for any business that’s on a tight budget.

How We 4x’d Traffic and Doubled Revenue in E-Commerce  – Diggity Marketing Case Study

This is one of the best digital marketing case studies for e-commerce using SEO. Inside, you’ll learn how an e-commerce client grew its traffic by 417% in 8 months. You’ll get the exact SEO strategies deployed, content improvements, and backlink marketing tactics. The results speak for themselves: an extra $48,000 in additional monthly revenue was achieved for a total of 112% increase in overall revenue using a strategic online marketing strategy.

6-Step Process That Generated 150,732 Visits  – Robbie Richards Digital Marketing Case Study

In this case study, you’ll learn a repeatable 6-step process that one digital marketer used to get his client to #1 in Google using SEO. This strategy helped him outrank major digital media brands like Mashable, and increase organic website traffic by 11,065% in just 6 months.

Check out the full list of 25+ SEO Case Studies here .

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing Case Studies

32% increase in return on internet marketing ad spend  – adshark case study.

Learn how Adshark helped dogIDS, an e-commerce manufacturer and retailer of personalized dog collars and tags, achieve a high return on investment (ROI) for their pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns by analyzing historical search terms, categories, and product performance. This case study example demonstrates how Adshark segmented dogIDs Google Shopping campaigns in a way that allowed for better online bid and budget management.

49% Decrease In CPA  – Captivate Search Digital Marketing Case Study

20% increase in subscribers for forbes  – adventure media digital marketing case study.

Forbes Magazine has been in circulation for over 100 years; however, with print subscriptions on the decline, the company had to get strategic about bringing in new digital customers. The top goals for this online marketing case study were to increase the number of paid subscriptions. In addition to PPC optimization to attract a broad range of ages, income levels, and genders, Adventure Media also used a strategic video marketing campaign to bring in a new wave of college graduates.

139% ROI for a UK Clothing Brand  – Click Consult Digital Marketing Case Study

Roas up 3,197% for natural nutrients  – ppc geeks digital marketing case study.

Discover how PPC Geeks improved the Google Ads campaigns for Natural Nutrients and achieved a dramatic increase in revenue (5,789%) and ROAS (3,197%) year over year. Example paid marketing strategies include granular campaign extension, single keyword ad groups, ad copy A/B testing, KPI-focused ROAS, conversion rate optimization, and more.

Check out the full list of 20+ PPC Case Studies here .

Social Media Marketing Case Studies

793,500+ impressions for semrush on twitter – walker sands digital marketing case study, viral oreo super bowl tweet – digiday digital marketing case study.

During Super Bowl XLVII, the lights went out in the stadium and the Oreo brand went viral with a single tweet that said “Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.” Read the historical account of that famous digital marketing moment from the people who lived through it so you can gather insights on how to be better prepared for your future online marketing campaigns that you can take advantage of in real-time.

Facebook Posting Strategy That Lead to 3X Reach & Engagement – Buffer Digital Marketing Case Study

Achieving a 9 million audience by automating pinterest seo – digital marketing case study.

This is a good digital marketing case study example for marketers who use Pinterest. Discover how Chillital went from 0 to 9 million engaged audience members and 268 million impressions. You’ll learn about the step-by-step research process of finding where your audience lives and breathes content, get a detailed analysis of how the author used Pinterest to generate brand awareness, and learn about using community-driven content promotion to scale online results.

5X Increase In App Installs – Bumble Digital Marketing Case Study

Find out how Bumble, a dating app, used TikTok more effectively for social media marketing by following the mantra, “Don’t Make Ads, Make TikToks”. This case study in digital marketing resulted in a 5X increase in app installs and a 64% decrease in cost-per-registration.

Email Marketing Case Studies

Collecting 100,000 emails in one week  – tim ferris show digital marketing case study.

This digital marketing case study on email has it all: tips, templates, and code to create a successful email campaign. Discover how Harry’s, a men’s grooming brand, launched its brand online and how it collected nearly 100,000 email addresses in one week. You’ll learn everything they did using the marketing power of the Internet and email so you can try to replicate the results.

The Science Behind Obama’s Campaign Emails  – Bloomberg Digital Marketing Case Study

Increasing open rates from 20% to 29%  – pipedrive digital marketing case study.

This is one of the best digital marketing case studies on email that any business can learn from no matter the size of the email list. Inside, you’ll find out how Pipedrive used one simple tactic to increase open rates from 20% to 29% that can work with any email software.

25% Reduction In Churn for Peacock  – Braze Digital Marketing Case Study

The amazon email experience  – vero digital marketing case study.

In this case study example by Vero, you’ll get a complete analysis of Amazon’s email experience for the user. It takes you from the initial subscriber welcome message to email receipts, shipping updates, thank you content, invites, Black Friday deals, the review email, and more. There are loads of data in this case study and useful tips you can gain and use for your own email campaigns to have better success.

Check out the full list of 15+ Email Marketing Case Studies here .

Video Marketing Case Studies

8,000 video views on linkedin – biteable digital marketing case study.

During the rise of #OpenToWork movement that hit the world during the COVID layoff, one digital marketer named Katie got creative to make herself stand out from the crowd for potential employers. Find out how Katie approached video in digital marketing to amass 800 video views, 54 comments, and 100 new connections. This case study includes simple tips you can also use to get noticed on LinkedIn with the power of video.

163 Million Views On YouTube – Dove Digital Marketing Case Study

Dove launched an online marketing campaign called “Dove Real Beauty Sketches”, which was a three-minute YouTube film about how women view themselves. The goal was to ignite a global conversation about the definition of beauty, and this case study proves how video in Internet marketing helped Dove reach their goal. During its launch, the video received 163 million global views, topped the Cannes YouTube Ads Leaderboard, and won the Titanium Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Find out how a combination of great content, YouTube Brand Channels, YouTube Ads, and Google Ads led to this beautiful success.

Dollar Shave Club Viral Video – Making a Video Marketer Case Study

How artists and songs go viral – edmprod digital marketing case study.

Although it’s impossible to guarantee that a musical artist or song will go viral, there is a lot to be learned from examples that have gone viral. In this case study, you’ll discover the common threads in every viral music marketing campaign so you can try to use the same strategies for your own music or apply them to an online business.

10X Increase In Video Views – Vireo Video Digital Marketing Case Study

In this example, you’ll find out how Vireo Video helped the “We Are The Davises” YouTube channel 10X its video views. The digital marketing strategy and execution succeeded in driving over 1.2 million subscribers and over 60 million monthly views within 4 months. Inside, you’ll learn about the initial challenges, strategy solutions, and results.

Affiliate Marketing Case Studies

Going from zero to $10k in monthly revenue  – contentellect digital marketing case study.

Follow the steps Contentellect has taken to grow an affiliate marketing website from $0 to $10k a month in under 24 months. Includes a breakdown of the monthly costs, income, and traffic.

Zero to $20k/month In a Year  – Side Hustle Nation Digital Marketing Case Study

In this case study, you’ll learn how the owners of Finvsfin.com scaled their affiliate website from $0 to $20,0000 per month in one year. Includes strategies on keyword research, how to structure content, ways to attract backlinks, optimization tactics to grow traffic, and more.

How I Made $16,433 With One Product  – BloggersPassion Digital Marketing Case Study

Amazon site earns $2,000/month with 100 articles  – fat stacks digital marketing case study.

This is one of the best online marketing case studies for affiliate marketers. Dom Wells from Human Proof Designs posted complete details on the Fat Stacks Blog with example content types, content timelines, link types, and link timelines to help other affiliates improve their sites to make more money on the Internet.

Amazon Site Grows from $0 to $4500+ In 4 Months  – NichePie Digital Marketing Case Study

In this case study, you’ll learn how NichePie took a famous affiliate marketing website called 10Beasts to $4,500 in monthly earnings in just 4 months. The site then went on to make $40,000 by month 8 and kept growing. Luqman Khan, the owner, eventually sold the affiliate site for over half-a-million dollars. Inside this Internet marketing case study example, you’ll get important insights into the keyword research process, site structure, content setup, SEO, and link building process. This article also includes a lot of screenshots to help you follow along with the online journey to success.

Check out the full list of 10+ Affiliate Marketing Case Studies here .

What Is a Digital Marketing Case Study?

Are case studies good for digital marketing.

Case studies are good for digital marketing because you can learn about how to do digital marketing in an effective way. Instead of just studying the theory of digital marketing, you can learn from real examples that applied online methods to achieve success.

Digital Marketing Case Study Examples Summary

I hope you enjoyed this list of the best digital marketing case studies that are based on real-world results and not just theory.

New online marketing case studies are being published every month and I’ll continue to update this list as they become available. So keep checking back to read the current sources of information on digital marketing.

SEO Chatter is dedicated to teaching the fundamentals of search engine marketing to help marketers understand how to increase organic website traffic and improve search engine rankings.

33+ Best Digital Marketing Case Studies [2021 Update]

• June 16, 2020

Looking for some inspiration for your digital marketing?

The best thing you can do is read up some real-life, practical digital marketing case studies.

But see, good case studies are few and far in-between…

...Which is why we compiled this mega-list of the BEST digital marketing case studies in 2021.

Whether you’re looking for SEO, Content Marketing, PPC, or whatever else, we included it in this guide.

So, let’s dive right into it.

Ready, set, go!

33+ Digital Marketing Case Studies [All Channels]

Looking for a specific digital marketing channel you want to read up on?

Feel free to skip ahead:

SEO Case Studies

Content marketing case studies, facebook ads case studies, google ads case studies, influencer marketing case studies, other digital marketing case studies, 1. apollo digital - 0 to 200k monthly organic traffic.

• 0 to 200,000 monthly organic traffic in 2 years.
• Ranked #1-3 for extremely high CPC keywords (20$ CPC+).

Case Study Summary:

Apollo Digital helped set up an SEO strategy for a client (business process management software) that brought in 200K+ monthly organic traffic in just 2 years.

• Apollo Digital (that’s us!) completely revamped a SaaS company’s content strategy.
• We pin-pointed issues with existing blog posts (mainly, keyword cannibalization ), and proposed improvements
• Did keyword research to identify and prioritize top keywords for the company.
• Implemented content outlines to make sure the content that writers were writing was on-point for SEO.
• Used superior content UX to make the blog extremely easy to read.

You can find the full SEO case study here.

2. Backlinko - 652% Organic Traffic Increase in 7 days

• Increased organic traffic to one of their webpages by 652% in 7 days.
• Ranking went from the middle of the second page on Google to #5.

Backlinko implemented the Skyscraper Technique 2.0. Here’s what they did...

• Created a mobile SEO checklist blog post which cracked the top 10 results for the target keyword, got a huge spike in traffic in its first week, but soon dropped to the middle of the second page.
• Realized the post was getting buried because it didn’t satisfy user intent for that keyword.
• Analyzed first page results to figure out user search intent for extremely competitive keywords (“mobile SEO”).
• Changed blog post format from case study to an actual checklist to satisfy the intent, and optimized for user experience by making the text easier to read.

Check out the detailed steps for the Skyscraper Technique 2.0 here.

3. Ahrefs - Using the Skyscraper Technique to Obtain 15 Links With a 6.5% Success Rate

• Sent out 232 emails and obtained 15 backlinks, at a 6.5% success rate.

Dale Cudmore tested the SEO skyscraper technique for his brand new site (an online cv builder).

• Picked a topic that was very relevant to his niche. Since he was trying to build a resume builder, the topic was “how to write a resume.”
• Followed the skyscraper technique and created even better content than what was ranking at the time.
• Then, he reached out to people who had already linked to the specific content he was improving upon. Since they had already linked to a similar article, they were more likely to link to content that’s better.
• Dale sent out 232 emails and obtained 15 links to his article. Though his rankings didn’t change significantly (extremely competitive niche), the technique proved to be a success for generating backlinks.

Want to learn more about the technique Dale used? Check out Backlinko’s write-up on the skyscraper technique here.

Looking to read the complete case study? Go here .

4. GotchSEO - Squeeze Page That Converts at 74.5%

• Set up a squeeze page that converted at 74.5%.

Natchan Gotch set up a high-converting squeeze page that used a lot of trust signals to get the visitors to opt-in for the content.

• Created a well-structured landing page & ran retargeting ads to it.
• Presented his offer through a benefit-driven headline.
• He used distinct trust signals (a recognizable logo, GDPR compliance, copyright notice) to mitigate any trust risks and maximize the chances of the prospect taking action.

You can check out the complete case study here .

5. Online Ownership - Winning in Local SEO for a Competitive Industry

• Ranked #1 for competitive taxi-related keywords ($1.38 CPC+) with local SEO .

Online Ownership, an SEO agency, helped a taxi company dominate local search rankings.

• Created in-city location guide on how to get to/from the local airports which has been viewed over 170,000 times by now. ..
• Mentioned info on long-term airport parking companies, got them to share the content once it was live.
• The company was at the end of one county, and the beginning of another, which hurt their location-based search queries when the county was specified. So he changed the local NAP (name, address, phone number), and corrected the PIN marker to correctly account for the business location.
• The business started appearing within the local pack for almost all main search queries within the city.

Check out the full case study here.

6. Kaiserthesage - The Definitive Guide to Enterprise Link Building

• Drove almost 5 million organic visits in 2 years through authority content. Focused 80% of the campaign promotion on acquiring high-quality backlinks.

Jason of Kaiserthesage wanted to create a process for generating high-quality backlinks. In this case study, he details his process outreach process:

• Identified tactics they could effectively use for link acquisition campaigns (broken/resource link building and link reclamation).
• Compiled list of high-authority brands that were likely to link back to them.
• Conducted large-scale outreach campaigns, and followed up at least 3 times per prospect.
• Tried out different content types for link building, including practical guides/tutorials, original research studies, case studies, infographics, and more.
• Tracked results every step of the way, optimized relevant site pages (write for us, recommended list pages, etc.), and tested more outreach tactics.

You can find the full enterprise link building case study here.

7. Growth Machine - 0 to 150,000 Monthly Organic Visitors in 8 Months

• Generated 150,000 monthly organic visitors in 8 months for a brand new blog project.
• The site grew from a tiny blog to one of the most popular tea blogs on the internet.

Nat Eliason (founder of Growth Machine), grew a tea blog to 150,000 monthly searches in order to use it as a case study for his agency.

• Nat chose a topic area he knew a lot about (tea) and knew there was an audience for.
• Researched keywords with the perfect mix of low difficulty and high volume and arranged everything in a spreadsheet.
• Started publishing high quality content surrounding the topic at a rate of four blog posts per week, every week, for 8 months.
• Used Reddit, Facebook groups, and Pinterest to promote the content and drive traffic. inked back to the new content from owned websites, and mentioned it in interviews and guest posts.

You can find the full case study here.

8. Robbie Richards - 6-Step SEO Process That Generated 150,732 Visits

• Increased organic traffic by 11,065% in just 6 months and generated 20,314 organic pageviews with a single post.
• Captured 2,335 emails.

Robbie Richards details the 6-step SEO process he used to grow his client’s drone site:

• Found a topic (drones) with solid monthly search volume and a lot of secondary keyword targets.
• Created the best online guide on how to fly a quadcopter - more in-depth and high-quality than other articles at the time.
• Optimized the blog post for on-page SEO, included plenty of external/internal links, improved page speed, and made the content more UX friendly.
• Inserted a pop-up and lead-box to start generating subscribers from the blog post.
• Promoted content on Quora and relevant online forums.
• Set up social automation to share content automatically
• Submitted content on to relevant scoop.it pages.
• Used 4 different outreach strategies to build high-quality backlinks.

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Let's skyrocket your traffic together.

9. Apollo Digital - $25,000+ From A Single Blog Post

• Content piece went viral, generating $25,000 revenue in business from a single blog post.
• 20+ leads, and over 11,000+ in page views over the first month.

Apollo Digital created and promoted epic content, which went viral and brought in over $25K in revenue (and growing).

• Researched a topic that dealt with major pain points for SaaS founders.
• Created a super in-depth 14,000+ words blog post full of actionable tips and tactics on SaaS marketing , all based on their unique perspective and experience.
• Provided better content UX, used a ton of on-page visual elements, and a Smart Content Filter plugin to make the guide easier to digest.
• Promoted on 12 different marketing channels, including Reddit, Hacker News, and Facebook groups
• Ran ads on Quora, Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter.

Check out the full content marketing case study here.

10. Content Mavericks - This Content Distribution Strategy Got 87,591 Visits To One Blog Post

• Used a content distribution strategy to get 87,591 visits to one blog post in 60 days.

Chris Von Wilpert of Content Mavericks created a giant article that completely breaks down HubSpot’s marketing strategy. In this case study, he talks about the content promotion strategy he used to get the article to go viral.

• Created keystone content on HubSpot’s growth strategy.
• Promoted it to his fans: inner circle, social circle, and outer circle.
• Used free traffic multipliers: email, push notification, Facebook messenger, and outreach lists to distribute content.
• Used paid traffic multipliers to manufacture virality. Reached thousands of new fans by running retargeting ads on Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Outbrain

Check out the full content distribution strategy case study here.

11. OptiMonk - How iSpionage Increased Blog Referral Traffic by 58% in 1 Month Using Onsite Retargeting

• Increased blog referral traffic by 58.09%.
• Achieved a 5.47% CTR for blog redirect popup.

iSpionage was publishing new blog posts regularly, but their blog wasn’t redirecting a whole lot of referral traffic to their product page. Here’s what they did to fix that....

• They used an OptiMonk exit-intent popup to entice users to check out their main homepage.
• To redirect only interested visitors,the popup would only appear for readers who had spent a minimum of 10 seconds on the blog. And for better visitor experience, they set up the popup to appear a maximum number of 5 times per visitor, with at least 1 day between appearances.

Check out the full iSpionage case study by OptiMonk here.

12. SEO Travel UK - 11K Website Views in 2 Weeks From Infographic Marketing

• 11,304 website visits in 2 weeks.
• 245% increased in referral traffic compared to the same period of last year.
• More than 100 new high-quality domains linking to the site.

During the peak Game of Thrones popularity, SEO Travel UK went viral by creating infographic based on the popular show.

• Researched the best/most popular Game of Thrones content on the web to make sure that their project was worth pursuing.
• Created an infographic of all the real-life locations where the TV show was filmed.
• Reached out to people who had shared similar content in the past and asked if they’d like to feature the infographic as an exclusive.
• Promoted infographic on GoT fandom and other ‘geek’ sites and forums.

Check out the full content marketing strategy used and the case study here.

13. YesOptimist - Scaled a Startup From 0 to 100K Visitors/Mo In About One Year

• Scaled College Raptor from 0 to 100K organic sessions per month in about one year.
• Generated 1M+ visitors to the website.

YesOptimist used a content marketing strategy that combined evergreen, social/viral and link-earning content.

• Used public data and visualcontent (infographics, maps, rankings, etc.) to score early wins and backlinks from high-quality domain websites.
• Created a giant resource with rankings for overlooked colleges. Then, they reached out to the said colleges, and asked for a share. Overall, just this netted them around 250,000+ visitors in just one week.
• Published 200+ articles over a few months to achieve explosive growth.

14. CanIRank - How Fieldwire Scaled Marketing Without Losing Their Focus on Product

• Achieved top 3 rankings for nearly all of their primary keywords in 6 months.
• The traffic (if they’d advertised on the keywords) would cost them more than $10,000 a year.

CanIRank helped Fieldwire (web and mobile collaboration platform) boost their rankings for all primary keywords in their domain, beating out larger and more established companies.

• Used CanIRank’s “Improve My Ranking” tool to identify high potential pages with keywords that were ranking, but too low to get much traffic.
• Used data-driven on-page optimization for high potential pages.
• Revised content strategy and identified additional content topics that offered a good balance of value and ranking difficulty.
• Reached out to relevant media outlets and pitched founder interviews and other relevant stories.

You can see the full Fieldwire content marketing case study here.

15. BuzzSumo - How BuzzSumo Achieved $2.5m Annual Revenue in its First Year: Case Study in SaaS Growth

• Gained over 160K freemium subscribers and more than 2K paying customers in their first year.
• Gained 2.5M annual revenue total.

In 2014, as the use of AdBlock was growing, businesses were starting to rely on content more than ever. Here’s how BuzzSumo capitalized on the content marketing frenzy.

• Spent most of their budget on their content marketing tool, which generated more awareness, sharing, and advocacy than any marketing expenditures.
• Gained the support of important influencers (Larry Kim, Rand Fishkin, Neil Patel, etc.).
• Focused on making the product sticky and reducing churn rate.
• Created unique content based on data, gave away everything they knew, and started growing steadily over the year.

See the full case study of how BuzzSumo achieved 2.5M in annual revenue here.

16. GrooveHQ - Behind the Scenes: How We’ve Built a $5M/Year Business in 3 Years With Content Marketing

• Achieved $5M/Year in annual recurring revenue and gained over 250,000 readers each month in over 3 years.

GrooveHQ wanted to rebuild their content marketing strategy with a focus on their target market's challenges and goals. Here’s how they accomplished that:.

• Redesigned their content marketing strategy to be more transparent and focus on their own business challenges and goals.
• Asked new email subscribers about their business struggles, and answered those questions in the form of blog posts.
• Reached out to influencers, and asked for their thoughts and feedback on blog posts (Instead of begging them for shares).
• Ran A/B tests on narrative-based storytelling blog posts to see which ones performed better.

Find the full GrooveHQ $5M content marketing case study here.

17. Zest - Generate MQLs for 15x less? Yes, please. How Whatagraph crushed it

• Lowered Whatagraph’s cost per marketing qualified lead (MQL) by 15x - from $60 to just $4.
• Of all the users who signed up for a free trial as a result of the campaign, 9% were sales qualified leads (SQLs) that converted at a cost 4x less than Whatagraph’s usual paid advertising per-lead cost.

Whatagraph wanted to promote their annual marketing report template to the right audience without breaking their budget. Here’s how they did this:

• Whatagraph partnered with Zest to extend their web presence and promote their marketing annual report template.
• Paid $400 for a content boost strategy to promote their template on the Zest Content Stream and in their newsletter.
• The campaign started just before Christmas and continued through January 23, 2020, which lowered Whatagraph’s cost per MQL by 15x.

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18. AdEspresso - Facebook Ads Case Study: The Million Dollar Indiegogo Campaign

• Secured pre-orders from over 76 countries, with over 2,000 backers on Indiegogo.
• Achieved over $900K in funding.

BionicGym wanted to promote their Indiegogo page for an increase in sales and site visits. Here’s how they did this:

• Set up one campaign per country ads and set the objective to ‘Conversions’.
• Split-tested up to 252 ads and used the auto-optimization feature to relocate funding across the different ads, depending on how they performed.
• Set up retargeting campaigns and split test to everyone who visited the Indiegogo page and watched the Facebook video ad.
• Created lookalike audiences for the best-performing audiences.
• Reached a 9x ROI for some of the campaigns.

Check out the full Facebook Ads million-dollar Indiegogo campaign case study here.

19. Andrew Hubbard - $36,449 In Revenue From a $4,159 Ad Spend

• Generated $36,449 in revenue from $4,159 ad spend,
• Gained 769 new email subscribers and 128 new Facebook page likes.

Andrew Hubbard helped the client (Navid Moazzez) advertise his flagship course through Facebook ads.

• Ran ads a week before the course opened to get email newsletter opt-ins.
• Targeted warm traffic (Facebook fans, email list) first to an opt-in page.
• Ran ads for cold traffic, directing them to an un-gated (no-opt in) blog post. Once people had read the blog post, they were retargeted with ads promoting a relevant lead magnet.
• Created ads focusing on urgency and scarcity when bonus packages were starting to expire.

You can see the full Facebook Ads case study here.

19. Sugatan - Step-by-step Ecommerce Scaling from 50k/Mo to 520k/Mo with Facebook Ads

• $520K+ in monthly sales with 3.79x ROAS through the funnel.
• 2.35x ROAS at top-of-funnel, spending $100k+/monthly.

Sugatan (eCommerce growth-hacking agency) scaled their client using Facebook Ads and by testing different kinds of creatives. Here’s what, exactly, they did:

• Installed HotJar on the client’s eCommerce site to get insights on how customers behaved. Tested different video creative types, different ad ratio sizes, copy, thumbnails, and buttons to see what converted best.
• Killed off smaller ad-sets with the same audiences to prepare for scaling. Increased budget 20-30% twice per day for 2-3 days.
• Increased budget 1 month before Christmas and Black Friday sales, and launched a Facebook Messenger & email collection campaign 1 week before the sale started. Created VIP discounts for people who gave them their email addresses or subscribed to their messenger list.
• Starting running ads for the whole week before Black Friday - giving 10% off to everyone tracked via Facebook Pixel and 20% for VIP sales which were on for 24h.

Check out the full agency eCommerce business Facebook ad case study here.

20. Mark Brinker - How I Improved My Facebook Advertising By 400% In Just 4 Weeks

• Decreased cost per subscriber from $11.43 to $2.40 (79% reduction) in 4 weeks.
• Increased number of weekly subscribers from 10 to 51 (400% increase).

Mark Brinker (consultant) increased his weekly subscribers at a cheaper cost through Facebook Ads by promoting his e-book.

• Tested 6 different ad headlines and 3 ad images.
• Let all the 18 variations of the ads run for 1 week, and then eliminated the ones that were performing poorly.
• Deleted 3 more ads with headlines that were not resonating with the audience after that week.
• Found the winning combination by end of week 4 and continued running that ad.

You can see the full Facebook advertising case study here.

21. Leadpages - From 4% to 40% conversion

• Conversion rate shot up from 4% to 40% - a 10x increase from similar campaigns in the past.

Jenny Berk used Leadpage’s ad builder to promote her coaching services and optimize her micro funnel.

• Queued up $50 budget, created a custom audience from her email database (.CSV file), and layered a lookalike audience on top of that.
• Sent traffic to a targeted landing page, and created consistent ad copy and images throughout the whole funnel.
• Ran Facebook Ads for her warm leads and lookalike audiences, based on her email subscribers.

Check out Jenny’s full Facebook ads case study here.

22. Brian Downard - $194 in Facebook Ads into $100K in Sales

• Generated $106,496 in patio furniture sales from $194 in Facebook ads.

Brian Downard helped high-end patio furniture store client drive more sales and bring in more people into their local store;

• Built a warm audience using the content the furniture store had been previously sharing (blog posts, eBooks, infographics, guides, and more).
• Incentivized people to go visit the showroom in person by offering a 50% discount in the ads.
• Redirected people to a landing page from the ad, which showed a variety of products to appeal to different target audiences.
• Included a clear CTA for them to get in touch with the sales team.

You can find the full Facebook ad case study here.

23. Reinis Fischer - Spending $4 Per Day On Facebook Ads - Case Study

• Top ads gathered 1,000+ likes and shares for a budget of $8.
• Gained 50-200+ clicks per day back to the website and acquired 600+ new followers on Facebook.

Reinis Fischer grew his Facebook page about his tourism services through Facebook Ad campaigns promoting his article:

• Targeted other countries for his blog articles about tourism activities in Georgia to build brand recognition and grow his Facebook page.
• Spent $4 per day on Facebook ads and promoted only the best possible articles related to his audience.
• Promoted 1 article for 2 days with an 8$ budget for 30 days.
• Once each campaign was over, manually invited everyone who liked the posts to follow the Facebook page as well.

Check out the full spending $4 per day on Facebook ads case study here.

22. Paid Insights - AdWords Case Study: How $520 Turned Into $6,120

• Spent $520 and acquired 6 new clients for local mental health counselors.
• Gained $6,120 in revenue over 3 months.

Ross Kaplan of Paid Insights helped mental health counselor client gain new clients by running a local AdWords campaign:

• Built a new website for the client & optimized it for conversions.
• Used modified broad match keywords so that people would still get the ad even if they searched for it in a different order.
• Targeted only local zip codes surrounding the client’s office so the drive time for her customers would be under 10 minutes

Check out the full AdWords case study here.

23. Daisy-ree Quaker - PPC Case Study: How We Cut AdWords Costs by 67% With a Simple Tweak

• Costs dropped by $10,000 while conversions remained the same.
• The cost per conversion dropped from $87 to $16.
• Impressions dropped by 72% while CTR went up 103%.
• The conversion rate rose from 6% to 18%.

Daisy (online marketer) helped her SaaS client rethink their ad bidding strategy.

• SaaS company client wanted to cut back on ad spend because constantly bidding for first place was becoming too expensive.
• Realized most web users are trained to scroll past ads and decided to start bidding on 3rd position on Google as a test.
• Saw campaign results start increasing over the course of 3 months. Lowering AdWords rank helped get more views on their ads, and widened the pool of people that could see the ads because of a closer association with natural listings.

You can find the full PPC case study here.

24. Exposure Ninja - How We Increased PPC Leads by 325% in 60 Days for a Dental Clinic

• Increased conversions by 252.94% (from 17 to 60).
• Decreased cost per conversion from £154.28 to just £34.37.

Exposure Ninja helped a dental clinic, based in a competitive area for PPC ads, generate more customers.

• Installed Hotjar to understand where users were dropping off on the landing page and which areas were acting as conversion blockers. Found that visitors weren’t able to find the information they needed about the client's top service.
• Created a new landing page focusing on their priority, high-profit services.
• Because the client was running a Google Ads campaign before, they could use historical data to experiment with advanced bidding strategies.
• Introduced the new landing pages and tweaked the campaigns to maximize the client’s budget.

You can find the full increased dental PPC leads case study here.

25. ColaDigital - How We Increased Sales by 30% in 30-days Using Optimized Google Ads For a Local Business

• Increased year over year sales for local business by 30% in 30-days

ColaDigital helped a client set up their Google Ads account campaign from the ground up after they had an unpleasant experience with another agency.

• Created unique ad groups and ads for the client's most profitable keywords.
• Set up a hyper-targeted campaign using 1 unique ad group and 3 different match types for each ad group keyword.
• Set up negative keywords and turned on audience demographics in Google Analytics

You can find the full google ads local business case study here.

26. BoxCrush - AdWords Success Story

Helped an industrial client who had a lot of impressions but very little clicks:

• Increase CTR from 2.41% to 3.89%
• Decrease CPC from $2.24 to $2.17 in 1 month.

BoxCrush helped an industrial client improve their AdWords campaign when their click-through rate had fallen.

• Rebuilt customer’s AdWords account from the ground up, splitting it into meaningful campaigns that targeted specific demographics.
• Built Ad Groups within each campaign and created ads targeting audiences with each group.
• Once they saw an increase in performance, they expanded the client’s campaign from three Ad groups to six.
• Made the ads relate more to specific keywords, which caused the clickthrough rate to increase.
• Refined and re-optimized the process over time, causing the results to grow even further after the 1st month.

27. Sumo - How Noah Kagan Grew A Website To 10K Visitors In A Month

• Grew website from 0 to 10K visitors in a month.
• Grew email list from 173 to 2,322 in 3 days.

Noah Kagan took on an apprentice (Julien Marion) and helped him grow his brand new blog about sleep from scratch, with no prior connections or budget.

• Created a simple landing page to capture emails before the site was live.
• Set realistic and SMART traffic goals of 10,000 visitors in 30 days.
• Created a quant-based marketing approach strategy to build the plan, thus working backward from the 10K visitors goal.
• Reached out to relevant companies to participate in a viral giveaway that he would then promote to the site’s audience through their newsletter.
• Reached out to niche influencers for interviews to drive referral traffic.
• Tracked daily results and goals to stay accountable.

See the full marketing plan and the whole growing website case study here.

28. HubSpot - How PureVPN Increased Website Traffic by 289% Through Storytelling

• Gained a 289% increase in new visitors’ traffic site year over year.
• Helped raise awareness on cyberstalking and attracted people who wanted to add to the conversation.

PureVPN wanted to tell the stories of cyberstalking victims and raise awareness on the subject. Here's how they did it:

• Designed a buyer’s journey centered around raising awareness on cyberstalking and its effects on society.
• Researched reading habits of their buyer persona, used keyword research tools for idea generation, and searched for topics on Quora based on questions real people were asking.Gathered statistical data of past and recent cyberstalking incidents. Identified and reached out to influencers who were associated with cyberstalking awareness campaigns and victims or people who could tell their stories.
• Interviewed influencers and turned the interviews into blog posts. Experienced a significant spike in website traffic through influencers sharing the content.

See how PureVPN increased website traffic through storytelling and influencer marketing tactics here.

29. Beeketing - How Gymshark Grew by 200%+ Year On Year and Hit £41M in Sales

• Grew by 200% year on year and hit £41M in sales in nearly 7 years.
• Achieved a cult-like following.

Ben Francis (founder of GymShark) disrupted the gym apparels market using social media and influencer marketing.

• Only selected specific influencers with strong Instagram engagement and following to gain credibility.
• Sponsored various fitness Instagrammers, YouTubers, and bloggers and organized meet-ups.
• Partnered with fitness and lifestyle influencers on TikTok.
• Announced the "66 Days" fitness challenge on their site and other social media platforms to drive user-generated content.
• Built long-lasting relationships with fans on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Spotify, and other social media channels.

Check out the full Gymshark influencer growth story here.

30. Leadfeeder - How ConvertKit Grew from $98k to $625k MRR by Doing 150 Webinars in 1 Year

• Grew monthly revenue from $98K to $625K in 12 months.
• Hosted more than 150 webinars in the first year, saw a 637% growth in monthly revenue.

Founders of ConvertKit (email marketing platform) wanted to grow their brand and generate revenue with a low budget. They decided to focus on webinars.

• Focused on one marketing strategy (webinars) that didn’t require a lot of money and they could use to build a community around a relatively new product.
• Maintained a wide-open affiliate program and started doing webinars with any affiliate partner, no matter how small their audience was.
• Gave away tons of free information in 20-30 webinars per month, while asking for nothing in return.
• Maintained a narrow target audience (blogging community), and kept the technology simple (minimal tech issues).

You can find the full webinar marketing case study by ConvertKit here.

31. Buffer - The Simple Facebook Posting Strategy That Helped us 3x Our Reach and Engagement

• Tripled reach from 44,000 to 150,000+ people per week on Facebook.
• Increased average daily engagement from ~500 to 1,000+.
• Posts started reaching between 5,000-20,000 people

Buffer noticed their Facebook reach and engagement were decreasing for their posts over time. Here's what they did:

• Noticed that the more they posted on Facebook, the less reach they received with each post.
• Started posting only entertaining and educational content.
• Posted only once or twice on Facebook and curated content to increase engagement.
• Created a few brand awareness and engagement-focused posts to build an active Facebook audience.
• Boosted posts that were already performing well to amplify the reach.

You can find Buffer’s complete Facebook posting strategy here.

32. SEMRush - Raise Your Game: A Step-By-Step Guide To Gamification Marketing

• More than 9,300 users took part in their game.
• Received 8+ million impressions on Twitter.

SEMRush wanted to educate their users on their different product features and stand out while doing so. For this, they used gamification marketing..

• Customers were finding it hard to stay up to date with all the novelties the SEMRush tool offered. SEMRush wanted to increase their awareness of their platform’s wide functionality and increase the number of tools people used.
• Aligned campaign with a global event (Easter).
• Made it so that the Egg Hunt game looked good and felt satisfying from a gamification perspective. Those who found all 15 eggs were awarded a list of the 10,000 most searched keywords for 10 countries.
• Created a special hashtag for Twitter (#semrushegghunt), which picked up and went viral, and made sure the customer support and social media teams were ready in case users needed any help.

Check out the full step-by-step guide to gamification marketing case study here.

33. Hootsuite - How the British Museum Increased Social Media Engagement by 126%

• Gained 2M+ new followers on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
• Gained 126% more tweet responses, increasing customer engagement.
• Over 1,300 tweets tagged and analyzed to uncover actionable insights.

The British Museum turned to Hootsuite to set up a better social media campaign strategy and engage more frequently and more effectively with its audience.

• Set a three key goal strategy to increase online reach and engagement, deliver digital-first customer service, and identify opportunities for income and revenue generation.
• Identified opportunities to develop channel-specific content to make the best of each social media channel.
• Used Hootsuite to adapt to the new social media strategy and to track and analyze results.

See the full British Museum social media case study here.

34. Saashacker - 19 SaaS Marketing Strategies That Bootstrapped Ahrefs To $40m ARR

• Grew from 15 to 50 employees and over $40M in annual recurring revenue while being 100% bootstrapped.

Ahrefs used a mix of different SaaS marketing strategies to grow their brand.

• Rejected conventional SaaS marketing wisdom, focused on product quality driving word of mouth marketing and boosted their exposure at the world’s biggest SEO event. Went semi-viral on Twitter by adding nerdy SEO data to the coffee cups at the conference and giving them away to attendees..
• Produced a lot of content on how their SEO tool solved specific problems and used blog posts as ads.
• Created and gave away courses on blogging for businesses for free, used word of mouth marketing to promote it, and pushed employee images to the front to gain readers’ trust.
• Did 20 podcasts in 4 months, posted content a lot on Reddit, YouTube, their own blog, and other channels.
• ...And a LOT more.

See the full case study here.

And that’s a wrap!

Ready to 10x your business through digital marketing now?

We hope the above case studies were helpful and you can use them as inspiration to drive amazing results.

For more industry-leading digital marketing content and tips, be sure to check out our blog .

Did we miss a case study? Have YOU done something interesting that deserves a mention in this list?

Let us know down in the comments, we’d love to hear from you!

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8 Real Digital Marketing Case Studies

December 24, 2021 ~

Last updated: May 4, 2023

We’ve put out so many posts covering different marketing strategies and tutorials. 

In this list of Facebook ad campaign examples , we covered 7 of our clients’ top m ost profitable Facebook ads…

…and we broke the ads down to show what made them work.

You guys really seemed to find that post helpful.

So in this post, we’re going to follow a similar format, but we’re not limiting the examples to Facebook. 

Today, we’re going to walk through some of our top digital marketing case studies using 8 real client examples.

Let’s get started!

8 Digital Marketing Case Studies From Our Clients

Case study #1: moto trax.

The first one on our list of digital marketing case studies is Moto Trax.

It is a snow bike company so he had specific products for a specific audience.

We performed SEO , social media marketing, PPC , and website needs for them. 

• SEO, Website, & PPC

We got them 78 first-page Google rankings that resulted in over 77,000 new clicks to their website and $96,664.98 in revenue, in 5 months. 

We know that’s a lot to unpack, so let’s start with the SEO process.

SEO is the process of making your website rank at the top of the organic Google search results page.

That is when somebody types in a keyword or search term that’s relevant to your business.

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For example, if someone searches “atlanta social media management company” on Google/Bing/Yahoo (or any search engine)…

…then the site that is search engine optimized the best for that keyword will be the first organic listing.

So we helped them appear on the first page of Google results for 78 keywords.

Now, SEO is usually a long-term approach, sometimes taking 12 months or more to see first page results. 

So the major key to achieving these results so fast was their site’s age and history.

Our client had already established some web authority over 5 years but was doing SEO wrong.

Our team was able to successfully come in to:

• restructure their website,
• develop a strategy that included on and off-page optimization, and
• drive top search results.

And while we did perform other services for them, which we’ll get into in a second…

…SEO was a big part of our strategy because of the nature of their business.

Because their products were so specific and niche, it made sense to put their business in front of people actively searching for those specific terms.

That’s what our SEO and PPC services did for them.

So just take a minute to think about your business. 

Is the problem your company solves or the solution that your product or service provides something that people Google often?

If you think so, you can confirm by using Google Keyword Planner (it’s free!) to see exactly how often any search term is searched a month. 

But for now, we just wanted to point out that even though SEO is usually a long-term approach…

…that shouldn’t deter your company from starting the process if your audience is on Google actively searching for what you offer.

Now as for the social media service we provided for Mototrax, it’s important to note that you can still target a specific cold audience on social media.

But, it’s not guaranteed that they’re actively searching for or in need of your product right then and there when you deliver the ad to them.

So on that note, let’s look at the social media marketing we did for them to see what worked. 

We drove over 49,000 Facebook page likes, over 205 thousand video views, and 1,718 leads at $2.00 per lead, from social ads.

So how did we do this and what made it work? 

Well to answer the first question, we used specific objective-oriented ad campaigns to fuel their marketing funnel. 

We ran a page-like ad campaign…

…that drove Facebook page likes at $0.19 per like – that’s less than a quarter per like!

We ran a video views campaign…

…that drove over 2-05K video views at $.001 per video view.

We used the post-engagement campaign to boost their posts…

…and get over 300,000 engagements at $0.01 per engagement.

And lastly, we ran a conversion campaign…

…to acquire over 1700 leads at $2 per lead.

We’ve said this in other posts, but campaign objective selection is important because they’re optimized by goal. 

So a video views campaign is going to show your ad to people within your target audience who are most likely to watch your video. 

Whereas if you targeted the same audience with a page-like ad campaign…

…the ad is going to be delivered to people within that audience who are most likely to like your page. 

And this is all driven by Facebook’s AI and users’ behavior patterns on the platform. 

So that’s why we thought it’s important to show you all the different campaigns we used.

That’s because too often we see business owners who are new to advertising come in and start running engagement campaigns…

…when what they really want are website lead form completions. 

Now, the reason all of these campaigns worked is because:

• our client had the budget to fuel them, and
• we were addressing every part of the marketing funnel. 

Our client spent over $18,000 in those 5 months but was happy to do so given the returns. 

And if you’ve read any of our marketing funnel posts, you know there’s:

• an awareness phase,
• an engagement or consideration phase, and
• a conversion phase

…that your audience usually has to go through in order to become a customer. Check out this post next to learn what marketing funnel means for your business .

Our page likes and video views campaigns helped them garner brand awareness…

…that could later be retargeted to get further engagement out of their new followers and eventually, convert them into leads.

And before we jump into case study #2…

…we also want to invite you to check out our new social media ads training course to fuel your knowledge in social media advertising.

Case Study #2: Royce Chocolate

The next one on our list of digital marketing case studies is for a famous brand of chocolate from Japan.

We helped Royce Chocolate generate a 225.25% return on investment using PPC.

We generated 287 conversions that resulted in $13,686.90 in revenue.

So, a little background on the company, they were voted as the number one gift item in Japan’s gift-giving culture.

But after a few years, their products were eventually made available across 14 countries, including the U.S.

So, they hired us to help increase their brand awareness and online sales via Google Ads.

Similar to what we discussed regarding SEO in the last example…

…PPC is another way to put your website at the top of the search results for any given keyword that you feel is relevant. 

The main difference is that with PPC, you’re paying Google directly for that space, and this is reflected by users with the “Ad” symbol next to your website.

It’s a quicker route to get to the top of the search results…

…but the caveat is that it constantly takes money to fuel it. Soon as you stop paying for clicks, you stop appearing there. 

Having said that, it is often a great temporary option to start driving immediate sales and get some cash flow coming in…

…while you work on a more sustainable plan like SEO. 

For Royce’s Chocolates, they spent $4,208.14 and made $13,686.90 back! So let’s look at how we did it.

We broke their campaigns up:

• by different keywords, and
• by different match types

…based on popular search terms we found in the keyword research we did prior.

Now some of the match types we used in their campaign are no longer available.

The match types available now are broad match, phrase match, and exact match.

So Google’s example here is for the keyword “lawn mowing service.” 3 words, 1 keyword. 

If you use “broad match” targeting, your ad will appear when related searches are made such as lawn aeration services.

This is probably the least popular type to use because it’s very loose targeting.

Phrase Match means your ad will only be shown if the search query includes the meaning of the keyword.

For instance, “lawn moving service near me” or “hire company to mow lawn.” 

This is the match type that replaced Broad Match Modifier which is what we used in Royce’s campaign.

And then lastly, we have the Exact Match, where your ads will only be shown on searches that have the same meaning as your keyword such as:

• “lawn mowing service”
• “grass cutting service”

So that was our crash course in PPC match types for you.

And for this post, we wanted you to understand that we tested out multiple keywords…

…in addition to testing Broad Match Modifier and Exact Match to drive the results we did for Royce’s Chocolates. 

These were the top search ads we used that resulted in their 287 conversions…

…sending them right to the shop page for the collection of chocolates they were promoting.

Now let’s look at a PPC case study for a client from a totally different industry.

Case Study #3: Fox Cities Real Estate

Moving on to the next on our list of digital marketing case studies is Fox Cities Home Buyers is a company based in Wisconsin, USA.

They buy houses, pair up sellers with real estate experts, and help people with selling their properties.

They reached out to us for help with their Google advertising.

We scored 95 conversions for them at $16.05 per conversion…

…which is nothing when compared to the revenue gained by any closed lead in real estate.

We followed a similar approach in that we tested a multitude of keywords and tested them with the BMM match type and exact match type.

These were the top-performing ads. 

All of them address pain points that are relevant to their target market including:

• fast closings,
• selling your home in 7 days,
• no fees, and
• no appraisals. 

Using verbiage that is eye-catching for their target market, not only got them more clicks to their website, but it helped to acquire the right kind of lead.

People are who looking to buy a home are not going to click on those ads that all start out with “selling your home”, and that’s what our client wanted. 

Our ads resulted in almost a 40% increase in their conversion rate.

Now to learn more tips for your real estate marketing strategy , be sure to read this post next.

Case Study #4: Wingstop

Fourth on our list of digital marketing case studies is Wingstop.

It is a restaurant chain that specializes in chicken wings with has locations nationwide, as well as a few international locations. 

Wingstop came to LYFE Marketing with a goal to grow their social media.

Specifically, they wanted to increase their engagement on Instagram and Twitter so as to obtain new customers.

And we did just that. We grew their Instagram by over 1,300 and their Twitter by more than 1,200.

Now, there’s a lot of ways to grow your followers organically, we’ve made a few posts about it that you can read. 

But the reason we specifically wanted to talk about this client as an example in this post is because:

• We were working with a local restaurant which is not something you see addressed a whole lot in posts like this, and
• We used a specific outreach strategy for their Twitter account. 

We would look for people actively talking about wings or being hungry on Twitter.

We’d see if we could verify that they were in the local area, and if so, we’d engage with them from Wingstop’s account.

In this digital marketing case studies example, a local tweeted that they were hungry.

We replied to them from the WingStop account and said, “It’s time to defeat that hunger!” with a mouth-watering picture of their wings and fries. 

The user tweeted back and said, “I’ll make a stop today! Omg. It looks so good!”

In a massively automated world, there’s still something to be said for personal, one-on-one engagement.

This is especially when you pair that with an enticing food photo that makes you hungry on the spot.

But for small businesses, and especially local businesses – restaurant or not – engagement methods like this can do a lot for your:

• brand awareness,
• brand recall, and
• customer loyalty. 

Case Study #5: Embroidery Store

The next company on our list of digital marketing case studies is The Embroidery Store which is a wholesaler for embroidery supplies.

They have a wide range of products and are known as the leading supplier of embroidery supplies to the commercial embroidery industry.

They came to us after failing to realize profitable sales via Google ads on their own.

Our ads produced 99 conversions which resulted in over $15,000 in revenue for them, so let’s look at how we did it.

We ran ads for different keywords based on different products, again using different match types as well.

These were the top-performing ads that sent people directly to their shop page. 

One thing that’s important to note about PPC campaigns is that you’re putting them in front of people who you know ( are at least somewhat interested)…

…because they’re actively searching for a high-intent keyword that’s related to what you offer. 

That’s what we did with their ad group here to help them find their niche target audience. 

In the ad, you have a limited amount of character space to work with, and for search campaigns, in particular, there is no image.

So you usually want to get right to the point and that’s what our ads did here: “Embroidery Supplies. High quality, low prices.”

Our client spent $5,731.82 on these ads and made a 162.41% return on investment with $15,040.66 in revenue.

Case Study #6: Talijah Waajid

The next one on our list of real digital marketing studies belongs to Taliah Waajid.

This brand is a natural hair care specialist, a master cosmetologist, and a manufacturer…

…of the first complete line of natural and chemical-free hair care products. 

Her brand offers hair care products that are specifically created and formulated for naturally curly, coily, kinky, and wavy hair textures.

Taliah Waajid reached out to us to help them with their social media management.

We generated 54,874 fans for them, over 263,000 total engagements, and over 146,000 video views at $0.01 per view.

 So let’s look at how we did it.

Similar to Mototrax’s social media campaign , we ran multiple ad campaigns for Taliah to accomplish these different objectives. 

We generated her Facebook fans (or page likes) at $0.16 per Facebook fan,

Her post-engagement at anywhere from 1 cent to $0.004 per engagement, which is very low, and her video views at 1 cent per view.

But you can’t just throw some ads up on social media and expect these kinds of results. The magic ingredient was in our planning. 

We broke our strategy down into 5 phases.

• Research of Competitors and Customers
• Development of Content and Growth Strategy
• Implementation of Content and Follower Strategy
• Measure and Reporting and
• Optimization Lifecycle

The short version is that we found and targeted her ideal prospects, built a connection with them, and created engaging content…

…to keep them coming back to her page and brand for more.

Case Study #7: The Handkerchief Shop

Next on our list of digital marketing studies is the Handkerchief Shop.

They are a small business that produces custom handkerchiefs for weddings.

The shop has expanded its embroidery options over time so that customers can fully personalize their products.

They came to us to optimize and improve their search engine rankings.

They started with 185 first-page rankings, and we helped them get to 314 first-page rankings.

They even outranked Etsy here for the keyword “custom handkerchief”.

So how did we do it? 

We performed thorough keyword research to see which search queries were being used most by their target audience.

Then, we helped them add hundreds of new Google keywords and rise to first page rankings for over 300 of their total keywords.

So again, you can see we’re working with a client that has a specific offering and target market, which is why utilizing SEO works so well here.

The key in this campaign was to be diligent in our keyword research and ensure we were going after industry-relevant keywords…

…while also following Google’s best practices.

If you don’t know, there are actually unethical ways to perform SEO. It’s called black hat SEO. 

Black hat SEO is a way to perform SEO in a way that violates the search engine’s policies.

And if the search engine catches you doing it, it is catastrophic for your campaign and business, to put it bluntly.

White hat SEO tactics is what’s considered a search-engine-approved series of SEO tactics that you can follow.

We want to mention it because if you’re adding keywords to your website to rank higher, you don’t want to perform what’s called keyword stuffing.

This is where:

“keywords are loaded into a web page’s meta tags, visible content, or backlink anchor text in an attempt to gain an unfair rank advantage in search engines.” 

But we’re going to talk about this a little bit more in the next case study so let’s go ahead and move on to our last case study of the day,

Case Study #8: Egyptian Magic

Moving on to the last on our list of digital marketing case studies is Egyptian Magic.

This is a multi-purpose skin cream product made of all-natural ingredients.

Now if you read our top Facebook ad examples post, you’ve seen us talk about this client in that post as well. 

But we’re mentioning them here again because we did more than just Facebook ads for them.

We also performed SEO and organic social media management.

For SEO, we helped them achieve 53 first-page rankings.

While for social media management, we helped them acquire 67,233 total new followers across all their platforms.

And if you missed it in our other post, we helped them generate $10,062 in revenue from their social media ads .

They began with 0 first-page rankings, so how did we get them to have 53?

Our main strategy was blog creation.

We wrote blogs for them, and in doing so, we added 1,500 new Google keywords to their content.

As a result, they saw greater visibility with these efforts and started continually yielding more organic traffic and sales.

So what we wanted to mention here from the last example about keyword stuffing is that…

…your content should be equally written for your audience as much as it’s written for Google. 

You don’t want to just stick keywords everywhere for the sake of sticking them there- that’s a quick way to be flagged by Google. 

What you do want to do is research to see which keywords are being commonly searched by your audience, and create blogs around those topics. 

Make sure that your blogs are just as helpful and valuable to your audience as they are optimized for Google. 

A lot of times, we see business owners making the mistake of only focusing on one or the other.

• Social Media Management

Now for their social media management strategy, we did a few things to engage their target market. 

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We researched their audience and found that their consumers are influenced by and care about an aesthetically pleasing Instagram feed . 

So, we would send our client a mockup of what their Instagram feed would look like with our content for the month prior to publishing.

Now, we sent this to them in a Google doc because we were also planning out the copy, hashtags , stories, and more alongside the images.

But if you want a quick and easy way to plan your own Instagram feed, you can download free apps like Preview. 

We also reposted consumers’ posts of their Egyptian Magic photos…

…where they had tagged us to further encourage brand awareness and other customers to tag them in their posts.

And lastly, we boosted posts and ran giveaways to further drive post engagement and brand awareness.

This paired with the social advertising strategy that we covered in our other post that helped them to continually find and convert new customers. 

And that about wraps up our 8 digital marketing case studies! We know it was a long post but we hope it was helpful to you. 

If you want results like these, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our award-winning digital marketing company today. 17

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Transform Your Growth

9 Successful Digital Marketing Case Studies That Boosted Growth

Updated February 2024.

2-min audio summary:

Finding the right digital marketing agency isn’t easy. But the digital marketing case studies they showcase on their site can offer invaluable insights for businesses looking to hire an agency.

Not only will you get a better idea of what they’re capable of, but you’ll better understand the impact of specific strategies and campaigns that the digital marketers used, too.

In this post, we’ll cover nine of our latest digital marketing case studies to dive deep into real-world scenarios in which we walk through the successes, challenges, and ROI that our clients experienced.

Their expertise has helped Nextiva grow its brand and overall business

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Understanding customer behavior, creating relevant high-quality content, social media for relationship building, targeting your ideal audience with paid advertising, optimizing your website for search engines, key performance indicators (kpis), seo campaign roi, google ads campaign roi, social media marketing roi, content marketing roi, paid search.

• SEO : Gump’s
• Programmatic Ads : Hestan Culinary
• Landing Page and LinkedIn Marketing : Learning A-Z
• Social Media and E-Commerce : LockNLube
• Google Ads : Peet’s Coffee
• PPC : Simon Pearce
• SEO : The Mom Project
• Pixel and Google Tag Manager : Inkbox, Airbnb and Spearmint Love

Common Themes and Insights

Final recommendations, successful digital marketing strategies.

In the competitive online world, digital marketing will engage your customers to drive business growth. That said, there are a number of marketing strategies that will accomplish your goals while making your ROI.

Here are the top strategies that should be added to every digital marketing campaign to drive measurable results.

When you understand your audience’s wants and needs, it can lead to an exceptional user experience.

In a survey, 94% of respondents  stated that a positive experience  made them purchase from the same brand again:

But these positive experiences vary, depending on what the customer is looking for.

There are four types of customer behaviors:

• Habitual buying behavior : Customers usually buy the same products from the same brand.
• Variety-seeking behavior : Consumers usually buy alternatives to products to achieve the same satisfaction.
• Complex buying behavior : When customers invest in high-value items or services that aren’t frequently purchased.
• Dissonance-reducing buying behavior : When a consumer is engaged in research but isn’t finding many options.

These behaviors vary depending on the level of involvement, products and industry, and competition between brands.

53% of companies are improving the quality of their content  – and for a good reason:

Content guides users down the sales funnel , educating them about your industry, what you sell, and why it solves their problems. The best type of content answers questions and keeps users engaged, all without sounding too promotional.

Popular examples of useful content include:

• Landing pages
• White papers
• Infographics
• Case studies (such as this one)

Creating content for all sales funnel stages  is the best course of action. For example, blog posts are popular for the awareness phrase, while a lead about to make a purchase may want to read your product white paper first.

4.9 billion people use social media worldwide , so it’s obvious that your customers are on various social platforms.

However, customers no longer want to be bombarded by various promotional posts and ads – they want to build relationships with brands. Businesses should consider the customer experience  when creating social marketing strategies. And there are many ways for brands to meet this demand.

• Social listening  is an exceptional way to satisfy customer demands while collecting first-party data. Various social listening tools track mentions, hashtags, and other branded terms so you’ll always know how customers feel about your company and products.
• 40%-60% of customers  are also using social media as a support channel . Brands should always keep up with their DMs, mentions, and reviews.
• And don’t forget about personalization  on social media. 89% of marketers see a good ROI and 40% enjoy higher revenue when using personalization in their campaigns :

In addition to offering exceptional social media  customer service, going live and interacting with customers is another way to improve your personalization strategy.

Paid advertising offers many benefits. For example:

• The average paid ad campaign  generates a 200% ROI!
• Paid advertising promotes your brand, increasing brand awareness and visibility.
• And since 65% of SMBs and medium-sized businesses have a paid ad campaign , investing in advertising ensures you keep up with the competition.

Because paid advertising is so effective, you can use PPC strategies on Google  and most social media platforms.

Since 53% of website traffic comes from organic search engine results , it’s still integral to optimize your website for SEO:

Remember to:

• Always perform on-page tactics, such as using keywords in page titles, URL slugs, and headings.
• Keep an updated blog and optimize your content  for high-ranking keywords.
• Run regular SEO audits  to ensure no technical issues are decreasing your performance on SERPs.

Poring over a case study for digital marketing can be very helpful in visualizing these marketing strategies.

KPIs  are quantifiable indicators that prove your progress in your marketing campaign. Marketers can also measure KPIs to plan future campaigns, improve existing strategies, and create a basis for decision-making.

Here are the most vital KPIs for marketing:

• Traffic growth : Measures the increase of website visitors over a specific timeframe.
• Conversion rates : Metric that represents the percentage of website visitors who bought a product or responded to your CTA.
• Customer engagement : Measures how customers interact with your brand, i.e., how long they spend on your website per session.
• Revenue increase : How much money your business made in a certain period. Businesses often compare revenue increases over past periods.

In our digital marketing case study examples below, you’ll see how we tackle each of these KPIs.

Calculating ROI for Different Digital Marketing Channels

Before starting your marketing campaign, it’s essential to calculate ROI for different marketing channels to ensure that you don’t overspend. Every marketing channel  comes with various strategies to calculate ROI.

Here’s a snapshot of each.

Since SEO consists of multiple tactics, marketers should calculate ROI for all strategies. This can include any investments, such as tools and the personnel you hire or outsource to complete these tactics.

SEO ROI also varies by industry. All businesses can use a tool like Google Analytics to measure revenue  from organic searches:

Certain industries, notably e-commerce companies, should also measure sales from organic search traffic. Other businesses can create a sales funnel and track conversions with each phase (for example, the percentage of leads who entered the awareness phase and who made purchases).

Once you have these figures, you can subtract the revenue you made from SEO from your investments.

To calculate Google Ads ROI, Google  suggests taking the revenue you generated from your campaign and subtracting it from your costs, then dividing that figure again by the costs. That formula looks like this: ROI = (Revenue – Cost of goods sold) / Cost of goods sold.

While tracking Google Ads conversions and purchases are the best ways to calculate paid ad ROI, your chosen method depends on your goals. Consider other goals, such as downloading a white paper or signing up for a free trial.

Social media marketing can be part of many strategies, such as a lead generation campaign . Some brands may also use social media to improve their brand awareness. This is why calculating your social media ROI depends on your goals.

You’ll first need to collect data on your campaign, such as engagements, impressions, and clicks. Compare these results against any expenses to run your campaign, such as advertising costs and any wages or rates you paid for staff members or freelancers.

Since content marketing involves many blog posts, videos, infographics, and other forms of content, many marketers calculate their ROI based on the total investments in a given time period.

Use this formula to calculate your content marketing ROI :

In this figure, you’ll add your overhead costs to get the investments, and you’ll find the return by adding your sales numbers. By subtracting and dividing the return by the investment and multiplying that figure by 100, you’ll get a percentage.

Now, let’s dive into a digital marketing case study for each of nine marketing areas.

9 Successful Digital Marketing Agency Case Studies

Now that you know what exactly goes into a marketing strategy, let’s take a look at nine of our digital marketing case studies that showcase these strategies while taking you through the challenge, strategy and execution.

This case study is of a client that is an AI-powered workplace communications platform. They reached out to Single Grain to launch a paid social and search strategy for their digital marketing campaign.

The client had low brand awareness and didn’t have a paid ad strategy in their digital marketing campaign before seeking our services. The company desired to build user demand with a social and search advertising strategy. They desired a full-funnel strategy, targeting leads at every stage of the buying process.

We created a comprehensive paid strategy for search engines. We also used LinkedIn  to establish our client as a leader in their niche to increase organic traffic.

For the paid search strategy, we targeted brand traffic, high-intent brand interest, and competitor searches. We took first-party data from LinkedIn to align the ads  with their target audience, experimenting with different ads to match user intent.

We also used their LinkedIn page to establish the client as a leader in their niche. This helped to grow customer lists, improve their digital marketing efforts, and grow website traffic.

The client experienced a 24% increase in lead submissions. LinkedIn is their main touchpoint for Tier 1 and 2 leads, and search is the driving force behind closing high-value accounts. We achieved these results while reducing costs by 16% and maintaining a CPA of -32%.

In only three months after paid search and LinkedIn campaign launch, the client achieved a 24% increase in conversions.

SEO: Gump’s

Gump’s San Francisco is a specialty goods store selling various home decor and jewelry items. After having a successful previous year, they sought help from Single Grain in March 2022 to advance the previous year’s sales with various digital marketing tactics .

Gump’s doesn’t have many challenges as far as digital marketing is concerned. They had successful sales in 2021 and set goals to surpass these revenue records.

For this digital marketing case study, we used cross-selling and digital marketing to retain existing customers while utilizing Google Search and Shopping to attract new customers.

We invested in paid ads  across various channels while expanding its Google Search and Shopping strategy. We optimized Gump’s product listings for the home decor category, ensuring that we targeted their audience.

Gump’s surpassed their 2021 sales goals. Their year-over-year sales are increasing by 92%, solely attributed to marketing. This led to a 79% increase in overall revenue. They achieved an over 40% increase in web traffic, a 79% increase in total orders, 104% Google ROI in the home decor category, and a 32% return customer rate.

By optimizing Gump’s product listings  for home decor categories, we improved their ROAS by 104% – nearly double the amount of spend.

By targeting the home decor category on Google and retargeting existing customers, we conquered Gump’s 2022 sales goals with digital marketing and drove sales and revenue growth.

Programmatic Ads: Hestan Culinary

Hestan Culinary sells high-quality pots, pans, and other cookware that’s backed by Michelin-star chefs. After seeing sales drop, they needed an effective revenue growth digital marketing solution that also improved their ROAS.

Hestan Culinary sells chef-grade cookware. While this is great for professionals, it doesn’t target the casual cooking enthusiast or those trying to cook more at home. Hestan Culinary’s products come with a longer buyer’s digital marketing journey, which posed a problem when they started seeing sales drop.

Hestan Culinary needed to drive sales growth while improving its ROAS. This is why we expanded to programmatic ads with a full-funnel digital marketing approach. We used StackAdapt to reach a qualified audience, using different tactics to nurture them down the sales funnel .

Through the programmatic advertising StackAdapt strategy, we implemented catalog and native feed units for a stronger-performing ad campaign. By targeting qualified audience members immediately, Hestan Culinary improved its ROAS while increasing conversions.

After the first month of the campaign, Hestan Culinary achieved a 218% increase in conversions and a ROAS that went from 1.91 to 9.20. We sustained these metrics for over 45 days after the launch, and Hestan Culinary achieved more revenue.

Hestan Culinary not only achieved more conversions and revenue, but programmatic advertising  improved its full-funnel digital marketing strategy.

Landing Page and LinkedIn Marketing: Learning A-Z

Learning A-Z sells science and literacy blended learning products to students at Pe K-6 grades. We helped them with two strategies: landing page testing…

…and purchasing licenses by targeting school administrators on LinkedIn:

Learning A-Z’s original landing page had far too many external links and CTAs, which very likely confused customers. They were also looking to increase sales for licenses on LinkedIn.

First, we redesigned their existing landing page. We focused on simplifying their design so as not to deter customers away from their products and services.

To increase license sales, we used LinkedIn’s Job Title Targeting  function to find school administrators and used digital marketing to target these consumers.

For the landing page, we created 1-2 CTAs driving conversions per page. We used one of two buttons for these CTAs: “Free Trial” or “Order Now.”

For the licenses, we used LinkedIn’s tools to write specific job titles that narrowed down the list of candidates to those with K-5 grade school administration roles.

The redesigned landing page resulted in 73% more “Order Now” clicks, 42% more “Free Trial” clicks, and 125% more conversions.

By targeting K-5 school administrators on LinkedIn, Learning A-Z achieved 462 new users, notably one free trial, four new purchases, positive website metrics, and 12 sample downloads. However, our LinkedIn efforts resulted in a high CPA, so we turned our attention to Facebook Admin. Since then, Learning A-Z has achieved a 5.47 ROAS.

Learning A-Z’s simplified landing page resulted in more conversions. While they had some success on LinkedIn in increasing licenses, Facebook Admin resulted in a better ROAS.

Social Media and E-Commerce: LockNLube

LockNLube sells various greasing products and parts for cars. Single Grain helped them with various digital marketing strategies: optimizing for Amazon and eBay:

…along with developing a media strategy with a heavy emphasis on TikTok ads:

LockNLube wanted to optimize its product listings for Amazon. Since they were heading into their peak season, they wanted to increase top-of-funnel awareness with various digital marketing strategies.

LockNLube was also struggling with eBay’s new marketing tool, Promoted Listings Advanced. However, there were few bidding controls.

We gave LockNLube’s Amazon  digital marketing strategy a complete makeover, rewriting their titles and descriptions. We also scaled Amazon ad  spending.

For eBay , we used keyword bidding to make up for what eBay’s Promoted Listings Advanced tool lacked.

For TikTok , we took LockNLube’s previous creatives and re-optimized them for TikTok.

In addition to these standout cases, we created a complete media strategy for LockNLube, adding new digital platforms to their campaign. These included YouTube ads, demand-side-platforms (DSP), IG/FB Shopping, Walmart ads, top-of-funnel marketing, SMS marketing, relaunched branding and store pages, and Performance Max campaigns.

For Amazon , we implemented A+ digital marketing content for their Amazon product listings, A/B testing all images and content.

For eBay , we took top-performing keywords from Amazon and Google to begin their eBay campaign. We also added competitor keywords to the campaign. To test the success, we separated all keywords into three groups: Brand, Nonbrand, and Competitor. We observed these keywords to see which keywords were converting.

For TikTok , we redid the creatives to make them more creative and entertaining. In addition to the advertising and marketing campaigns we added to their overall media strategy, we also implemented “frequently bought together” features.

Re-optimizing LockNLube’s Amazon  page resulted in 54% revenue growth year over year while also maintaining ROAS. Optimizing their content led to over 100% increases in sessions and an increased 24.7% conversion rate.

For eBay , there are 21% more clicks, 74% more impressions, and 12%, with ROAS increased at 110%.

For TikTok , their engagement rate and CTR were fantastic while keeping CPCs and CPMs low. Since we didn’t achieve as good of a ROAS from direct response, we came to the conclusion that TikTok is better as an upper-channel digital marketing tactic.

From Q1 2019 to Q3 2022, LockNLube saw an overall revenue increase. We launched eight new channels, which resulted in a 42% increase in AOV, a 68% increase in paid traffic, and an 18% increase in the average YOY customer return rate.

We drove revenue for LockNLube thanks to the launch of eight new digital marketing channels and re-optimizing their existing Amazon, eBay, and TikTok strategies.

Google Ads: Peet’s Coffee

Peet’s Coffee sells high-quality coffee and tea, sourcing the best beans and leaves. They reached out to Single Grain to improve their Google Ads strategy.

Peet’s Coffee has excellent brand awareness and digital marketing campaigns but had very little presence on Google Ads. Even though they saw a return from their existing strategy, growth was still stagnant.

We focused on Google Ads and optimized their campaign for different types of keywords, as well as revamped the ad copy.

We  bid on high-ROI keywords , such as branded and product name terms. We rewrote the ad copy to fit the landing pages better and focus on the UVP of the product. We also tested non-branded keywords, scaling them to improve their ROI.

Peet’s Coffee saw a 455% increase in revenue and 676% more orders, all with a 158% increase in ROAS and a reduced 72% cost per order. This was thanks to our efforts aligning searcher intent with ad copy.

Revamping Peet’s Google Ads strategy resulted in huge sales growth while improving ROAS.

PPC: Simon Pearce

Simon Pearce is an entrepreneur who reached success by selling handmade pottery and glassware. He approached Single Grain to improve his ROAS on his paid search campaign.

Simon Pearce’s ROAS was declining YoY from January 2022 to January 2023. Not only that, but CPC was up by 168%.

We realized the rising CPC was directly affecting Simon Pearce’s ROAS. To cut back on costs, we created a manual bidding strategy and scrapped the previous automated bidding campaign.

Even though branded digital marketing keywords are some of the most affordable, Simon Pearce was spending more than he was getting in return on these search terms. We experimented with manual bidding and doing away with their previous automated strategy to try and improve the ROAS.

Early digital marketing results were extremely strong. By manually bidding on keywords and watching spend, we decreased his CPC by 60% and improved their ROAS by 135%. These tactics didn’t compromise impressions; Simon Pearce achieved a 60% CTR and a 17% increase in impression share.

This digital marketing case study shows that using manual bidding on Google Ads improved ROAS for Simon Pearce.

SEO: The Mom Project

The Mom Project (TMP) is a recruiter that connects talented women to companies and job opportunities. They reached out to Single Grain to decrease their costs per lead in their digital marketing campaign.

While The Mom Project had a digital marketing search campaign, it was failing to capture total search demand. They needed a solution to decrease their costs per lead while better targeting their audience.

Single Grain revamped TMP’s search copy to target a qualified audience better. We also separated the job titles into different audience signals, giving Google a better idea of the audience we were trying to target. We used Performance Max to find qualified clicks.

The digital marketing audience signals we created for the strategy were Custom Segments (keywords related to hiring intent), Interests (audience members who connected with TMP based on interests and demographics), and Your Data (people who previously interacted with TMP).

From here, we were able to redo customer lists, assess lead quality, use location targeting and bid adjustments, and create ad schedules. Performance Max leveraged automation to find qualified clicks on display, search, video, discover, and Gmail, lowering costs.

By using Performance Max, we achieved a lower CPA and CPC, down 51.3% and 91.2%, respectively. Performance Max also helped us use this data to target TOFU audiences.

By using Performance Max, we were able to improve TOFU digital marketing search demand and improve CPA for The Mom Project.

Pixel and Google Tag Manager: Inkbox, Airbnb and Spearmint Love

This digital marketing case study targets remarketing  for three brands: Inkbox, Airbnb, and Spearmint Love. We collected data on revenue and conversions from these brands to determine the impact of our remarketing campaign.

• Inkbox  is a temporary tattoo company that wanted to retarget marketing leads on Reddit, hoping it would lower their CPA.
• Property rental giant Airbnb  used Google to improve vendor collection, prevent bottlenecks between operations and marketing, avoid unnecessary tagging replication, and minimize snippet size.
• Kids clothing and accessories company Spearmint Love  used Facebook to retarget moms.
• For Inkbox’s  social marketing retargeting, we used a Reddit Pixel that captured a larger audience and tracked conversions.
• For Airbnb , we implemented Google Tag Manager  and built a data layer.
• For Spearmint Love , we added Facebook Pixel to automate audience targeting, simplified ad creation and targeting, and tracked ROAS.
• For Inkbox , the Reddit Pixel helped us understand Inkbox’s Reddit audience, so we were able to customize messaging and creatives to target their consumers. This helped return customers to the sales funnel.
• For Airbnb , Google Tag Manager launched new programs, tools, and vendors quicker. It also cut tag deployment to hours (was previously at days).
• For Spearmint Love , we integrated Facebook Pixel with their BigCommerce platform, which boosted their business and resulted in more hires from within.
• For Inkbox , we helped them achieve 1.5x higher CTRs and lowered CPAs by 86%.
• For Airbnb , we helped them achieve an 8% increase in website speed, more optimizations, accurate data collection, and a better ROI.
• For Spearmint Love , we helped them achieve a 38x ROAS, with 14.6x of that figure return going toward Facebook. Their advertising success also led to a 12x YoY growth in revenue.

By enacting a remarketing strategy for Inkbox, Airbnb, and Spearmint Love, we helped these brands achieve more CTRs and revenue growth on various social media platforms with improved ROAS, CPAs, and ROI.

While all of these digital marketing case studies are different, there are many parallels between these brands:

Many of these brands executed their own advertising strategy but were struggling to improve their ROAS on their own.

Because of higher CPCs, this made achieving an ad return even more difficult.

Single Grain’s digital marketers had to think outside the box for these clients, using strategies such as manual bidding and relying on unconventional social media platforms such as Reddit.

Some of these platforms, such as eBay, lacked essential advertising marketing strategies with their own tools, so we implemented additional strategies to increase impressions and CTRs.

Here are our overall final recommendations:

• While many businesses can handle an ad strategy DIY, trusting a digital marketing agency like Single Grain will result in the most conversions and the best ROAS.
• Use different tools, such as Performance Max and Pixel, to better entice your target audience.
• While advanced advertising technology such as programmatic ads can increase conversions, manual tactics, such as bidding, can still keep costs down.
• Less is more, especially when it comes to ad copy and landing page design.
• Diversifying your channels and targeting specific audiences on those platforms is the real revenue driver for TOFU targeting.
• Don’t overlook the power of remarketing to an existing audience.

Because of the complex world of digital marketing, even the biggest companies may need help with their campaigns. That’s why they hired professional digital marketers.

While all these case studies are different, they have one thing in common: We increased impressions and revenue while improving ROAS.

By diversifying their platforms, adding new channels, and revamping existing strategies, our digital marketers helped these brands increase web traffic, sales, and return customer rates.

Seeking help from a professional is also a smart idea when creating a new ad strategy, especially if you have low brand awareness and don’t know your target audience. This way, you know you can convert leads while achieving exceptional ROAS.

Remember: Reading a case study on digital marketing (or, better yet, several case studies) can help you learn not only what kind of success can be had, but how exactly the marketing agency you’re thinking of hiring went about it.

If you’re ready to level up your business, Single Grain’s digital marketing experts can help with paid ads, SEO, content marketing and more! 👇

Digital marketing case studies faqs.

Case studies in marketing are comprehensive analyses of specific instances where marketing strategies and campaigns were employed to achieve business objectives. These case study examples of digital marketing focus on real-world examples, detailing the challenges faced, strategies implemented, and outcomes achieved.

They serve several purposes, including:

• Educational Tools: Marketing case studies are used as teaching aids to illustrate marketing concepts and strategies in action, helping students and professionals understand how theories apply in real-life scenarios.
• Evidence of Success: For businesses, they provide evidence of successful marketing strategies and can be used to showcase their achievements to potential clients or stakeholders.
• Strategic Planning: They offer valuable insights into what worked or didn’t work in certain situations, aiding in the formulation of future marketing strategies.

Right here! Just scroll up to read 9 case study examples of digital marketing tactics!

Otherwise, marketing case studies can be found across various platforms and publications, both online and in print, including:

• Business Schools and Academic Journals: Many leading business schools publish case studies on marketing strategies and business management. Journals such as the Harvard Business Review are renowned for their extensive collection of case studies.
• Company Websites: Businesses, especially digital marketing agencies, often publish case studies on their websites, showcasing successful campaigns or strategies they’ve implemented for clients.
• Marketing Blogs and Websites: Websites dedicated to marketing and business strategies, such as HubSpot, MarketingProfs, and Forbes, frequently feature case studies and success stories.
• Professional Associations: Organizations like the American Marketing Association (AMA) provide resources, including case studies, to their members.

Examples of case study topics in marketing could include:

• Launch of a New Product: Analyzing the strategy behind introducing a new product to the market.
• Brand Rejuvenation: A study on how a brand successfully repositioned itself in the market.
• Digital Marketing Success: Examining the digital strategies an agency used to increase its online presence and sales for themselves or their clients.
• Social Media Campaigns: Analysis of a campaign that leveraged social media platforms to achieve specific marketing objectives.
• International Marketing: How a brand successfully entered and established itself in a foreign market.

Again, just scroll up to read this blog in which we provide 9 examples of digital marketing case studies!

Here’s a quick example of a company using targeted social media advertising to increase brand awareness and sales. For instance:

• Objective: A small e-commerce brand aimed to increase its online sales by 30% over three months.
• Strategy: The brand decided to utilize Facebook and Instagram advertising, targeting users based on their interests, previous interactions with the website, and demographic information.
• Implementation: They created a series of engaging ads featuring user-generated content, reviews, and special promotions. The campaign also included A/B testing of ad copy and visuals to determine what resonated best with their target audience.
• Outcome: The campaign led to a 40% increase in online sales, exceeded the initial goal, and also grew the brand’s social media following significantly.

This digital marketing case study example showcases the power of a well-planned and executed strategy, highlighting the importance of targeting, content, and continuous optimization in achieving marketing goals.

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10 Marketing Case Study Examples: Learn How to Master Them in Your Campaigns

There are millions of blog posts, articles, and videos across the internet that try to give you advice about marketing. According to Google, at least 7,050,000 unique content pieces include the phrase “marketing tips.”

But with plenty of outdated and filler content creation to just build out a website, it’s hard to find applicable advice that actually works online.

In this article, you’ll learn from marketing case study examples that demonstrate what it takes to master channels like social media, email marketing , and PPC, as well as how to use case studies in your own campaigns.

Don’t rely on empty words. Learn powerful marketing best practices that are backed up with examples and data.

What is a marketing case study?

In marketing, a case study is an in-depth study of the effectiveness of a certain tool, tactic, or strategy. It focuses on measurable outcomes, like an increase in sales, visitors, or production hours.

Typically, it includes a few key elements:

• Introduction to the customer/client
• The problem the client needed to solve (should align with problems prospective clients also need to solve)
• The solution (and context of why your company/software was the right fit)
• Data from before and after implementing the solution

In a sense, a case study documents the journey of working with your company. And it gives potential future customers a reason to trust your company.

What are the different types of case studies in marketing?

In marketing, three main types of case studies are commonly used:

1. Third-person or client case studies: These highlight the experience of a specific client working with your company or using your product.

2. Explanatory case studies: These case studies explore the impact of a phenomenon or tactic, such as the company’s marketing strategy, and how it impacted its growth. In this case, it’s not based on first-hand experience, but rather observation and inference.

3. Implementation case studies: An implementation case study takes the average client case study a bit further, focusing on the actual implementation and covering it in detail.

You can also divide the case studies further by the type of medium they use — video or text.

And in 2024, video case studies are becoming more and more popular. Many companies even use them as remarketing ads to address potential objections.

Why should you use case studies?

Case studies are a powerful way to prove that your products or services work, showcase your expertise, and build trust with potential customers.

It’s a way to transition away from just “telling” your customers and instead start “showing” them through examples. There’s a reason the old copywriting maxim goes, “Show, don’t tell.”

Consumers’ trust in companies to tell the truth in advertising materials is lower than ever. In 2020, only 14% of consumers said they trust advertising to be honest about a product or service.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t generate trust with your company’s website.

Consumers trust third-party reviews, testimonials, and data. In fact, 91% of 18–34-year-olds trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

So you need social proof. And client case studies — especially those that interview the current clients — are the best of both worlds. You get to highlight data while getting powerful social proof that shows that your product works.

When just adding a simple customer testimonial to your website can increase conversion rates by up to 34% , imagine what a detailed, compelling case study can do.

1. Email marketing case study: Your Therapy Source

If you think that email is a marketing medium of the past, think again. At ActiveCampaign, we have hundreds of recent case studies that prove the opposite.

For example, Your Therapy Source receives a 2000% return on investment (ROI) from our campaigns simply by taking advantage of basic marketing automation .

In particular, a basic abandoned cart email represents around 30% of all revenue generated by automations.

With ActiveCampaign, that’s incredibly easy to set up. You can take advantage of our integrations with key e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce , Shopify , and more.

Because the case study goes into detail about exactly how the company achieved the results, it’s a combination of an implementation case study and a regular third-person case study.

2. Instagram marketing case study: Converse

If you look at all the top Instagram accounts in clothing, Converse has a much higher engagement rate than its competitors.

At 1.79%, their social media posts have an organic engagement rate over 15 times higher than Nike.

Why is that?

Let’s take a closer look at how they achieve these numbers:

When looking at Converse’s top Instagram posts, you quickly notice a trend. Collaborations with influential creators and artists — lately Tyler, the Creator — get a different level of engagement.

The post promoting their new collaboration shoe got over 183,000 likes in a few weeks. Converse even took it a step further and produced a short film with Tyler.

If you want to reach a wider number of people, combining audiences is a great strategy.

This is an example of an explanatory case study.

First, we worked backward from Converse’s powerful Instagram results. Then, we identified tactics that contribute to their high levels of engagement.

Because we didn’t work directly with Converse, and we’re only observing as an outsider, this is an explanatory case study.

3. Content marketing case study: porch.com

Fractl is a content marketing agency that worked with porch.com for over a year to earn 931 unique domain links, 23,000 monthly organic visits, and more.

The case study focuses on results over method — that means it’s a typical third-person case study.

They’re showcasing the results the company generated for a specific outside client without getting into the how-to.

These types of case studies are most useful for persuading hesitant potential customers to get on board. Showing that you’ve generated results for similar companies or people in the past is the best way to prove your skill set.

Depending on your target audience, going into detail with an implementation case study may be a better option.

4. SEO case study: Zapier study by Ryan Berg

This in-depth case study by Ryan Berg is a perfect example of how you can use explanatory case studies in your marketing.

It breaks down Zapier’s SEO strategy and how they created over 25,000 unique landing pages to improve their search rankings for different search terms.

Zapier’s main strategy revolves around targeting relevant long-tail keywords like “app A + app B integration.” That’s the key they used to generate serious organic traffic over the long term.

By breaking down industry leaders and how they rose to success, you can borrow some of their brand power and credibility.

You can use these kinds of case studies if your current clients don’t allow you to go into detail about the tactics you use to grow their online presence.

These case studies demonstrate to potential clients that you know what you’re talking about and have the expertise needed to help them succeed in their industry.

5. PPC case study: Google Ads and Saraf Furniture

When it comes to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, Google was one of the earliest innovators. And in 2021, it’s still the largest digital advertiser globally, with $146.92 billion in ad revenue in 2020.

You might not think they need any more credibility, but Google still uses case studies, especially in emerging markets like India.

This case study shows how Google Ads helped Saraf Furniture generate 10 times more inbound leads each month and hire 1,500 new carpenters as a result.

Without going into details about the methods, it’s another typical third-person case study designed to build trust.

6. Video marketing case study: L’Oréal and YouTube

In this case study, various members of L’Oréal’s global marketing team break down exactly how they used YouTube ads to launch a new product.

As a result of the campaign, they were able to establish their new product as the No. 2 in its category and earn 34% of all mass sales across a network of online retailers.

The case study breaks down how they used YouTube for different stages — from awareness to loyalty. It’s another example of a third-person implementation case study.

7. Remarketing case study: AdRoll and Yoga Democracy

AdRoll is a remarketing platform that tracks your visitors and lets you show them targeted ads across the internet.

Their case study with Yoga Democracy perfectly showcases the power of the platform.

Look at these highlights:

• 200% increase in conversions
• 50% reduction in CPA
• 19% of total revenue attributed to AdRoll

These are metrics you’d love to show any potential customer. The case study goes into detail about how they built an effective remarketing campaign, including cart recovery emails and ads.

Because of the detail, you can classify this as an implementation case study.

8. Influencer marketing case study: Trend and WarbyParker

This influencer marketing case study from Warby Parker and Trend showcases how you can use influencer marketing even with a limited budget.

The “Wearing Warby” campaign was centered around showcasing influencers wearing Warby Parker glasses in their everyday life.

From mundane tasks like eating breakfast to artists creating a new masterpiece — it showcased Warby Parker’s products in use and made the brand more approachable for influencers’ followers.

This is another third-person case study, as it doesn’t go into much detail beyond the results.

9. Customer experience case study: App Annie and Coca-Cola

In this case study, Greg Chambers, the director of innovation for Coca-Cola, explains what App Annie brings to the table.

Instead of specific numbers and metrics, it focuses on the big-picture benefits that App Annie has on Coca-Cola’s customer experience.

The video interview format is also perfect for driving trust with potential customers.

Again, this is a typical third-person case study that you see a lot in the marketing world.

10. SaaS case study: Asana and Carta

Of course, it’s not just agencies and advertising platforms that need to master the use of case studies in digital marketing.

Let’s explore an example of a case study outside the marketing industry, in this case specifically for B2B marketers.

Asana is a project management platform that helps companies make their workflows more efficient.

It’s a good example of a case study that focuses more on the lived experience and less on the metrics.

This is a third-person case study that is closer to a client interview or testimonial, which is a good option if it’s hard to quantify improvements with metrics.

Best practices: How to use case studies in your own marketing campaigns

In this section, you’ll learn best practices to help you maximize the value of case studies in your own marketing campaigns.

Let’s look at four steps you can take to effectively use case studies.

Include a dedicated case study/customer stories page on your website

Most companies with a successful online presence have one of these pages. Emulate the top competitors in your industry by creating an improved version of their pages.

You can also add a case studies section to your resources page or blog.

Build CTAs into your case study pages

The chances are low that a random Googler will make it to your case studies. Most likely, it’s someone who thinks they might need your product.

So don’t be afraid to include calls to action throughout your case study pages.

Share case studies as part of your email marketing campaigns

Email marketing is hands-down the best channel for nurturing potential needs . That means you should always use case studies and customer success stories in your campaigns.

But it’s important that it doesn’t feel too promotional. Instead, share the unique steps they took to ensure success to deliver value, not just pitch.

Use case study video ads to overcome objections

When you’re thinking about buying a product, it’s easy to talk yourself out of it.

“It’s too expensive.” “It won’t work for me.” There are a lot of excuses and objections out there.

A case study video can be a powerful tool to overcome these objections in potential buyers.

Don’t overlook case studies when you’re planning your next marketing campaign. Towards the bottom end of the funnel, in stages like decision and action, they’re a powerful marketing tool.

When used right, case studies will help you fill your sales pipeline and provide your sales team with qualified leads.

Hopefully, the examples in this article taught you how you can use case studies in social media, email, and content marketing strategy to further your business goals.

You should also have learned how to use case studies to sell your company’s expertise.

If you want to grow your business, it’s crucial to learn from the people who have gone before you. In marketing, trying to learn all principles from scratch through trial and error would be a costly mistake.

If you’re ready to take advantage of marketing automation and email marketing tools that help similar businesses generate ROIs of 20x or higher, start your ActiveCampaign trial today .

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The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Case Studies

Everything you need to know about creating effective marketing case studies that will help you convert more leads.

FREE DOWNLOAD: CASE STUDY TEMPLATES

Showcase success using compelling case studies.

Updated: 12/02/21

Published: 02/16/16

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and imagine you were considering purchasing a new product.

Would you be more inclined to:

A) Chat with a salesperson — while trying to block out the tiny voice in your head reminding you that they’re working on commission?

B) Review a case study about a customer who used that product to solve a problem similar to yours?

Probably option B, right? That’s because we put more trust in word-of-mouth marketing than we do salespeople.

The way people consume information has changed, and buyers have all the resources they need to make decisions about what to purchase. Companies can either continue marketing the old, less effective way … or they can embrace these changes and let their customers do the work for them through testimonials, reviews, word-of-mouth marketing, and marketing case studies.

Customers trust other customers — the companies that recognize this will benefit in the long run and grow better.

Plenty of companies have already proven how beneficial marketing case studies can be. They are the most popular form of self-promotional marketing used by marketing agency executives in the U.S. Additionally, 88% of surveyed B2B marketers say that customer case studies are considered to be their most impactful content marketing tactic.  

While chatting with a salesperson can be helpful, and even preferable for some, it’s clear that having marketing case studies on your website can be beneficial. Case studies answer potential customers’ questions, demonstrate success, build company-wide credibility, increase conversions , and most importantly, eliminate bias so your customer can make a confident decision to buy your product.

What Is a Marketing Case Study?

Marketing case studies analyze the ways that a customer uses a product or service. They describe a challenge the customer faced, the solutions they considered, and the results they experienced after their purchase. Strong case studies can compel others to buy a product.

Benefits of Case Studies

Converting Leads with Case Studies

Choosing a Case Study Format

Conducting a Case Study Interview

Benefits of Marketing Case Studies

The use of marketing case studies is beneficial to companies of all sizes and customers of all backgrounds. Well-crafted marketing case studies provide potential customers with engaging content that excites them to buy your product.

They Tell a Relatable Story

Case studies often involve an interview with a customer that has had success using your product. Before choosing a customer for an interview, consider who you’re targeting. Your case studies should appeal to your buyer persona .

When your target customer feels connected to your case studies, they will feel more confident in their purchase.

Consider this: You’re buying a new software for your team. You have a few possible options in mind, so you head to their respective websites to do your own research. The first two options sound good on paper (or rather, on screen), but you want a solution you can really trust. Something that is preferably not written by the company itself.

The third site you go to has a landing page that includes a few case studies. One of the case studies features an interview with an employee at a company similar to yours. You listen to that person describe challenges that they faced prior to getting the software — challenges that sound a lot like the ones you and your team currently face. The interviewee then talks about the ways that their software purchase resolved their pain points.

Wouldn’t the case study you found on the third website make you feel confident that the software could help your team, too?  

The key to creating relatable case studies is considering your buyer personas. That means considering demographics, company size, industry, etc. and selecting a person that the majority of your potential customers will feel a connection.

They Demonstrate Success

Take a look at HubSpot’s case study landing page . Check out the wide range of case studies listed. Notice how these case studies cover all types of industries, a wide variety of locations, different company sizes, and more.

If there are so many companies using HubSpot — to solve a vast array of challenges — then wouldn’t you assume HubSpot has a solid product that you could trust, too?

Case studies demonstrate success by showing potential customers that current customers — who once had challenges similar to their own — solved their pain points by making a purchase.

They Help Build Credibility

Credibility is what gives the people around you a reason to trust you.

For example, let’s say you’re looking at a product on Amazon , and you scroll down to the customer review section. You find that almost everyone has given the product a five-star rating or has written a positive comment about their experience. These comments and ratings build credibility for that product and brand.

Marketing case studies help your company build credibility. They also convince prospects to give your product a try when they see how many people already trust you, love your products, and believe in your mission.

They Help You Convert Leads

Case studies are a bottom-of-funnel strategy that will help you convert more leads . If a prospect is on the fence about your product, case studies are the marketing technique that will push them closer to that purchase decision.

For example, if a potential customer visits your website and they watch (or read) multiple case studies explaining the ways that customers have had success with your product, then they too may feel excited to become a customer.  

If that same prospect just left your competitor’s website where there were no case studies, your solution then becomes an easy sell … and your competitor becomes obsolete.

Marketing case studies retain value over long periods of time — meaning the same study has the potential to convert leads for years . Unless you have a revamp or a complete update of the product being referred to in your case study, it can remain on your website as long as you see fit.

Marketing Case Study Template

Now that we’ve reviewed the reasons why you should have case studies on your site, you might be wondering how to actually create a marketing case study.

First, it’s no secret that video content is more effective than written content. So, if you can create a video case study, do it. If not, be sure to include images throughout your written case study to break up the text and provide visual stimulation for readers.

Second, remember one size does not fit all when it comes to creating case studies. They vary in length, format, content, and style based on what experience you want to provide for your potential customers.

Keep this in mind as we go through the following example … some of the content here might work perfectly in your case study, and some might need to be modified.

If you need some guidance, check out HubSpot’s Case Study Creation Kit .

1. Choose Your Case Study Format

To determine which format you want to use for your case study, think about what type of content would be most beneficial for your buyer personas. You should consider what challenges your buyer personas might face, what types of industries they work in, their locations, and their business demographics.

Two commonly used marketing case study formats to consider include an exposé and a transcription.

An exposé is an interview technique that covers specific details about a topic, event, or individual. If you look back at the case studies on the HubSpot landing page , you’ll see the exposé format in action. The director, or author, is conducting the interview, leading conversation, and asking the interview subject questions about their interactions with HubSpot.

Tip: When you’re recording a video interview for your case study, make sure the interview subject repeats your question before providing an answer.

For example, if you ask them, “What challenge did our product help you overcome?” you don’t want them to simply say “organizational challenges.” The editing process will cut your voice out of the interview, and their response won’t make sense. Instead, make sure they answer all questions as a complete statement such as, “This product helped us overcome several organizational challenges.”

Transcription

This is a simpler case study format. It’s a transcription of an interview with your customer , meaning there is typically a significant amount of text for potential customers to read through.

Be sure to include the interview questions throughout this type of case study so readers know exactly what the interview subject is referring to. Lastly, feel free to pair your transcription with a series of images or even video to break up the text.

2. Conduct the Interview

The interview is the most important part of the case study … and quality matters. Strong interviews and videos take time . It’s not unusual to conduct a one to two-hour interview just to get a solid two minutes of video to use in your case study.

During the interview, you should ask your customers about their lives prior to purchasing your product, what it was like to acquire your product, and how their company’s future has changed because of their purchase.

If possible, record the interview. If not, be sure to use a transcription or audio recording device to ensure accurate quotes and statements throughout your case study.

Here are some sample questions for you to consider:

Ask about the customer’s life prior to your product.

• Who are you? What is your title? What does your company do?
• What challenges were you experiencing that made you realize you needed a solution?
• Why was finding a solution to this challenge important?

Ask what it was like finding and purchasing your product.

Capture general commentary — information that anyone could understand — from your interview subject in this section so potential customers can relate no matter their background or experience.

• How did you find our product? What was your experience like while purchasing our product?
• Ask about your customer’s criteria during their search for a solution. What was crucial versus what was nice to have?
• What were the results that came from using our product? How did our product solve your challenge?
• Ask for numerical results and hard data. Get proof of these from your interview subject (or even your own company if you have records).
• What were you able to start doing as a result of our product working for you? What are the intangible results of our product?

Ask about the impact that the product has had on your customer’s life.

• How did our product change your view of your company’s future?
• What are you excited about moving forward?
• What would your future be like without our product?

After conducting your interview, it’s time to actually put your case study together.

Edit your interview down to the most important, relevant information for potential customers to learn about your product. Cut that hour-long video interview down to a minute or two of the best clips.

If your interview is going to become a written case study, include the very best quotes. Make it easy to read by separating your information with the help of headers, bulleted lists, images , and bold or italicized text.

3. Incorporate Your Case Study in Your Marketing and Sales Processes

Determine how to best use the case study in your marketing and sales processes. Here are a few ideas:

Create a case study library.

By creating a case study library on a landing page — similar to the HubSpot landing page or this page by Fractl — you provide your potential customers with an easy way to learn about your products and company as a whole.

Source : Fractl

A case study library or landing page will prevent potential customers and leads from having to dig around on your website for any product information they’re searching for. If this information is not easily accessible, they could lose interest, become frustrated, leave your website, or even find an alternative solution on a competitor’s site.

Case study landing pages and libraries also help build credibility, look official, and typically bring in a lot of traffic — both through people searching for your company’s website and organic search.

According to Fractl , their case study landing page is the second most-visited page on their entire website. Additionally, it is their fourth most-visited page through organic search. Lastly, they’ve seen a huge boost in converting visitors to leads since the creation of their case study landing page — half of Fractl’s leads view at least one of their case studies.

Surround your case studies with social proof.

If so many people are saying it’s true, then it must be true — this is how companies use the theory of social proof to their advantage.

Social proof theories say that people let the actions, behaviors, and beliefs of those around them impact their own. For example, some theories say most people would answer “yes” to the question: “If all of your friends jumped off of a bridge, would you?”

Social proof — or in this case, your friends all jumping off of the bridge — influences people to make decisions based on the expectations and behaviors of the people around them, even if their decision would be different if they were alone.

Companies use social proof in the form of customer reviews, logo walls (that is, the logos of companies that have purchased their products), or long-form videos. Social proof acts as a supplement to the information in a case study.

By showing potential customers how your products have changed the lives of other individuals, teams, and companies, prospects are more likely to buy into your claims and believe your product could help them, too.

Add product overviews to the case study section on your site.

If you’re editing down your case study interview and realize your interviewee said something vague or made a comment that a potential customer may not necessarily understand, you can add a product overview or reference guide next to that case study.

For example, imagine HubSpot is conducting a case study interview and an interview subject goes into detail about the specific functions of Workflows . A potential customer may not know much about HubSpot’s Workflows, so a detailed discussion about their features may not be relatable and could even raise some questions.

By including an overview or description of Workflows next to the case study where the product was mentioned, HubSpot can provide clarity for the viewer. You will also avoid making potential customers feel confused or uninterested.

Keep your sales team in the loop.

Once your case study is complete, you should notify your sales team so they can use them when reaching out to potential customers. They will be able to incorporate this information into their sales enablement kits — which include the technologies, processes, and content that allows them to sell efficiently and effectively.

By learning about the ways that real customers are using and benefiting from the products they are selling, sales teams can share relatable stories with potential customers and leads. These will help build trust and, most importantly, increase sales.

To help your sales team narrow the vast amount of information that typically comes from an in-depth case study, provide them with key takeaways that they can share with potential customers and leads. These key takeaways should include information about the interviewee’s background, title, and experience level and details about their company’s size, industry, and potential annual revenue.

This data will allow the sales team to tailor the information they share with potential customers and leads, organize it for future conversations, and make more efficient and impactful sales.

4. Determine How Many More Case Studies You Need

As I mentioned, every company is different and every product they sell is unique. Not every company will need the same number of case studies on their website to have an impact. To determine the right number of case studies for your company, think about the following tips.

Cover all of your bases.

A good rule of thumb is to have at least one to three case studies for each of your buyer personas.

To do this, cover a range of industries and types of companies, and interview people of different backgrounds, titles, demographics, and experience levels. You should make sure there is something for everyone who visits your website.

If your company targets customers all over the world and has offices located around the globe, this is especially important to consider. Think about what works for your buyer personas, your company’s location, and your goals when deciding how many case studies you need.

Sometimes, less is more.

Having an extensive list of case studies sounds like something everyone should have … right?

Not always. Think about it this way — if your company is on the smaller side and is relatively new, there’s a chance you haven’t given your customers much time with your products yet. There is also a chance that you don’t yet have a wide range of customers.

If your company then takes the time to create dozens of case studies, potential customers may feel you are being inauthentic and even unconvincing. It may also be a waste of resources that you can’t quite afford as a new business.

To be effective, try to make every one of your case studies relatable and helpful for your personas. Cover multiple use cases in each of your case studies when possible. You’ll not only simplify your own life, but you also keep your case study library clean and impactful.

Case studies are powerful marketing tools. They tell your potential customers relatable stories, demonstrate your company’s success, and help you build credibility. Case studies will help you reach your audience in a way that no sales pitch, email, newsletter, or advertisement will.

Plus, if your company made such a positive impact on a customer that they want to share their experience with others, why not broadcast that story?

Now it’s time to start creating content that matters to your potential customers and converts more leads.

Don't forget to share this post!

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5 Unique Digital Marketing Case Studies that Every Business Professional Should See

Published on: July 15, 2021

Businesses often rely on digital marketing to increase their brand awareness and bring in new customers. However, if the marketing efforts aren't effective, they can turn into a waste of time and money. In many ways, effective digital marketing is a process of trial and error. For this reason, a digital marketing case study can be a valuable source of guidance for today's business students and professionals, enabling them to learn from the results of others rather than having to start their own trial-and-error process from the beginning. As a business administration degree student, understanding and evaluating real-world marketing tactics is key to developing a solid foundation for your business career. With that in mind, let's take a look at five unique digital marketing case studies that you can use to inspire new ideas and hone your own future digital advertising strategy.

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Case Study #1: Fanatics Boosts Traffic Through Content Marketing

When Fanatics—an e-commerce store focused on selling sports apparel and other sports-related products—decided that it needed to provide customers with more reasons to engage with the company website,  it turned to content marketing as a solution . Fanatics chose a three-pronged approach for their content marketing campaign, one that included timely sports articles meant to coincide with current sporting events, evergreen content related to various events throughout sports history, and articles that capitalize on new trends and developments in the world of sports as they happen.

This strategy of producing both evergreen and trending content enabled Fanatics to establish itself as a desirable news and entertainment resource for sports fans all over the country. Thanks almost entirely to their content marketing campaign, Fanatics saw a 1,100% increase in organic search engine traffic along with a 230% increase in the number of ranking keywords on their website. The company's content marketing efforts also enabled it to publish high-profile features on popular sites such as Yahoo Sports, The Score, and USA Today.

Case Study #2: Wholesaler Drives Visibility and Conversions with Social Media Marketing

Case study #3: amazon leverages crm to become e-commerce giant.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is the process of managing interactions with customers to facilitate beneficial outcomes. Much more than simple customer management, CRM uses data processing to divide customer lists into a wide range of segments and formulate various interactions designed to speak to the needs and desires of each specific segment. If you would like a case study of a company that has leveraged innovative CRM with outstanding results, you need not look any further than the e-commerce giant Amazon.

As one of the first companies to really leverage CRM to its full potential, Amazon developed a CRM strategy that takes into consideration every possible interaction that the company has with its customers—from the user interface of the Amazon website to customer service interactions to data mining used for targeted marketing emails. Through this emphasis on CRM, Amazon has managed to create one of the most customer-friendly experiences you will find in the e-commerce sphere—and the results of these efforts are obvious. In 2020 alone, Amazon was able to boast a staggering $386 billion in revenue.

Case Study #4: The American Egg Board Boosts Organic Traffic Through SEO

Case study #5: revecent increases conversion rate with holistic ppc campaign optimization.

Earn a Business Administration Degree from Husson

In our increasingly digital world, digital marketing is now more important than ever before when it comes to reaching new customers. Whether you are seeking a rewarding career as a marketing professional or going into business for yourself, an education in business administration is incredibly valuable. At Husson University, we offer both undergraduate and graduate  online business programs.  To learn more about enrolling in these exciting programs and kick-starting your career as a business professional, contact us today!

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Category: Case Study blogs Digital Marketing

Date: July 5, 2024

Digital Marketing Case Studies That Brought Amazing Results

Reading effective digital marketing case studies is one of the best practices to gain inspiration from other businesses. It helps you learn more about how digital marketers, including our team offering comprehensive digital marketing services , actively reacted to get results for unique situations.

Case studies provide in-depth knowledge about the uncommon situations faced by digital marketers, steps they took to overcome, and the end-results obtained.

As you can learn more from the other marketer’s mistakes, going through case studies will never become vain. You can avoid mistakes in your digital marketing activities and also take similar approaches to the issues you are facing.

In this article, we have covered a wide range of case studies under different aspects of digital marketing, that includes content marketing, social media marketing, SEO, PPC, and much more.

Let’s take a look.

Best Digital Marketing Case Studies for You

Here, we have listed the best digital marketing case studies that reveal the works of expert digital marketers.

Content Marketing Case Studies

Here, we have curated the best content marketing case studies that really worked well and brought amazing results.

a. On-site Retargeting

iSpionage faced a problem in retargeting the readers from their referral blog website to their main website. To fix this, the site placed an on-site retargeting popup on their blog posts.

This made them increase their blog referral traffic by 58% and received up to 5.47% Click-Through-Rate (CTR). Moreover, 4,144+ popup impressions were generated, more than 227+ people were redirected to the main site. To learn more about the case study, click here .

Takeaway – By implementing an on-site retargeting technique, you can educate visitors about your services, create awareness regarding your offers, and drive traffic to your content.

b. Trending Topics

Lawrence of Morocco gained coverage from the Game of Thrones buzz by designing and promoting a map that listed all the filming locations found in the Game of Thrones series. Click here to learn more about the case study.

This brought over 11,300+ visits to the website and outlets in top-tier publications like Washington Post, Mashable, Business Insider, and many more.

Takeaway – By making the best use of trending topics that have gained a massive outreach across the world, you can easily achieve more traction for your brand.

c. Trifecta Content Marketing Strategy

College Raptor proved that it is possible to scale a startup from 0 organic traffic to 100,000 visitors per month within a year using the trifecta content marketing strategy . If you are curious to learn more about this case study, click here .

Takeaway – Content that falls under three categories that include evergreen, social viral, and link building will support you in dominating your SEO rankings. The number of backlinks and media outlets can be increased with the usage of public data and viral content.

d. User Acquisition Content

Fractl’s dating app Sapio leveraged user acquisition efforts that led to a 3,072% spike in weekly app installs in just 5 weeks. Click here , if you like to learn more about the case study.

Takeaway – Understanding your target audience and publishing personalized content at the right time through powerful influencers will add value to your content.

Social Media Marketing Case Studies

Below, we have lined up the best social media marketing case studies from a trusted social media marketing company .

a. Usage of #Hashtags

Vogue India launched a social awareness initiative regarding the empowerment of women. They created a two-and-a-half-minute video with 99 high-profile women and hashtag #MyChoice. It went viral on the internet that attracted 2M+ views in two days. Click here to learn more about the case study.

Takeaway – Effective usage of catchy hashtags on your social media posts with popular influencers can boost your social media awareness.

Tinkham Veale University Center has innovatively built social media walls with keyword-rich content and user-designated #hashtags. It encouraged a number of attendees from all over the world for participating in the events. If you like to learn more about the case study, click here .

Takeaway – Curating your conferences, workshops, etc with the venue details on powerful social media walls is a super promotional point for your events among the aspirants.

b. Social Media Campaigns

AstraZeneca has taken an initiative called #LVNGWith exclusively for connecting lung cancer attacked people with their loved ones. People were invited to leave their answers on Facebook and Instagram for this question – How will you spend your #GiftedDay? Click here to learn more about the case study.

#GiftedDay is such an amazing social media content series that earned half a million views in less than 24 hours, increased 500% of shares, doubled their number of followers and over 1,500+ people newly joined the LVNG With community and many more.

Takeaway – Successful social media campaigns are helpful in creating awareness among the audience and connecting people from all over the globe.

SEO Case Studies

Here, we have consolidated the best SEO case studies that established a stunning presence on the relevant search results.

a. 6-Step SEO Process

UAV Coach was striving to gain traction in the competitive organic search results.

Robbie Richard’s 6-step SEO process supported the UAV Coach to outrank global brands like Mashable, climb to better rankings on Google, generate over 152,732+ visits, drive 11,065% of recurring organic traffic in 6 months, and get many other perks. Curious to learn more about the case study, then click here .

Takeaway – Upgrading existing content with SEO strategies will generate long-term exposure, build authority in your industry, capture quality leads, and eventually convert them into valuable customers.

b. E-commerce Transactions

Search Logistics assisted a furniture-seller who had a website that was hit by Google penalty and lacked in keyword-optimization techniques. SearchLogistics redesigned the website, built the domain authority through link building, managed the site structure issues, and many more. Click here to learn about a detailed explanation of the case study.

Within 6 months, they were able to experience the positive impacts on the website like a 122.27% increase in organic traffic, a 336% in e-commerce transactions, a 369% in revenue, etc.

Takeaway – Redesign your business website, create quality content, and build effective links to enhance your visibility on the results page for relevant search queries, such as website redesign services.

c. SEO Achievements at Affordable Budget

Exposure Ninja supported an accountancy firm that followed a basic online marketing approach. It helped in redesigning the website, researching relevant keywords, optimizing the blog content, etc. To read the detailed case study, click here .

These effective SEO practices resulted in a 293% increase in leads, a 156% in site visitors, and a 31% in requesting for consultation.

Takeaway – With smart SEO tactics, it is easy to make a mark in the SEO search results at a shoe-string budget.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Case Studies

Below, we have broken down the best Pay-Per-Click (PPC) case studies that worked effectively.

a. Adwords’ Quality Score

A large number of well-established firms and ad creative regulations have reduced the quality score of InterTrader in AdWords. It negatively affected the average ad positions, impressions on search results, and Cost-Per-Click.

Seperia supported InterTrader in maintaining Adwords’ quality score. This resulted in improving the CTR by 0.81%, average position by 6.1%, and quality score average by 3.3%. Click here to learn more about this case study.

Takeaway – Smart implementation of excellent PPC strategies can bring optimal results like great exposure, numerous CTRs, high average position, low Cost-Per-Click (CPC), etc for your PPC advertising campaign.

b. Revenue Generator

Truprint/Snapfish wanted to improve the overall performance of its PPC advertising activities. Being a premier Google partner Click Consult could whitelist Truprint for a range of exclusive Google beta features.

It brought exceptional results in increasing the revenue by 355%. Also, there was a reduction in the disruption activities of the newly revamped website. To elaborately learn about the technologies used for running this successful PPC campaign, click here .

Takeaway – By focussing on Google Shopping Campaign, Bing Shopping, dynamic remarketing, and many other tactics, you can easily get returns on your PPC investment.

c. Quality Leads

One of the clients of Spinutech was mindful of driving quality leads and high revenue to its website through PPC advertising campaigns.

With the effective use of AdWords, Spinutech could bring amazing results to its client’s website at the end of four-months campaign optimization. It increased the total number of branded leads by 85.71% and decreased the overall Cost-Per-Click (CPC) by 45.02%. Click here to learn more about the study.

Takeaway – By making the best use of high-search volume keywords, it is possible to reduce the CPCs and target the right audience who are interested in your products and services.

Video Marketing Case Studies

Here, we have curated the best video marketing campaigns that really worked in impressing the right viewers.

a. Social Message

Canadian Tire’s advertisement video portrays a small Canadian boy seated in a wheelchair who was encouraged by another small kid to play basketball games. This advertisement about wheels turned out to be one of the viral marketing videos in 2017. To learn more about the case study, click here .

Takeaway – When your brand message is associated with a social cause, it turns out to be a psychological motivator that urges viewers to follow your brand. It evokes strong feelings in viewers at the same time conveys the brand message.

b. Impressive Content

Android’s Friends Furever video campaign depicts featuring clips of unlikely animals playing and enjoying together.

According to Unruly, a video ad tech company this impressive video was shared more than 6.4 million times and gained the specialization of the most-shared video in 2015. If you like to learn a detailed explanation of the case study, click here .

Takeaway – With eye-catchy video content, it is easy to promote memorable brand messages to the desired audience.

c. Power of Influencers

Code.org created an excellent video marketing campaign that incorporated speeches of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg about the importance of learning coding languages.

This video marketing campaign bought more traction to the website. Click here to take a look at the detailed explanation of the case study.

Takeaway – With the help of popular influencers, you can spread your brand message in an even more steadfast manner.

Voice Search Case Studies

Below, we have lined up the best voice search case studies.

a. Mobile Voice Search

Typing search queries can be cumbersome, error-prone, and even dangerous in some usage scenarios. Users are increasingly turning to their mobile devices when doing web searches.

In November 2008 Google introduced Google Mobile App (GMA) for iPhone that included a search by voice feature. GMA search by voice extended the paradigm of multi-modal voice search from searching for businesses on maps to searching the entire World Wide Web (WWW). To learn more about the case study, click here .

Takeaway  – By integrating mobile voice search, you can effectively provide the best user experience to your target audience.

b. Webpage Content Curation

Anglian Home Improvements had answers for three different FAQs curated on the same page at a single URL. This did not provide the best user experience and affected Google rankings too.

Epiphany Search supported Anglian Home Improvements by listing the FAQs on different pages with optimized content that best suits featured snippets.

As a result of this voice search strategy, the website marked significant visibility on voice search queries by driving 13 inquiries per month. Click here to learn more about the case study.

Takeaway  – Based on the high search volume keywords, you have to create quality content. This helps search engines to easily recognize your content and display it before your target audience.

Digital Marketing Case Studies – FAQ

Why are Digital Marketing Case Studies Important?

Digital Marketing Case studies are more important to analyze the previous patterns of strategies that businesses adopted to get results. At times, we would also get a glimpse of what did not work in the first place.

How to Write a Digital Marketing Case Study?

Writing a Digital Marketing Case Study is much different than any other normal case studies.

• First, identify the scenario you wish to document (A success or a Learning in this case)
• Use a story telling method to make it readable
• Identify the pain points and key strategies followed
• Highlight the result including the timeframe to achieve (This will help the peer community to understand the timeframe)
• Suggest the alternate strategies you had in mind if they are relevant

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Feel free to get in touch with us via message or call +1 (210) 787-3600 at any time. We are ready to extend our arm of support to you!

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10 Best Integrated Digital Marketing Case Studies to Inspire You

In a previous article, The What, Why and How of Integrated Digital Marketing , I explained what integrated digital marketing is, its benefits, and how to implement an integrated digital marketing strategy. These strategies use multiple channels to create a cohesive and seamless customer experience. Although more and more brands are turning to integrated marketing strategies to cut through the noise and reach their goals, integrated digital marketing is not a new concept.

From user-generated content and personalisation to storytelling and omnichannel experiences, these examples demonstrate the potential of a well-executed integrated digital marketing strategy. Below are ten integrated digital marketing case studies emphasising the strength of integrating various channels to establish a unified and captivating customer journey. I hope these examples spark inspiration and guide your efforts in developing a successful integrated digital marketing strategy.

1. Nike: Just Do It – The Power of User-Generated Content

Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign has been incredibly successful due to its consistent messaging and focus on user-generated content. The company leverages social media, influencers, and online communities to amplify the reach of the campaign. Nike encourages users to share their fitness journeys using the hashtag #JustDoIt, which has resulted in a wealth of authentic content that resonates with consumers and drives brand loyalty.

The campaign has generated over 8 million Instagram posts, showcasing its immense popularity and user engagement. In 2012, Nike’s global brand director, Davide Grasso, stated that the #MakeItCount campaign, part of the Just Do It initiative, resulted in “the most successful campaign we’ve ever done.”

2. Dove: Real Beauty Sketches – Emotionally Engaging Content

Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches campaign used emotionally engaging video content to challenge traditional beauty standards. The campaign’s message was spread through social media, public relations, and partnerships with influential people. This led to millions of views and a big change in how people felt about the brand. Dove’s integrated approach ensured that the video’s message reached a large number of people and started important conversations about self-esteem and beauty.

The Real Beauty Sketches campaign video garnered over 114 million views in its first month alone, making it the most-watched online ad of all time.

The campaign had a huge impact, not only in terms of views but also in terms of the conversations it generated around the brand and the topic of beauty. Global Brand Vice President at Unilever

3. Airbnb: Live There – Omnichannel Personalisation

Airbnb’s “Live There” campaign focused on personalisation to create a seamless customer journey across multiple channels. The company used data-driven targeting to serve personalised content to users based on their preferences and travel history. By integrating email marketing, retargeting ads, and social media, Airbnb created a unified experience that resonated with travellers and encouraged bookings.

After launching the “Live There” campaign, Airbnb reported a 15% increase in bookings compared to the previous year.

We’ve seen tremendous growth since the launch of the campaign… It’s truly a testament to the power of creating a personalised and authentic travel experience. Airbnb’s CMO, Jonathan Mildenhall

4. LEGO: Rebuild The World – Creative Storytelling

LEGO’s “Rebuild The World” campaign harnessed the power of creative storytelling to showcase the brand’s values and engage consumers. The integrated campaign had an interesting video, a dedicated microsite, and social media content that people could interact with. LEGO also worked with influencers to create original content that fit the campaign’s themes.

This led to a massive increase in brand awareness and more people getting involved. LEGO’s “Rebuild The World” campaign contributed to a 5% increase in consumer sales during the first half of 2019.

5. Spotify: Wrapped – Data-Driven Storytelling

Spotify’s annual “Wrapped” campaign leverages user data to create personalised, shareable content that celebrates each user’s unique listening habits. The campaign integrates email marketing, in-app notifications, and social media, encouraging users to share their Wrapped story with friends and followers. This data-driven approach drives user engagement and solidifies Spotify’s position as a customer-centric brand.

In 2020, Spotify Wrapped saw a 31% increase in social media mentions and a 21% increase in unique website visits compared to 2019. June Sauvaget, Global Executive Creative Director at Spotify, said, “Wrapped has become a cultural moment that users eagerly anticipate every year.”

6. Coca-Cola: Share a Coke – Personalisation & User Engagement

Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign invited consumers to find bottles featuring their names or those of their friends, creating a personalised and shareable experience. The integrated campaign included social media, outdoor advertising, and influencer partnerships, which helped the message reach a broad audience. This strategy increased user engagement, sales, and a stronger emotional connection between Coca-Cola and its customers.

The campaign… resonated deeply with consumers. Wendy Clark, then Senior Vice President of Coca-Cola

The “Share a Coke” campaign led to a 2.5% increase in Coca-Cola’s sales during the summer of 2014, reversing a decade-long decline in soft drink consumption.

7. GoPro: Be a HERO – Leveraging User-Generated Content & Influencer Marketing

GoPro’s “Be a HERO” campaign showcased the incredible footage captured by its users, harnessing user-generated content to illustrate the product’s capabilities. The company partnered with influencers, athletes, and adventurers to amplify the campaign’s reach and inspire user engagement. By integrating social media, content marketing, and influencer partnerships, GoPro demonstrated the power of its products and built a loyal community of users.

GoPro’s Q2 revenue in 2014, during the peak of the “Be a HERO” campaign, increased by 38.1% compared to the same period in the previous year.

8. Zillow: The Home Project – Content Marketing & Storytelling

Zillow’s “The Home Project” campaign used content marketing and storytelling to engage consumers and showcase the brand’s expertise in the real estate market. The campaign featured videos, blog posts, and social media content highlighting inspiring home improvement stories. 

By integrating these channels and providing valuable, shareable content, Zillow strengthened its position as a trusted resource for homebuyers and sellers. Zillow’s website traffic increased by 15% within six months of launching “The Home Project” campaign.

9. Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like – Viral Video & Social Media Integration

Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign went viral thanks to its humorous and memorable video content. The brand capitalised on the video’s success by integrating social media, creating shareable content, and engaging with users in real time. Old Spice also partnered with influencers to extend the campaign’s reach and reinforce the message. This integrated approach helped the brand rejuvenate its image and significantly boost sales.

Within 30 days of launching the campaign, Old Spice saw a 107% increase in body wash sales. James Moorhead, then Brand Manager for Old Spice, said, “The campaign not only revitalised our brand but also had a significant impact on sales.”

10. Warby Parker: Home Try-On – Seamless Omnichannel Experience

The Home Try-On programme from Warby Parker is a great example of a seamless omnichannel experience because it combines online and offline touchpoints. Customers can choose five frames to try on at home, share photos on social media, and receive feedback from friends and Warby Parker’s customer service team. The programme integrates social media, email marketing, and personalised support, resulting in a memorable customer experience and driving customer loyalty.

Warby Parker’s annual revenue surpassed $100 million in 2016, with the Home Try-On program being a significant growth driver.

As you plan your digital marketing campaigns, take a cue from the case studies above and consider how you can leverage multiple channels and tactics to create a seamless experience that resonates with your target audience and achieves your business objectives.

Integrated digital marketing refers to the strategic combination of various digital marketing strategies and channels to reach customers and establish a cohesive online approach for a business.

The principle behind integrated digital marketing is that while each distinct method may not substantially influence the online presence, its collective application can substantially enhance brands’ online visibility. The shift towards integrated solutions is becoming increasingly common among agencies, as it has been recognised that a comprehensive marketing strategy offers improved online visibility and returns on investment for businesses.

An integrated digital marketing strategy is a comprehensive plan that coordinates various digital marketing tactics to work together in a unified and cohesive manner, enhancing a business’s online presence and effectiveness. An integrated digital marketing strategy usually combines several elements of digital marketing, such as:

• Website Design & Development
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
• Content Marketing
• Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising
• Social Media Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Online Reputation Management
• Marketing Analytics
• Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Personalisation and Customer Experience

The main goal of an integrated digital marketing strategy is to ensure that all these different components work together in harmony. This synergy allows for a more effective and efficient online presence and a more consistent and compelling brand message. When each element of the digital marketing mix is aligned and working towards the same objectives, the overall marketing efforts of a business can be amplified, leading to increased visibility, engagement, and return on investment.

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With over 20 years of hands-on experience in the industry, Gideon provides comprehensive insights and expert advice in digital marketing, e-commerce, and growth strategies to help you effectively scale your business. He is the founder and digital marketing director at Adverb.Digital.

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15 Marketing Case Study Examples With Standout Success Stories

Tomas Laurinavicius

Certain marketing campaigns leave a lasting impression. We’ve gathered insights from CEOs and marketing leaders to share one standout marketing case study that resonates with them.

From Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign’s impact to Dollar Shave Club’s viral launch video, explore fifteen memorable marketing triumphs that these experts can’t forget.

Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign Impact

Oatly’s bold brand strategy, rockervox’s tax credit success, local bookstore’s community engagement, coca-cola’s personalized brand experience, dropbox’s viral referral program, authentic influencer marketing for cpg brand, airbnb’s “we accept” social impact, amul’s topical and humorous campaigns.

• AXE’s ‘Find Your Magic’ Brand Refresh

Squatty Potty’s Humorous Viral Video

Old spice’s viral humor campaign, red bull stratos’s high-flying publicity, maple dental’s seo success story, dollar shave club’s viral launch video.

One marketing case study that has always stayed with me is the Dove Real Beauty Campaign. It really struck a chord when it launched in 2004, challenging the beauty standards and celebrating women’s diversity. What made it stand out was the “Real Beauty Sketches” video, where women described themselves to a sketch artist. Seeing the stark contrast between their self-perceptions and how others saw them was incredibly eye-opening and touching.

What I found so compelling about this campaign was its message of self-acceptance and empowerment. Dove didn’t just try to sell products; they took a stand for something much bigger, and it resonated deeply with people. Using video storytelling was a genius move as it made the message more impactful and shareable. I believe Dove showed how brands can make a real difference by addressing important social issues in an authentic and meaningful way.

Nicole Dunn , CEO, PR and Marketing Expert, Dunn Pellier Media

As a content and brand marketer, Oatly’s brand strategy always inspires me. They are a textbook example of comprehensive brand-building.

Their visual style is instantly recognizable—bold, disruptive, and often filled with humor, making oat milk a statement and something you’d be proud to display on your shelves or socials.

Their tone of voice is witty, sometimes cheeky. They’ve even printed negative feedback on their packaging, which really just shows how they court controversy to spark conversations and enhance their brand’s visibility.

And there’s a strong story behind Oatly, too. They promote sustainability and aren’t shy about their environmental impact, which has simply helped them grow an enthusiastic community of environmental advocates. Clever in endless ways, such that tons of oat milk brands have followed suit.

Wisia Neo , Content Marketing Manager, ViB

One standout marketing case study that sticks with me is the implementation of our RockerVox Restaurant Bundle, aimed at optimizing cash flow through targeted use of employer-based tax credits. The power of this case study lies in its immediate financial impact on the client, a local restaurant chain that was struggling to keep its doors open in the wake of the pandemic.

By integrating the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) and other relevant tax schemes into their payroll setup, we enabled the restaurant to reclaim a significant amount in tax credits. The real game-changer was not just the financial relief but also how it was achieved. We combined this with StaffedUp’s Applicant Tracking System, which improved their hiring processes and decreased employee turnover. This holistic approach led to a sustainable improvement in their operations and cash flow.

What made this case study so great was its tangible results. The restaurant saw a cash flow improvement of over 100%. This wasn’t just a number on a report—it meant being able to invest back into the business, enhance their services, and ultimately, keep their community fed and employed. This approach of integrating technology with financial strategy can be adapted by other businesses striving for similar resilience and growth, especially in times of economic difficulty.

Philip Wentworth, Jr , Co-Founder and CEO, Rockerbox

Certainly, one particularly impactful marketing strategy I led at FireRock Marketing involved a small local bookstore that was facing steep competition from online retailers. Our challenge was to increase foot traffic and reinforce the store’s brand presence in a highly digitalized market.

We initiated a campaign called “Local Pages, Local Stages,” where we leveraged digital marketing alongside community engagement. The bookstore held monthly events featuring local authors and artists, which we promoted heavily through targeted social media ads, email marketing, and local influencer partnerships. This multifaceted approach tapped into the community’s growing interest in supporting local ventures, enhancing visibility significantly.

The outcomes were remarkable. Over the campaign’s six-month duration, in-store sales increased by 40%, and the bookstore saw a 65% rise in attendance at events, which also boosted ancillary revenue from merchandise and cafe sales. Additionally, social media engagement metrics increased by over 150%, reflecting greater brand awareness.

This case study sticks with me because it exemplifies the power of combining digital strategies with community-based marketing to create a sustainable growth model. It shows how businesses can use holistic, integrated approaches to effectively adapt to new consumer behaviors and competitive landscapes.

Ryan Esco , Chief Marketing Officer, FireRock Marketing

A memorable marketing case study is the “Share a Coke” campaign by Coca-Cola. Initially launched in Australia in 2011, this campaign personalized the Coke experience by replacing the iconic Coca-Cola logo on bottles with common first names.

The idea was to encourage people to find bottles with their names or those of their friends and family, creating a more personal connection to the brand. The campaign was an enormous hit and was quickly rolled out worldwide, incorporating more names and even terms of endearment in different languages.

The brilliance of this campaign lay in its use of personalization, which tapped directly into the social media trend of sharing personal moments. People enthusiastically shared their personalized Coke bottles on various social media platforms, significantly amplifying the campaign’s reach beyond traditional advertising media.

This strategy boosted sales and reinforced Coca-Cola’s position as a fun and innovative brand. The “Share a Coke” campaign is a powerful example of how traditional products can be revitalized through creative marketing strategies that engage consumers personally.

Sahil Kakkar , CEO and Founder, RankWatch

For me, a standout marketing case study that really sticks with me is Dropbox’s referral program strategy back in their early days. By offering free storage space for every successful referral, they incentivized existing users to spread the word organically, resulting in exponential growth at virtually no acquisition cost.

What made this case study so brilliant was how elegantly it aligned product experience with viral sharing. Users had a vested interest in sharing Dropbox since it directly expanded their own cloud storage. This created a self-perpetuating cycle where better product engagement fueled more referrals, which then improved engagement further.

It was an ingenious lever that capitalized on the inherent sharing dynamics of their service to ignite explosive growth. The simplicity and potency of this growth hack is what truly resonates as a paragon of effective guerrilla marketing.

Ben Walker , Founder and CEO, Ditto Transcripts

One marketing case study that has always stuck with me was a campaign I led for a major CPG brand a few years back. The goal was to increase awareness and trial of their new line of organic snacks among millennial moms in a crowded market.

We developed an influencer seeding strategy focused on relatable mom micro-influencers on Instagram. Instead of just sending products, we worked with the influencers to develop authentic content that told real stories about the role of snacking and nutrition in busy family life. The photos and videos felt genuine, not overly polished or promotional.

Engagement was through the roof—the content resonated so strongly with the target audience. By the end of the 3-month campaign, we increased awareness by 45% and trial by over 20%. The CPG brand was thrilled, and the case study became an example we still reference today of the power of influencer marketing done right. Authenticity wins.

Gert Kulla , CEO, RedBat.Agency

One marketing case study that stuck with me was the Airbnb “We Accept” campaign, launched in 2017, focusing on social impact. This response to the global refugee crisis aimed to promote inclusivity, diversity, and acceptance within communities worldwide.

What made this case study remarkable was its ability to leverage the Airbnb platform to facilitate connections between hosts and displaced persons, providing them with temporary housing and support.

Airbnb demonstrated its commitment to using its platform for social good and making a tangible difference in the lives of those in need. This aligned with its mission to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.

At the end of the day, Airbnb’s “We Accept” campaign was a compelling case study showing brands how to address social issues, promote inclusivity, and drive positive change in communities worldwide.

Peter Bryla , Community Manager, ResumeLab

One standout marketing case study that sticks with me is the “Amul” marketing campaigns by Amul, the iconic Indian dairy cooperative, make for excellent and impactful case studies as well. Here’s why Amul’s marketing stands out:

The Amul Girl – The mascot of a mischievous, friendly butter girl has become one of India’s most recognizable brand icons since her inception in 1966. Her presence on topical ads commenting on the latest news and pop culture trends has made Amul’s billboards a long-standing source of joy and relevance.

Topicality – Amul’s billboards and newspaper ads are renowned for their topicality and ability to humorously comment on major events, celebrity happenings, and political developments within hours. This real-time marketing has kept the brand part of daily conversations for decades.

Humor – The not-so-secret sauce is the brilliant use of puns, wordplay, and satirical humor that Amul consistently delivers through the eyes of the Amul Girl. The healthy, inoffensive jokes have earned a cult following.

Longevity – Very few brands can boast an equally iconic and successful campaign running for over 50 years, still keeping audiences engaged across multiple generations. The long-running property itself has become a case study in sustaining relevance.

Local Connect – While achieving pan-India recognition, the puns often play on regional language nuances, striking a chord with Amul’s Gujarati roots and building a personal connection with local consumers.

The impact of Amul’s long-running topical billboard campaign is unmatched—it has not only strengthened brand recognition and loyalty but has also made the cooperative a beloved part of India’s popular culture and daily life. Creativity, agility, and contextual marketing at its best!

Yash Gangwal , Founder, Urban Monkey

AXE’s “Find Your Magic” Brand Refresh

Axe (Lynx in the UK) had created a problematic brand image from past marketing efforts. Their focus on ‘attraction is connected to conquest’ hadn’t dissuaded men from buying their deodorants, but had a toxic effect on perceptions of women. Research conducted on brand equity showed that brand equity was declining, with this perception of the brand aging poorly and desperately needing a refresh to continue allowing the brand to be relevant for the future.

That led to a superb partnership with creative agency 72andSunny Amsterdam. Unilever was able to tap into an entirely new philosophy for its brand:

Empower men to be the most attractive man they could be – themselves.

With that idea in mind, 2016 saw the launch of the AXE ‘Find Your Magic’ commercial, a stunning celebration of the diversity of modern masculinity. The campaign also saw the release of a new range of premium grooming products and a supporting influencer marketing campaign featuring brand ambassadors, including John Legend.

While not all parts of the creative were successful, the campaign drove more than 39 million views and 4 billion media impressions in the first quarter after the launch. But most critically, AXE saw a 30+% increase in positive perception of their brand.

This campaign will stand the test of time because it combines several important and brave initiatives:

• A forward-thinking mentality that the brand image you have today may not be suited for a future world
• A broader understanding of what your customer base looks like – women also play a big role in men’s choice of deodorant
• A big and bold attempt to change the way your brand is perceived – and succeeding with flying colors.

Yannis Dimitroulas , SEO and Digital Marketing Specialist, Front & Centre

One standout marketing case study that sticks with me is the campaign for Squatty Potty. The brand created a humorous video featuring a unicorn pooping rainbow ice cream to demonstrate the benefits of using their product. This unconventional approach garnered widespread attention and went viral, generating millions of views and shares on social media platforms.

The success of this campaign can be attributed to its creative storytelling, humor, and shock value, which made it memorable and engaging for viewers. By thinking outside the box and taking a risk with their messaging, Squatty Potty was able to create a unique and effective marketing strategy that resonated with consumers.

This case study serves as a reminder that creativity and originality can set a brand apart in a crowded marketplace, ultimately leading to increased brand awareness and customer engagement.

Carly Hill , Operations Manager, Virtual Holiday Party

The Old Spice ‘The Man Your Man Could Smell Like’ campaign remains etched in my memory. Its brilliance lies in its humor and creativity. By featuring a charismatic spokesperson and employing absurd scenarios, it captured viewers’ attention and went viral.

The campaign seamlessly integrated across platforms, from TV to social media, maximizing its reach. Its cleverness and entertainment value made it unforgettable, setting a benchmark for engaging marketing strategies. The case study showcases the importance of storytelling and humor in capturing audience interest and driving brand awareness.

Dan Ponomarenko , CEO, Webvizio

A marketing case study that has made a lasting impression on me is the Red Bull Stratos Jump. This campaign was for Felix Baumgartner’s record-breaking jump from the edge of space, sponsored by Red Bull. The goal of this campaign was to create buzz and generate brand awareness through this extreme event.

The reason why this case study stands out to me is because of its successful execution in capturing the attention and interest of not just extreme sports enthusiasts, but also the general public.

The live broadcast of Baumgartner’s jump on various channels and social media platforms garnered over 52 million views, making it one of the most-watched live events ever. Red Bull’s strategic use of real-time marketing, storytelling, and high-quality visuals made this campaign a huge success, resulting in a significant increase in sales and brand recognition for the company.

This case study serves as a great example of how a well-planned and executed marketing campaign can effectively reach and engage with a wide audience.

Brian Hemmerle , Founder and CEO, Kentucky Sell Now

One standout marketing case study that resonates with me is the SEO transformation for Maple Dental. This campaign dramatically improved their local online visibility, leading to a substantial increase in new patient appointments. The integration of Google Maps SEO proved to be a game-changer, emphasizing the power of local search optimization in attracting nearby clients.

What made this case study exceptional was the measurable impact on the clinic’s business. For instance, the campaign led to a 230% increase in phone calls and a 223% increase in website visits. Such clear, quantifiable results showcased a direct contribution to business growth. These metrics are vital for demonstrating the return on investment in digital marketing efforts.

Additionally, the use of a targeted approach to enhance Google Maps visibility was particularly compelling. By optimizing their presence on Google Maps, Maple Dental saw a 250% increase in monthly maps impressions, which directly correlated with increased patient inquiries and visits.

Ihor Lavrenenko , CEO, Dental SEO Expert

One case study that always comes to mind is Dollar Shave Club’s launch video in 2012. It was called “Our Blades Are F*cking Great,” and let’s just say it got people talking! This video was hilarious and totally different from those fancy shaving commercials we were used to seeing. It spoke directly to guys, poked fun at expensive razor prices, and offered a way to get awesome blades for much less.

Additionally, it told everyone to check out their website. It was short, catchy, and made a huge impact. This is a perfect example of how a creative and funny video can grab attention, make people remember your brand, and get them to become customers.

Perry Zheng , Founder and CEO, Pallas

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Tinder: Taking Dating into a Dystopian Future?

Johnson & Johnson: Big Pharma Pioneers on the Front Line

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How to create an impactful digital marketing case study.

In-depth case studies highlight your successes and give you the chance to show – rather than tell – your prospects how your services can help them. 

When creating case studies, most digital marketing companies put too much focus on themselves. Their idea of writing a good case study is to sing praises about their services. They even forget to inform their clients of the importance of adding case studies to an overall marketing plan .

However, it will never appeal to your target audience. In fact, your case study will sound like every other case study that your prospects have read.

The good thing is that you can transform your case study into a masterpiece. In this guide, we will help you write an impactful digital marketing case study. 

What is a Digital Marketing Case Study? 

A case study is an in-depth account that showcases how your service solved your customers’ marketing challenges. Case studies are stories with your client as the protagonist, a problem, and a solution. You want to structure your story in a way that encourages readers to picture themselves as the customer. 

Benefits of a Digital Marketing Case Study

Here are some specific benefits of using digital marketing case studies:

Demonstrate value: They can demonstrate the value of a business’s products or services by showing how the products have been used to solve specific problems or achieve specific results.

Build credibility: Case studies can provide social proof that a business’s products or services are effective and can help to build credibility with potential customers.

Attract new customers: By showcasing the success that a business has had with digital marketing, case studies can attract new customers who are looking for similar results.

Generate leads: Case studies provide a way for potential customers to learn more about a business and its offerings.

Provide inspiration : It helps potential customers see what has worked for others and giving them ideas for how they can apply similar tactics to their own marketing efforts.

Unveiling the Power of Digital Marketing Case Studies

In the realm of digital marketing, success stories aren’t just anecdotes; they’re powerful tools that can sway decisions, shape strategies, and ultimately drive sales. Digital marketing case studies serve as compelling narratives of triumph, showcasing real-world examples of effective strategies, innovative tactics, and impressive results. In this article, we’ll explore how these case studies influence sales and provide a template to help you craft your own impactful success stories.

How Does a Digital Marketing Case Study Influence Sales?

• Demonstrating Proof of Concept : Digital marketing case studies offer tangible evidence of a strategy’s effectiveness. By presenting concrete results and success metrics, they validate the viability of specific tactics and reassure potential clients or customers of their potential impact.
• Building Credibility and Trust : When prospects see how your digital marketing efforts have delivered measurable results for others in similar situations, it instills confidence in your capabilities. Case studies serve as testimonials, establishing credibility and trustworthiness that can sway hesitant buyers toward conversion.
• Inspiring Confidence and Relatability : Through storytelling , case studies humanize your brand and make your successes relatable. Prospects can see themselves in the shoes of your satisfied customers, envisioning similar outcomes for their own businesses. This emotional connection fosters trust and confidence in your brand, making prospects more inclined to engage with your products or services.
• Providing Social Proof : Digital marketing case studies serve as a form of social proof, showcasing endorsements and testimonials from satisfied clients or customers. When prospects see that others have benefited from your solutions, they’re more likely to follow suit.
• Facilitating Decision-Making : For prospects in the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey, digital marketing case studies provide valuable insights and information to inform their decision-making process. By highlighting the challenges faced, strategies implemented, and outcomes achieved, case studies empower prospects to make informed choices and move closer to making a purchase decision.

5 Steps to Create an Impactful Case Study 

An effective digital marketing case study puts your prospects in the client’s shoes. The goal is to offer a compelling story that gets prospects invested in your services. Try these five steps.

Step #1: Determine the Purpose of Your Case Study 

Digital marketing companies use case studies for several purposes, including to show service implementation, marketing ROI increases, and client satisfaction.

Your target audience should self-identify with the subject. From your case study, prospects can determine if your business can meet their needs and challenges.

Step #2: Use the Right Clients in Your Analysis

Finding the right clients is the key to appealing to your prospects. Consider answering these questions in your case study analysis:

• Is the client enthusiastic about your digital marketing services? 
• Does the client understand your services and operations well enough to discuss them? 
• Will the client allow you to share data, like revenue increases? 
• Did you manage to positively impact the client’s digital marketing ROI ?

Select clients that know your business well. This is helpful when you are trying to increase trust and build engagement. 

Step #3: Select a Format for Your Case Study 

Different case study formats appeal to different groups. For example, if you are targeting busy CEOs with your case study, a format that allows readers to quickly digest information will be more ideal. Here are three popular formats for case studies.

1. Infographics

This format allows readers to easily scan a lot of information. Infographics highlight the most important facts.

Birchwood Case Study Infographic

Online video is growing in popularity. According to Wyzowl , the number of hours people spend watching online videos every week has nearly doubled since 2018. Moreover, 81% of digital marketers report video marketing has helped improve their company’s bottom line.

Video case studies allow you to: 

• Add a real face to the story
• Show the client’s emotions about your services
• Highlight specific on-camera messages

Written case studies like eBooks are more exhaustive. Your eBook can be several pages long and incorporate graphs and charts. This format allows prospects to take a deeper look at your clients’ stories. 

Step #4: Ask the Right Questions

Be prepared to ask the right questions when interviewing your clients. Your goal is to ask questions that build a high-quality narrative. 

Stay away from yes/no questions. These questions do not allow your clients to explain their thoughts. Instead, stick with open-ended questions that will encourage the client to provide details. Here are a few questions you can use: 

• What challenges were you facing before investing in our digital marketing services? 
• What goals did your company have when we started working together?
• How did our services help you achieve your goals? 
• How has your company benefited from our digital marketing services?

Letting your clients tell their stories also allows you to show your company’s achievements rather than just talk about them. To achieve the best results, you will need to pair your client’s responses with results. 

When showing results, put your focus on data. Show your prospects the amount of money you helped your clients save ot how much you boosted your client’s sales. Below is an example of how to use data in your digital marketing case study.

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Step #5: Promote Your Case Study 

The last step is to distribute your case study through multiple marketing channels. You can send the case study to prospects on your email list. 

Or you can add a link to the case study in a blog post. You also may want to add excerpts of the case study on your pricing page to persuade prospects.

You also can share your case study on social media. Here are a few tips:

• Facebook – Post your video and infographic case studies in groups.
• Instagram – Share the visual data of your case studies to spark a conversation.
• YouTube – Post the entire video case study along with notes in the description.
• Twitter – Share quotes from clients to grab your followers’ attention.

Digital Marketing Case Study Template

Crafting a compelling digital marketing case study requires a structured approach that highlights key elements while maintaining a narrative flow. Here’s a template to guide you through the process:

• Introduction : Provide a brief overview of the client or project, including their industry, challenges, and objectives.
• Challenge : Describe the specific challenges or pain points faced by the client, emphasizing the need for a strategic solution.
• Strategy : Detail the digital marketing strategy or tactics implemented to address the client’s challenges, including the rationale behind each approach.
• Execution : Outline the execution phase, including the implementation of digital marketing campaigns, tools used, and any notable adjustments made along the way.
• Results : Present the outcomes and results achieved as a result of the digital marketing efforts, focusing on key metrics such as increased website traffic, lead generation, conversion rates, revenue growth, etc.
• Testimonials : Include quotes or testimonials from the client, highlighting their satisfaction with the results and the value delivered by your digital marketing efforts.
• Lessons Learned : Reflect on lessons learned from the project, including insights gained, challenges overcome, and best practices identified.
• Conclusion : Summarize the key takeaways from the case study and reiterate the impact of your digital marketing solutions on the client’s business success.

Example of a Digital Marketing Case Study

Title: Increasing E-commerce Sales through Targeted Digital Marketing

Objective: A case study showcasing how Company XYZ, an online retailer, utilized digital marketing strategies to boost e-commerce sales and drive customer engagement.

Background: Company XYZ is an e-commerce company specializing in fashion apparel and accessories. Despite having a wide product range and a user-friendly website, they were facing challenges in increasing online sales and reaching their target audience effectively.

Digital Marketing Strategy:

• Comprehensive Audience Analysis: Company XYZ conducted an in-depth analysis of their target audience to understand their demographics, preferences, and online behavior. This involved analyzing website analytics, conducting surveys, and leveraging social media listening tools to gather valuable insights.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): The company implemented a robust SEO strategy to improve organic visibility and drive targeted traffic to their website. This included optimizing product descriptions, implementing relevant keywords, and enhancing website structure and navigation.
• Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC): Company XYZ launched targeted PPC campaigns on platforms like Google Ads and social media channels. They identified relevant keywords, crafted compelling ad copy, and optimized landing pages to maximize conversions. They also utilized audience targeting options to reach specific customer segments.
• Social Media Marketing: Leveraging the insights gained from the audience analysis, Company XYZ identified the social media platforms where their target audience was most active. They created engaging content, including visually appealing images and videos, to promote their products and encourage user engagement. They also collaborated with influencers in the fashion industry to expand their reach and credibility.
• Email Marketing Campaigns: Company XYZ developed personalized and segmented email marketing campaigns to nurture leads and drive repeat purchases. They sent targeted promotions, product recommendations, and exclusive discounts to specific customer segments based on their preferences and purchase history.
• Remarketing and Retargeting: To re-engage potential customers who had visited their website but did not make a purchase, Company XYZ implemented remarketing and retargeting strategies. They served tailored ads to these users across different digital platforms to remind them of the products they had shown interest in and encourage them to complete their purchase.
• Increased Website Traffic: Through the implementation of SEO strategies and targeted PPC campaigns, Company XYZ experienced a significant increase in website traffic. Organic search traffic improved by 35%, and paid search campaigns resulted in a 50% increase in click-through rates.
• Improved Conversion Rates: The optimized landing pages and targeted advertising efforts led to a 20% increase in conversion rates. The personalized email marketing campaigns also contributed to higher customer engagement and repeat purchases.
• Enhanced Social Media Engagement: Company XYZ witnessed a 40% increase in social media followers and a significant improvement in engagement metrics such as likes, comments, and shares. Collaborations with influencers further expanded their reach and helped build brand credibility.
• Revenue Growth: As a result of the combined digital marketing efforts, Company XYZ experienced a 30% increase in e-commerce sales within six months. The higher conversion rates, repeat purchases, and improved customer engagement contributed to a substantial growth in revenue.

Conclusion: Through a well-executed digital marketing strategy encompassing SEO, PPC advertising, social media marketing, email campaigns, and remarketing, Company XYZ achieved remarkable results in increasing e-commerce sales, driving website traffic, improving conversion rates, and enhancing customer engagement. The successful case study demonstrates the power of targeted digital marketing in achieving business goals and attaining measurable results in the online retail industry.

About the Author

Mathenge is a professional freelance writer. He creates high-ranking content for online business owners. He also helps online entrepreneurs create amazing copies that encourage their audience to take action. Follow on Twitter @254Mathenge .

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Top 11 Marketing Case Study Examples for Startups

A case study with a marketing context essentially helps one to illustrate as well as explain how one gained profitable success in a particular situation. These marketing case studies with solutions help students or other individuals by acting as illustrations of how using a specific approach can be beneficial.

Creating content has been one of the most important agendas for marketers these days. They want to generate leads, drive the traffic online, collaborate with other channels, and know each and every single thing about the audience in the best way.

As per recent stats,

Costs of content marketing is 62% lesser than traditional marketing and it offers 3 times better lead generations.

Marketing case studies are one of the top-performing content on the web. Hence, having a proper marketing case study can be really helpful for the people these days. However, creating that can be a tough thing for sure. Hence, we are here to help you out. We are going to provide you with some tips on how to create the perfect marketing study in the best way.

What is a Marketing Case Study?

A marketing case study mainly includes analysing a project, campaign or business idea of a company identifying the situation, recommending a solution and implementing action and identification of those factors which contributed to the success or failure of the project. 

A marketing case study is a web page or a document which constitutes the following:

Subject description: This explains and gives the details of the problems faced by the customers as well as their history.

The goal of the subject: It defines the purposes of the project such that the readers can understand what the objectives are.

The hypothesis of the strategy used: This explains the readers the expected results of a particular strategy being implemented for the customer or the client.

The implementation process of the strategy: This part takes the reader through the entire implementation process of the marketing strategy .

Results yielded by the strategy: The example of a marketing case study then gives the details of the results generated by the strategy with proper details.

Conclusions or inferences: The marketing case study then ends with details about what conclusions could be drawn from the case study along with how it can help other individuals.

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What is the Purpose of a Marketing Case Study?

The purpose of a marketing case study is to act as a lure. It effectively dangles good results in front of potential clients or customers. It drives them towards choosing your business over others and thus, increases your conversion rates.

Take, for instance , a customer is trying to choose between your company and your competitor for a particular product or service. If you put up successful marketing case studies in support of your business, the customer is likely to opt for your business over your competitor. It is because the marketing case study illustrates how your product or service helped its clients achieve their goals efficiently.

The marketing case studies also help build trust with the clients . They lead them to trust and confide with your company because they have proof of your capabilities. You can also use the logic of your customers to make effective business decisions. It can be done by putting yourself in the customer’s shoes and thinking like them. It can effectively help you gain significant and meaningful insights into new methods of marketing.

The creation of a marketing case study by a company helps them gain an edge over their competitors as they are giving out substantial proof. The inclusion of quotes made by the clients further helps improve the trust factor. The marketing case studies also help them make more informed decisions.

Another essential thing to remember is not to copy your competitors or any other businesses. Companies should try to be creative as well as innovative while formulating the marketing case study.

Importance of the Marketing Case Study 

This helps in pointing out the shortcomings of the project or the positive points of a project.

This helps in the in-depth analysis of the project and pointing out the underlying facts that may have their contribution to the success or failure of the campaign.

Marketing case study ultimately prevents the repetition of any wrong decision taken by any company which led to the collapse of the project, and in the case of study of the successful case study it helps in improving the suggestion where this helps to increase the rate of success in future for the similar campaigns.

In today’s time, it is quite tough to run a successful marketing campaign in the first go. You need to pay heed upon different things that are the key parts of a marketing strategy for a particular kind of business associated with a particular industry or niche.

Marketing Case studies help in knowing the key components, factors, and steps that should be part of your marketing campaign. They act as a step by step guide that ensue flawless channelization of your marketing campaign.

Necessary Steps to Creating an Effective Marketing Case Study:

For writing an effective marketing case study, you should select a case that you will study. For the second step, read and examine the case thoroughly. Take the notes about the situation; this will help you later while analysing the case. Then you should highlight the fundamental problems and the underlined facts; this will help in the in-depth analysis of any problem.

Identify two to five critical problems and analyse each at a time. Analyse the different aspects of the problem and deeply check the underrated facts. Study about the possible solutions, discussions and different possible situations about the case. 

Select the best solution for the case. In case of failure, suggest the best solution possible. And in case of a successful case indicate the point to the betterment of the success. 

1) Choose a story that a customer or a client will relate to

2) Identify and understand the key points that should be contained in the case study

3) Use these key points to tell the story to the reader

4) Talk about the problems faced and the potential solutions

5) Highlight, i.e. focus on the results of your campaign

6) Talk about the different types of design and processes

7) Remember to ask for feedback as this will help you understand what your potential customer wants to learn about

Tips To Help You Create Better Marketing Case Studies

Do you want to have a marketing case study with a solution ? Well, we have some tips that are going to help you out for sure. These tips are definitely helpful and will provide you with the solution that you seek.

1. Build Trust

This is one of the best tips that we can give you when you want to create the perfect example of marketing case study for sure. The most amazing case studies that you might have seen so far are the ones that tend to leverage all the right relationships in the best way. So, you need to make sure that you do the same. Gain some knowledge about the product and how it has gathered some impressive results. This is surely going to work so you need to go ahead and try it once for sure.

2. Tell a Story

After you have started gathering all the facts, you need to make sure that you put them into writing so that it looks more like a story that people are going to love. Some of the best marketing case study examples for students are the ones that have a certain story to it. So, there is no doubt that you need to go ahead and try it out for sure.

3. Pay Attention to Formatting

This is another one of the most important tips that we have in line for you. Formatting is as important as writing the text and what you are writing. So, you have to pay attention to that as well. No one really enjoys having huge amounts of texts all the time. This is one way of saying that you need not use many words in order to get your message known to the people. This might even prompt the readers to move to something else. Surely, you don’t want that to happen, right? So, that might be something that you are willing to try, right?

4. Include Some Facts

Now no marketing case study would be complete if you don’t put in some facts for sure. It won’t be having the desired effect that it’s supposed to have on the audience in the first place. So, that is a risk you shouldn’t be taking. Make sure to put in lots of facts for the readers out there.

So, that is how you make a proper marketing case study. These are some tips which would definitely help you make some important points across the people that you want to reach for sure.

Let us look at some compelling marketing case study examples for students and other individuals.

Top 11 Marketing Case Studies for Startups

This example of a marketing case study highlights how a company’s journey can be used to define a narrative. When weaknesses were identified in Shopify’s sales channel, a decision was made to adopt HubSpot.

The marketing case study with solution talks about how Shopify used HubSpot’s email plugin to enhance communication while saving time. It also leads to a rise in the level of trust among the leads.

The marketing case study highlights how the tools from HubSpot helped the company achieve success. However, there are not any statistics available to support this approach.

2) Level Ten Design Blog’s Case Study

A marketing case study by the Level Ten Design blog talks about how a mention by a celebrity can help boost a company’s profits. It talks about the halo effect of social media on organic search.

It recounts how a client’s traffic was significantly affected when Selena Gomez tweeted about it. Owing to the celebrity’s reach, the client’s website’s analytics showed a massive increase in its organic traffic along with the brand-related keyword searches.

Bit.ly is one of the top marketing case study examples for students that use a traditional template. It was a simple PDF document containing several sections of the marketing case study with solution talking about how Vissla helped them enhance its omnichannel marketing with Bit.ly.

Vissla was able to gain better control of their social media marketing channels. It helped them effectively improve the content they were sharing. This example of a marketing case study shows that one can use design to make the content easy to understand.

This marketing case study by Sennep is a case study turned into a video. It interacts with the viewers and talks about the issue and its solution along with the process taken to reach the results.

5) Viperchill

Another example of a marketing case study is by Viperchill. This marketing case study examples for students is easy to understand and read. It gives the details of how an author can create a squeeze page using 700 leads and have a conversion rate of 64 percent. This marketing case study with a solution gives out hard numbers making it easier to comprehend.

This marketing case study by gShift keeps it to the point and is short. It does so while covering all the required details and processes. The case study focuses on keeping it crisp by including information on the brand, issue, its solution along with the achieved results of the marketing campaign.

7) MarketingSherpa

The marketing case study given out by MarketingSperpa is extensively detailed.

It highlights how MarketingSperpa offered its help to a natural foods company and helped them boost their revenue by a factor of 18 percent. They helped them do this by redesigning their website.

It is one of the excellent marketing case study examples for students as it consists of numerous visuals as well as detailed explanations.

8) SEOMoz Blog on Optimization of Photo Labels

Another marketing case study by the SEOmoz blog given by Kasy Allen highlights the importance of the correct labeling one’s photos. It is in contradiction to the simple usage of keywords.

She states, “If you fill the alt tag with nothing but keywords, how are people going to get the images that they need? Do I want ‘world’s best tortilla soup recipe ever’ or do I want ‘thick tortilla soup recipe?”.

Kasy Allen also carried out a search test to understand the other criteria that Google might be taking into account when it is crawling as well as ranking images.

9) Landing Page Case Study by OH Partners

Another marketing case study by gShift is about the optimization of the landing page of the OH Partners. Again, like the previously mentioned case study, it has been kept short and to the point.

It consists of the details about the landing page along with a supporting video as well as links to similar case studies. It gives a brief explanation of the case study, as well.

10) Oli Gardner

11) The 4-Hour Workweek

The author of the book, “The 4-Hour Workweek” tested the name of the book on Google AdWords before going ahead with it. The author, Timothy Ferriss, created different campaigns for six prospective titles of the book. He then selected the title which achieved the best CTRs, i.e. click-through rates. It is a great marketing case study examples for students.

Marketing Case Study Wrap Up!

Marketing case studies help a company enhance its conversion rates significantly. But they also require one to put in a lot of effort as well as time. A good case study requires work as if it is helping to increase your sales; it is but evident that you need to put in the required efforts.

It is important to remember that marketing case studies help build trust levels with clients. It helps in the conversion of leads to proper customers. A good case study also displays your track record and effectively forms a case where others can use your products or services in place of someone else’s.

Finally, a marketing case study also helps improve a brand’s awareness. It does so by promoting itself on social media.

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Three Short Marketing Analytics Case Studies to Inspire You to Love Data

Written by Anna Sonnenberg

Published Feb. 28 2022

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From engagement statistics to content analytics to conversion metrics, data is a big part of most social media managers’ responsibilities. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you enjoy processing marketing data or drawing conclusions from it.

If data isn’t exactly your favorite part of the job, these marketing analytics case studies may change your mind.

Find out how marketing analytics helped three major brands grow their businesses—and you might develop a whole new appreciation for marketing data in the process.

What Is Marketing Analytics?

Marketing analytics is the process of collecting and evaluating metrics to understand how much value marketing efforts generate. With analytics, you can assess the return on investment (ROI) of anything from social media posts and ad campaigns to landing pages and native platform features.

For many organizations and their marketing team, marketing analytics are essential for improving offerings and driving growth.

Here are common goals you can achieve with marketing analytics.

Improving marketing campaigns

Some social media marketing campaigns are more successful than others. Analytics can help your organization pinpoint exactly what works. By analyzing metrics like engagement, click-through rate (CTR), conversions, and ROI, you can determine what resonates best with its audience. By using data science, you can craft a marketing strategy that gets you better results from your campaigns.

Decreasing expenses

Ineffective marketing campaigns, usability issues, and poorly optimized algorithms can all lead to dissatisfied customers and unnecessarily high retention costs.

By investing in marketing analytics, your organization can take steps to identify points of friction and reduce expenses.

Forecasting results

Reviewing past outcomes is useful, but forecasting the results your campaigns are likely to generate is even more valuable. With marketing analytics, you can model results and get a better sense of how marketing initiatives can impact growth over time.

Marketing Analytics Case Studies: Progressive Insurance

In the early 2000s, Progressive’s website was routinely considered one of the best in the insurance industry. When the insurance provider’s customers began switching to mobile devices a decade later, the organization aimed to develop a mobile app as effective as its desktop site.

But what did that mean exactly? And what was the insurance provider’s mobile app missing?

To determine what would make the mobile app more successful, Progressive pursued an in-depth analysis of the organization’s marketing data.

As Progressive Data & Analytics Business Leader Pawan Divakarla explains , the insurance provider’s analytics team has always sought insight into how customers are using the company’s tools.

In his words, “At Progressive, we sell insurance. But if you think about it, our product is actually data.”

After launching the mobile app, Progressive began looking for ways to optimize the user experience. As this Progressive case study explains, the organization aimed to streamline the login process and improve user satisfaction to meet its ultimate goals of increasing customer loyalty and new customer acquisition.

Because Progressive’s mobile app generated so much information, the organization needed data visualization tools for collection and processing. To analyze customers’ experiences and actions, the company opted to use a combination of Google Analytics 360 and Google Tag Manager 360.

This choice was a relatively simple one for Progressive because the company already used these tools to run A/B tests and optimize its website.

Using Google’s analytical tools to review the company’s mobile app would allow Progressive to understand what features to test and how to optimize the user experience across countless mobile devices and operating systems.

Progressive used the two Google tools for separate yet complementary functions:

• With Google Analytics 360, Progressive could track user sessions and demographics. The company integrated BigQuery for more insight into user behaviors.
• With Google Tag Manager 360, Progressive could easily implement tracking tags to measure various actions, conversions, and navigation patterns.

To get the insights the company needed to improve its mobile app, Progressive took a three-pronged approach:

User device data

First, Progressive aimed to identify which devices and operating systems were most common among the app’s user base. With this information, the company would be able to develop more effective tests for its mobile app.

App crash data

Next, Progressive wanted to analyze app crash data. The company planned to use Google Analytics 360 and BigQuery data to understand the cause for the crash and how users reacted when the app stopped working abruptly.

Login and security data

Finally, Progressive aimed to learn how users responded when failed login attempts locked them out of the app. The company planned to use Google Analytics 360 and BigQuery to see what actions users took. It planned to then test new prompts that would guide users more effectively.

Outcome of this marketing analytics case study

Using marketing analytics tools , Progressive was able to process customer behavior, identify appropriate tests, and implement successful solutions.

Here’s how each of the three approaches generated useful results that helped Progressive reach its ultimate acquisition and loyalty goals.

First, Progressive developed session-based reports that reflected the most common mobile devices and operating systems for the app’s user base. With those insights, the company identified which device and operating system combinations to prioritize for its mobile app tests.

As a result, the company reduced testing time by 20% for its mobile app—allowing the organization to find solutions much more quickly than its typical timeline would have allowed.

Next, Progressive reviewed the actions customers took right before the app crashed. The company pinpointed a server issue as the cause of a major crash that disrupted countless mobile app sessions.

Using this data, Progressive could address the server issue and prevent it from happening again.

Finally, Progressive created a custom funnel in Google Analytics 360 to evaluate users’ typical login path. After learning that many users who became locked out of their accounts never attempted to log in again, the company developed a workflow that provided better guidance.

The new workflow sends users to a Forgot Password page, which has increased logins by 30%.

Marketing Analytics Case Studies: Netflix

When companies take a digital-first approach to customer loyalty, they can collect an incredible amount of user data. With these marketing analytics, companies can improve their products, build better marketing campaigns, and drive more revenue.

As this Netflix case study shows, the online content streaming platform has leveraged its user data in a variety of helpful ways.

By using data to improve its content recommendation engine, develop original content, and increase its customer retention rate, Netflix has positioned itself far ahead of the competition.

With so much data to leverage, Netflix had wide-ranging goals for the company’s marketing analytics. However, all of the organization’s goals contributed to the company’s larger business objectives—which focus on customer retention.

Netflix aimed to go beyond basic user demographics and understand what customers want from a streaming platform—and what was likely to convince them to stay. With this knowledge, Netflix could create better products and services for happier customers.

Access issues, service outages, and platform flaws can all lead to unhappy customers and negative sentiment—which can cause customers to seek out an alternative solution.

By identifying problems early through marketing analytics, Netflix could improve its products and continue to innovate.

To work toward its customer retention objective, Netflix collected data from virtually every interaction with its 150+ million subscribers. The company then used marketing analytics tools to process this native data and evaluate everything from how customers navigate the platform to what they watch.

By creating such detailed customer profiles, Netflix could make much more personalized recommendations for each user. The more data the company collected, the more it could tailor its algorithm to suggest the ideal content to each individual viewer.

To better understand the platform’s users, Netflix collected such data as:

• The devices viewers used to stream content
• Day of week and time of day when users viewed content
• Number of serial episodes viewers watched in a row
• Whether viewers paused and resumed content
• Number and type of searches users performed

Netflix also welcomed user feedback on content . The company incorporated these content ratings into their analysis to better understand viewer preferences.

According to the streaming platform, the Netflix algorithm is responsible for about 80% of viewer activity . The company has successfully collected relevant data and used marketing analytics to generate recommendations that encourage viewers to continue watching and subscribing.

The revenue metrics suggest that Netflix’s focus on marketing analytics has been hugely beneficial to the company. The company estimates that its algorithm generates $1 billion in value every year, largely due to customer retention.

In recent years, Netflix’s customer retention rate has far surpassed competitors like Hulu and Amazon Prime. Netflix has an impressive 90% retention rate , meaning the vast majority of viewers continue to subscribe to the service month after month. (In contrast, Amazon Prime’s retention rate is 75%, and Hulu’s is 64%.)

For Netflix, customer retention means more than happy viewers. It also means more data, a continually improving algorithm, and substantial business growth.

Netflix has emerged as the world’s most highly valued company, with a total valuation of over $160 billion. Netflix can continue to increase this valuation. It leverages its data by producing original media and recommending the ideal content to viewers every time they access the streaming platform.

Marketing Analytics Case Studies: Allrecipes

As the world’s biggest digital food brand, Allrecipes has 18 websites and more than 85 million users. But the brand also has plenty of competition from other food-focused apps and websites.

To stay ahead of other recipe sites and ensure that it continues to provide all the solutions that users want, Allrecipes relies on marketing analytics.

With marketing analytics, the digital brand can better understand the customer journey and analyze trends as they emerge. As this Allrecipes case study explains, the brand can expand its audience and attract even more lucrative demographics using these insights.

To continue to gain ground as the world’s top digital food brand, Allrecipes established several wide-ranging goals.

Some of the brand’s primary objectives included the following.

Improve user experience

With more than a billion and a half visitors across the brand’s sites every year, Allrecipes generates a ton of traffic. But the company needed a way to understand how visitors were using the site, so it could improve the user experience and gauge the health of the sites.

Increase video engagement

To take advantage of a demand for video content, Allrecipes had decided to invest heavily in video. However, the video production team needed strategic guidance. The brand needed to know what types of content would drive the most engagement.

Drive mobile engagement

To continue to meet the needs of its user base, Allrecipes had to look beyond its websites. As more and more people began using mobile devices to access the brand’s content, Allrecipes realized that the company needed to optimize its mobile app.

Inform product strategy

To promote new features and integrations or pursue partner programs, Allrecipes needed to know what its community wanted. Had they adopted the new integrations yet? Did they need new features to use the site or app more effectively?

Expand user base

Cooking and dining trends come and go, and Allrecipes needed a simple yet effective way to identify these developments.

By responding quickly to trends, the brand would be able to capture a larger user base, including elusive millennials.

Grow advertising revenue

Like many digital brands, Allrecipes has a native advertising program that allows the company to monetize its website. The company aimed to increase its advertising revenue, yet the organization didn’t want to compromise the user experience. To find the right partners to grow this program, Allrecipes needed deeper insights into its audience.

Although the brand’s goals were varied, the approach was relatively straightforward. To process marketing analytics from a wide range of channels, the brand opted to use Tableau, a business intelligence platform.

With Tableau, Allrecipes could establish a single platform for visualizing data from Adobe Marketing Cloud, Hitwise, and comScore. By linking Adobe Marketing Cloud to Tableau, the brand could pull in all of its website and marketing analytics. By linking Hitwise and comScore, the brand could source demographic data.

Using Tableau allowed Allrecipes to build custom dashboards and develop tailored reports to answer all of the brand’s questions. This tool also allowed the brand to pursue collaboration options across the organization.

In fact, departments ranging from marketing and design to product and finance contributed to the tool. Teams used Tableau Server to publish dashboards, creating a single space where stakeholders could visualize or analyze data.

With Tableau, Allrecipes was able to visualize the brand’s data successfully, enabling smarter decisions and making progress toward key goals. Here’s what the brand accomplished using marketing analytics:

Using insights from Tableau, Allrecipes was able to see how visitors typically used the site—including how they submit recipes, share content, and post links on social media channels. The organization then used this data to devise a plan for improving the site.

Knowing how visitors were already engaging with the site allowed the brand to make data-driven, goal-focused decisions.

With Tableau’s marketing analytics, Allrecipes found that out of all types of recipes, dessert typically generated more views and attracted more comments and photos. As a result, the brand opted to focus on this highly engaging niche, creating a separate video hub for dessert recipes.

To increase engagement on mobile devices, Allrecipes devised an A/B test that displayed the brand’s mobile site on all devices. Then the organization used the analytics to identify what drove interactions on mobile. The brand then used insights to improve the mobile site, including optimizing content and encouraging photo uploads.

Tableau’s data visualizations helped Allrecipes understand trends in its user community and respond to preferences more efficiently. Using these insights, the brand was able to promote integrations and features while gathering data for future product enhancements.

By using Tableau’s insights to process trends, Allrecipes was able to segment audiences for various recipe types, ultimately identifying millennial users’ interests and preferences. The brand was then able to create more content geared toward this growing user base—likely responding much more quickly than competitors could.

By tapping into real-time marketing analytics, Allrecipes was able to share popular recipe searches and trending content with its advertising partners during a recent holiday season. Advertisers could then create ads tailored to these interests, generating a better ROI and creating a more appealing experience for users.

What We Learned From These Marketing Analytics Case Studies

As these marketing analytics case studies show, data can tell you a lot about what your customers want—and where your organization succeeds or has room for improvement. Using insights from marketing analytics, a digital marketer can make data-driven decisions to cultivate customer loyalty, generate more revenue, and ultimately grow your business.

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CDK Digital Marketing: Addressing Channel Conflict with Data Analytics – Case Solution

This case study describes CDK Digital Marketing, General Motors' exclusive website vendor for its U.S. network of 4,000 dealers, which is facing a crucial contract renewal at the end of 2012. Melissa McCann, the director of marketing, and Chris Reed, the CMO, prepared for a critical meeting in July 2011.

​Zettelmeyer, Florian and Merkley, Greg Kellogg School of Management ( KEL894-PDF-ENG ) October 22, 2014

Case questions answered:

We have uploaded two case study solutions, which both answer the following set of questions:

• What misalignment(s) caused channel conflict between manufacturers and dealers in the automotive industry? How was this conflict reflected in the attitudes of GM and its dealers toward the CDK Digital Marketing program?
• How would you characterize CDK Digital’s core competencies as of 2011?
• Suppose a car shopper’s interests could be known when she visited a dealer’s website. How would the dealer want to treat her? What about the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)?
• How can CDK Digital leverage its core competencies to provide a website solution that both GM and its dealers consider to serve their interests?

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CDK Digital Marketing: Addressing Channel Conflict with Data Analytics Case Answers

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Executive Summary – CDK Digital Marketing

This case study recounts the efforts of CDK Digital Marketing (now Sincro), a prominent digital marketing agency, as they faced a particularly enigmatic issue during their 2012 sole-provider contract renewal with General Motors:

“How do we offer dealerships the flexibility to differentiate their online presence from the local competition while maintaining a consistent brand image?”

The Dealers wanted a digital platform that was easy to customize, while the Manufacturers wanted a website that would communicate a consistent brand image.

Dealers wanted a website that would allow them to sell the items that were popular in their area, while Manufacturers wanted to sell more OEM parts.

Although GM required that dealers use the CDK’s site, less than half of them used it as their primary sales platform.

How The Product Helped

Most Dealers didn’t have a full-time marketing professional on staff. Hiring CDK Digital Marketing allowed Dealers to make informed marketing decisions without paying an additional salary.

CDK offered remarketing campaigns that allowed Manufacturers and Dealers alike to target customers at each stage of the Buyer’s Journey. The data collected by CDK brought GM closer than it had ever been before to solving one of their greatest mysteries, “What sells a car?”

Results and Future Plans

• Synchronized data collection processes.
• Consistent Brand Communication
• Dealer Site Personalization

What misalignment(s) caused channel conflict between manufacturers and dealers in the automotive industry?

Simply put, the Dealers and the Manufacturers wanted different things. Offering a platform that would please one party would often disappoint the other.

The Dealers wanted a website that would allow them to differentiate themselves from their local competition, and frankly. The CDK Digital Marketing platform did not offer them that kind of flexibility.

This shortcoming resulted in many of the dealers being disappointed with CDK’s value offering, which was made blatantly clear when CDK was tasked with convincing a Chevy Dealer’s CRM committee to renew their contract.

They disliked the service so much that one of the members of that committee wasn’t even willing to attend the meeting.

On the other hand, the Manufacturers needed to present a consistent brand image across all of their online platforms and sell more (expensive) OEM parts.

To accomplish these goals, GM decided to set compliance guidelines and enforce those rules on their franchisees. But this had a couple of negative side effects, particularly concerning how Dealers felt about CDK’s services.

How was this conflict reflected in the attitudes of GM and its dealers toward the CDK Digital Marketing program?

Once the compliance guidelines were issued, Manufacturers started conducting regular audits of the Dealer’s websites and issued fines when the sites were not up to standard.

Dealers associated these fines with CDK Digital Marketing, and naturally, they had…

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Hibu Client Case Study: AAA Sewer Service

By Hibu | July 30, 2024

Find out how having a single provider for digital marketing helped AAA Sewer Service reach its full potential.

The Challenge

Before partnering with Hibu, AAA Sewer Service had a fragmented approach to its marketing. The company sought a way to streamline its efforts and improve results.

The Hibu Solution

Hibu built AAA Sewer Service a comprehensive, integrated digital marketing solution that included a website, social media, reviews, display, search, listing management, and more. Working with Hibu made it clear how easily AAA could integrate its marketing efforts and maximize results.

“We knew that our company had the potential for growth, but Hibu is helping us meet, achieve, and exceed that potential.”

The Results

In 90 days, Hibu's digital marketing for AAA Sewer Service generated:

• 905 total leads
• 1,433 ad clicks
• 1,537 website visits
• 877 calls  

To learn more, download the full case study .

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The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier

AI has permeated our lives incrementally, through everything from the tech powering our smartphones to autonomous-driving features on cars to the tools retailers use to surprise and delight consumers. As a result, its progress has been almost imperceptible. Clear milestones, such as when AlphaGo, an AI-based program developed by DeepMind, defeated a world champion Go player in 2016, were celebrated but then quickly faded from the public’s consciousness.

Generative AI applications such as ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, Stable Diffusion, and others have captured the imagination of people around the world in a way AlphaGo did not, thanks to their broad utility—almost anyone can use them to communicate and create—and preternatural ability to have a conversation with a user. The latest generative AI applications can perform a range of routine tasks, such as the reorganization and classification of data. But it is their ability to write text, compose music, and create digital art that has garnered headlines and persuaded consumers and households to experiment on their own. As a result, a broader set of stakeholders are grappling with generative AI’s impact on business and society but without much context to help them make sense of it.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Michael Chui , Eric Hazan , Roger Roberts , Alex Singla , Kate Smaje , Alex Sukharevsky , Lareina Yee , and Rodney Zemmel , representing views from QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey; McKinsey Digital; the McKinsey Technology Council; the McKinsey Global Institute; and McKinsey’s Growth, Marketing & Sales Practice.

The speed at which generative AI technology is developing isn’t making this task any easier. ChatGPT was released in November 2022. Four months later, OpenAI released a new large language model, or LLM, called GPT-4 with markedly improved capabilities. 1 “Introducing ChatGPT,” OpenAI, November 30, 2022; “GPT-4 is OpenAI’s most advanced system, producing safer and more useful responses,” OpenAI, accessed June 1, 2023. Similarly, by May 2023, Anthropic’s generative AI, Claude, was able to process 100,000 tokens of text, equal to about 75,000 words in a minute—the length of the average novel—compared with roughly 9,000 tokens when it was introduced in March 2023. 2 “Introducing Claude,” Anthropic PBC, March 14, 2023; “Introducing 100K Context Windows,” Anthropic PBC, May 11, 2023. And in May 2023, Google announced several new features powered by generative AI, including Search Generative Experience and a new LLM called PaLM 2 that will power its Bard chatbot, among other Google products. 3 Emma Roth, “The nine biggest announcements from Google I/O 2023,” The Verge , May 10, 2023.

To grasp what lies ahead requires an understanding of the breakthroughs that have enabled the rise of generative AI, which were decades in the making. For the purposes of this report, we define generative AI as applications typically built using foundation models. These models contain expansive artificial neural networks inspired by the billions of neurons connected in the human brain. Foundation models are part of what is called deep learning, a term that alludes to the many deep layers within neural networks. Deep learning has powered many of the recent advances in AI, but the foundation models powering generative AI applications are a step-change evolution within deep learning. Unlike previous deep learning models, they can process extremely large and varied sets of unstructured data and perform more than one task.

Future frontiers: Navigating the next wave of tech innovations

Join Lareina Yee and Roger Roberts on Tuesday, July 30, at 12:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CET as they discuss the future of these technological trends, the factors that will fuel their growth, and strategies for investing in them through 2024 and beyond.

Foundation models have enabled new capabilities and vastly improved existing ones across a broad range of modalities, including images, video, audio, and computer code. AI trained on these models can perform several functions; it can classify, edit, summarize, answer questions, and draft new content, among other tasks.

All of us are at the beginning of a journey to understand generative AI’s power, reach, and capabilities. This research is the latest in our efforts to assess the impact of this new era of AI. It suggests that generative AI is poised to transform roles and boost performance across functions such as sales and marketing, customer operations, and software development. In the process, it could unlock trillions of dollars in value across sectors from banking to life sciences. The following sections share our initial findings.

For the full version of this report, download the PDF .

Key insights

Generative AI’s impact on productivity could add trillions of dollars in value to the global economy. Our latest research estimates that generative AI could add the equivalent of $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually across the 63 use cases we analyzed—by comparison, the United Kingdom’s entire GDP in 2021 was $3.1 trillion. This would increase the impact of all artificial intelligence by 15 to 40 percent. This estimate would roughly double if we include the impact of embedding generative AI into software that is currently used for other tasks beyond those use cases.

About 75 percent of the value that generative AI use cases could deliver falls across four areas: Customer operations, marketing and sales, software engineering, and R&D. Across 16 business functions, we examined 63 use cases in which the technology can address specific business challenges in ways that produce one or more measurable outcomes. Examples include generative AI’s ability to support interactions with customers, generate creative content for marketing and sales, and draft computer code based on natural-language prompts, among many other tasks.

Generative AI will have a significant impact across all industry sectors. Banking, high tech, and life sciences are among the industries that could see the biggest impact as a percentage of their revenues from generative AI. Across the banking industry, for example, the technology could deliver value equal to an additional $200 billion to $340 billion annually if the use cases were fully implemented. In retail and consumer packaged goods, the potential impact is also significant at $400 billion to $660 billion a year.

Generative AI has the potential to change the anatomy of work, augmenting the capabilities of individual workers by automating some of their individual activities. Current generative AI and other technologies have the potential to automate work activities that absorb 60 to 70 percent of employees’ time today. In contrast, we previously estimated that technology has the potential to automate half of the time employees spend working. 4 “ Harnessing automation for a future that works ,” McKinsey Global Institute, January 12, 2017. The acceleration in the potential for technical automation is largely due to generative AI’s increased ability to understand natural language, which is required for work activities that account for 25 percent of total work time. Thus, generative AI has more impact on knowledge work associated with occupations that have higher wages and educational requirements than on other types of work.

The pace of workforce transformation is likely to accelerate, given increases in the potential for technical automation. Our updated adoption scenarios, including technology development, economic feasibility, and diffusion timelines, lead to estimates that half of today’s work activities could be automated between 2030 and 2060, with a midpoint in 2045, or roughly a decade earlier than in our previous estimates.

Generative AI can substantially increase labor productivity across the economy, but that will require investments to support workers as they shift work activities or change jobs. Generative AI could enable labor productivity growth of 0.1 to 0.6 percent annually through 2040, depending on the rate of technology adoption and redeployment of worker time into other activities. Combining generative AI with all other technologies, work automation could add 0.5 to 3.4 percentage points annually to productivity growth. However, workers will need support in learning new skills, and some will change occupations. If worker transitions and other risks can be managed, generative AI could contribute substantively to economic growth and support a more sustainable, inclusive world.

The era of generative AI is just beginning. Excitement over this technology is palpable, and early pilots are compelling. But a full realization of the technology’s benefits will take time, and leaders in business and society still have considerable challenges to address. These include managing the risks inherent in generative AI, determining what new skills and capabilities the workforce will need, and rethinking core business processes such as retraining and developing new skills.

Where business value lies

Generative AI is a step change in the evolution of artificial intelligence. As companies rush to adapt and implement it, understanding the technology’s potential to deliver value to the economy and society at large will help shape critical decisions. We have used two complementary lenses to determine where generative AI, with its current capabilities, could deliver the biggest value and how big that value could be (Exhibit 1).

The first lens scans use cases for generative AI that organizations could adopt. We define a “use case” as a targeted application of generative AI to a specific business challenge, resulting in one or more measurable outcomes. For example, a use case in marketing is the application of generative AI to generate creative content such as personalized emails, the measurable outcomes of which potentially include reductions in the cost of generating such content and increases in revenue from the enhanced effectiveness of higher-quality content at scale. We identified 63 generative AI use cases spanning 16 business functions that could deliver total value in the range of $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion in economic benefits annually when applied across industries.

That would add 15 to 40 percent to the $11 trillion to $17.7 trillion of economic value that we now estimate nongenerative artificial intelligence and analytics could unlock. (Our previous estimate from 2017 was that AI could deliver $9.5 trillion to $15.4 trillion in economic value.)

Our second lens complements the first by analyzing generative AI’s potential impact on the work activities required in some 850 occupations. We modeled scenarios to estimate when generative AI could perform each of more than 2,100 “detailed work activities”—such as “communicating with others about operational plans or activities”—that make up those occupations across the world economy. This enables us to estimate how the current capabilities of generative AI could affect labor productivity across all work currently done by the global workforce.

Some of this impact will overlap with cost reductions in the use case analysis described above, which we assume are the result of improved labor productivity. Netting out this overlap, the total economic benefits of generative AI —including the major use cases we explored and the myriad increases in productivity that are likely to materialize when the technology is applied across knowledge workers’ activities—amounts to $6.1 trillion to $7.9 trillion annually (Exhibit 2).

How we estimated the value potential of generative AI use cases

To assess the potential value of generative AI, we updated a proprietary McKinsey database of potential AI use cases and drew on the experience of more than 100 experts in industries and their business functions. 1 ” Notes from the AI frontier: Applications and value of deep learning ,” McKinsey Global Institute, April 17, 2018.

Our updates examined use cases of generative AI—specifically, how generative AI techniques (primarily transformer-based neural networks) can be used to solve problems not well addressed by previous technologies.

We analyzed only use cases for which generative AI could deliver a significant improvement in the outputs that drive key value. In particular, our estimates of the primary value the technology could unlock do not include use cases for which the sole benefit would be its ability to use natural language. For example, natural-language capabilities would be the key driver of value in a customer service use case but not in a use case optimizing a logistics network, where value primarily arises from quantitative analysis.

We then estimated the potential annual value of these generative AI use cases if they were adopted across the entire economy. For use cases aimed at increasing revenue, such as some of those in sales and marketing, we estimated the economy-wide value generative AI could deliver by increasing the productivity of sales and marketing expenditures.

Our estimates are based on the structure of the global economy in 2022 and do not consider the value generative AI could create if it produced entirely new product or service categories.

While generative AI is an exciting and rapidly advancing technology, the other applications of AI discussed in our previous report continue to account for the majority of the overall potential value of AI. Traditional advanced-analytics and machine learning algorithms are highly effective at performing numerical and optimization tasks such as predictive modeling, and they continue to find new applications in a wide range of industries. However, as generative AI continues to develop and mature, it has the potential to open wholly new frontiers in creativity and innovation. It has already expanded the possibilities of what AI overall can achieve (see sidebar “How we estimated the value potential of generative AI use cases”).

In this section, we highlight the value potential of generative AI across business functions.

Generative AI could have an impact on most business functions; however, a few stand out when measured by the technology’s impact as a share of functional cost (Exhibit 3). Our analysis of 16 business functions identified just four—customer operations, marketing and sales, software engineering, and research and development—that could account for approximately 75 percent of the total annual value from generative AI use cases.

Notably, the potential value of using generative AI for several functions that were prominent in our previous sizing of AI use cases, including manufacturing and supply chain functions, is now much lower. 5 Pitchbook. This is largely explained by the nature of generative AI use cases, which exclude most of the numerical and optimization applications that were the main value drivers for previous applications of AI.

In addition to the potential value generative AI can deliver in function-specific use cases, the technology could drive value across an entire organization by revolutionizing internal knowledge management systems. Generative AI’s impressive command of natural-language processing can help employees retrieve stored internal knowledge by formulating queries in the same way they might ask a human a question and engage in continuing dialogue. This could empower teams to quickly access relevant information, enabling them to rapidly make better-informed decisions and develop effective strategies.

In 2012, the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) estimated that knowledge workers spent about a fifth of their time, or one day each work week, searching for and gathering information. If generative AI could take on such tasks, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the workers doing them, the benefits would be huge. Such virtual expertise could rapidly “read” vast libraries of corporate information stored in natural language and quickly scan source material in dialogue with a human who helps fine-tune and tailor its research, a more scalable solution than hiring a team of human experts for the task.

In other cases, generative AI can drive value by working in partnership with workers, augmenting their work in ways that accelerate their productivity. Its ability to rapidly digest mountains of data and draw conclusions from it enables the technology to offer insights and options that can dramatically enhance knowledge work. This can significantly speed up the process of developing a product and allow employees to devote more time to higher-impact tasks.

Following are four examples of how generative AI could produce operational benefits in a handful of use cases across the business functions that could deliver a majority of the potential value we identified in our analysis of 63 generative AI use cases. In the first two examples, it serves as a virtual expert, while in the following two, it lends a hand as a virtual collaborator.

Customer operations: Improving customer and agent experiences

Generative AI has the potential to revolutionize the entire customer operations function, improving the customer experience and agent productivity through digital self-service and enhancing and augmenting agent skills. The technology has already gained traction in customer service because of its ability to automate interactions with customers using natural language. Research found that at one company with 5,000 customer service agents, the application of generative AI increased issue resolution by 14 percent an hour and reduced the time spent handling an issue by 9 percent. 1 Erik Brynjolfsson, Danielle Li, and Lindsey R. Raymond, Generative AI at work , National Bureau of Economic Research working paper number 31161, April 2023. It also reduced agent attrition and requests to speak to a manager by 25 percent. Crucially, productivity and quality of service improved most among less-experienced agents, while the AI assistant did not increase—and sometimes decreased—the productivity and quality metrics of more highly skilled agents. This is because AI assistance helped less-experienced agents communicate using techniques similar to those of their higher-skilled counterparts.

The following are examples of the operational improvements generative AI can have for specific use cases:

• Customer self-service. Generative AI–fueled chatbots can give immediate and personalized responses to complex customer inquiries regardless of the language or location of the customer. By improving the quality and effectiveness of interactions via automated channels, generative AI could automate responses to a higher percentage of customer inquiries, enabling customer care teams to take on inquiries that can only be resolved by a human agent. Our research found that roughly half of customer contacts made by banking, telecommunications, and utilities companies in North America are already handled by machines, including but not exclusively AI. We estimate that generative AI could further reduce the volume of human-serviced contacts by up to 50 percent, depending on a company’s existing level of automation.
• Resolution during initial contact. Generative AI can instantly retrieve data a company has on a specific customer, which can help a human customer service representative more successfully answer questions and resolve issues during an initial interaction.
• Reduced response time. Generative AI can cut the time a human sales representative spends responding to a customer by providing assistance in real time and recommending next steps.
• Increased sales. Because of its ability to rapidly process data on customers and their browsing histories, the technology can identify product suggestions and deals tailored to customer preferences. Additionally, generative AI can enhance quality assurance and coaching by gathering insights from customer conversations, determining what could be done better, and coaching agents.

We estimate that applying generative AI to customer care functions could increase productivity at a value ranging from 30 to 45 percent of current function costs.

Our analysis captures only the direct impact generative AI might have on the productivity of customer operations. It does not account for potential knock-on effects the technology may have on customer satisfaction and retention arising from an improved experience, including better understanding of the customer’s context that can assist human agents in providing more personalized help and recommendations.

Marketing and sales: Boosting personalization, content creation, and sales productivity

Generative AI has taken hold rapidly in marketing and sales functions, in which text-based communications and personalization at scale are driving forces. The technology can create personalized messages tailored to individual customer interests, preferences, and behaviors, as well as do tasks such as producing first drafts of brand advertising, headlines, slogans, social media posts, and product descriptions.

Introducing generative AI to marketing functions requires careful consideration. For one thing, mathematical models trained on publicly available data without sufficient safeguards against plagiarism, copyright violations, and branding recognition risks infringing on intellectual property rights. A virtual try-on application may produce biased representations of certain demographics because of limited or biased training data. Thus, significant human oversight is required for conceptual and strategic thinking specific to each company’s needs.

Potential operational benefits from using generative AI for marketing include the following:

• Efficient and effective content creation. Generative AI could significantly reduce the time required for ideation and content drafting, saving valuable time and effort. It can also facilitate consistency across different pieces of content, ensuring a uniform brand voice, writing style, and format. Team members can collaborate via generative AI, which can integrate their ideas into a single cohesive piece. This would allow teams to significantly enhance personalization of marketing messages aimed at different customer segments, geographies, and demographics. Mass email campaigns can be instantly translated into as many languages as needed, with different imagery and messaging depending on the audience. Generative AI’s ability to produce content with varying specifications could increase customer value, attraction, conversion, and retention over a lifetime and at a scale beyond what is currently possible through traditional techniques.
• Enhanced use of data. Generative AI could help marketing functions overcome the challenges of unstructured, inconsistent, and disconnected data—for example, from different databases—by interpreting abstract data sources such as text, image, and varying structures. It can help marketers better use data such as territory performance, synthesized customer feedback, and customer behavior to generate data-informed marketing strategies such as targeted customer profiles and channel recommendations. Such tools could identify and synthesize trends, key drivers, and market and product opportunities from unstructured data such as social media, news, academic research, and customer feedback.
• SEO optimization. Generative AI can help marketers achieve higher conversion and lower cost through search engine optimization (SEO) for marketing and sales technical components such as page titles, image tags, and URLs. It can synthesize key SEO tokens, support specialists in SEO digital content creation, and distribute targeted content to customers.
• Product discovery and search personalization. With generative AI, product discovery and search can be personalized with multimodal inputs from text, images, and speech, and a deep understanding of customer profiles. For example, technology can leverage individual user preferences, behavior, and purchase history to help customers discover the most relevant products and generate personalized product descriptions. This would allow CPG, travel, and retail companies to improve their e-commerce sales by achieving higher website conversion rates.

We estimate that generative AI could increase the productivity of the marketing function with a value between 5 and 15 percent of total marketing spending.

Our analysis of the potential use of generative AI in marketing doesn’t account for knock-on effects beyond the direct impacts on productivity. Generative AI–enabled synthesis could provide higher-quality data insights, leading to new ideas for marketing campaigns and better-targeted customer segments. Marketing functions could shift resources to producing higher-quality content for owned channels, potentially reducing spending on external channels and agencies.

Generative AI could also change the way both B2B and B2C companies approach sales. The following are two use cases for sales:

• Increase probability of sale. Generative AI could identify and prioritize sales leads by creating comprehensive consumer profiles from structured and unstructured data and suggesting actions to staff to improve client engagement at every point of contact. For example, generative AI could provide better information about client preferences, potentially improving close rates.
• Improve lead development. Generative AI could help sales representatives nurture leads by synthesizing relevant product sales information and customer profiles and creating discussion scripts to facilitate customer conversation, including up- and cross-selling talking points. It could also automate sales follow-ups and passively nurture leads until clients are ready for direct interaction with a human sales agent.

Our analysis suggests that implementing generative AI could increase sales productivity by approximately 3 to 5 percent of current global sales expenditures.

This analysis may not fully account for additional revenue that generative AI could bring to sales functions. For instance, generative AI’s ability to identify leads and follow-up capabilities could uncover new leads and facilitate more effective outreach that would bring in additional revenue. Also, the time saved by sales representatives due to generative AI’s capabilities could be invested in higher-quality customer interactions, resulting in increased sales success.

Software engineering: Speeding developer work as a coding assistant

Treating computer languages as just another language opens new possibilities for software engineering. Software engineers can use generative AI in pair programming and to do augmented coding and train LLMs to develop applications that generate code when given a natural-language prompt describing what that code should do.

Software engineering is a significant function in most companies, and it continues to grow as all large companies, not just tech titans, embed software in a wide array of products and services. For example, much of the value of new vehicles comes from digital features such as adaptive cruise control, parking assistance, and IoT connectivity.

According to our analysis, the direct impact of AI on the productivity of software engineering could range from 20 to 45 percent of current annual spending on the function. This value would arise primarily from reducing time spent on certain activities, such as generating initial code drafts, code correction and refactoring, root-cause analysis, and generating new system designs. By accelerating the coding process, generative AI could push the skill sets and capabilities needed in software engineering toward code and architecture design. One study found that software developers using Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot completed tasks 56 percent faster than those not using the tool. 1 Peter Cihon et al., The impact of AI on developer productivity: Evidence from GitHub Copilot , Cornell University arXiv software engineering working paper, arXiv:2302.06590, February 13, 2023. An internal McKinsey empirical study of software engineering teams found those who were trained to use generative AI tools rapidly reduced the time needed to generate and refactor code—and engineers also reported a better work experience, citing improvements in happiness, flow, and fulfillment.

Our analysis did not account for the increase in application quality and the resulting boost in productivity that generative AI could bring by improving code or enhancing IT architecture—which can improve productivity across the IT value chain. However, the quality of IT architecture still largely depends on software architects, rather than on initial drafts that generative AI’s current capabilities allow it to produce.

Large technology companies are already selling generative AI for software engineering, including GitHub Copilot, which is now integrated with OpenAI’s GPT-4, and Replit, used by more than 20 million coders. 2 Michael Nuñez, “Google and Replit join forces to challenge Microsoft in coding tools,” VentureBeat, March 28, 2023.

Product R&D: Reducing research and design time, improving simulation and testing

Generative AI’s potential in R&D is perhaps less well recognized than its potential in other business functions. Still, our research indicates the technology could deliver productivity with a value ranging from 10 to 15 percent of overall R&D costs.

For example, the life sciences and chemical industries have begun using generative AI foundation models in their R&D for what is known as generative design. Foundation models can generate candidate molecules, accelerating the process of developing new drugs and materials. Entos, a biotech pharmaceutical company, has paired generative AI with automated synthetic development tools to design small-molecule therapeutics. But the same principles can be applied to the design of many other products, including larger-scale physical products and electrical circuits, among others.

While other generative design techniques have already unlocked some of the potential to apply AI in R&D, their cost and data requirements, such as the use of “traditional” machine learning, can limit their application. Pretrained foundation models that underpin generative AI, or models that have been enhanced with fine-tuning, have much broader areas of application than models optimized for a single task. They can therefore accelerate time to market and broaden the types of products to which generative design can be applied. For now, however, foundation models lack the capabilities to help design products across all industries.

In addition to the productivity gains that result from being able to quickly produce candidate designs, generative design can also enable improvements in the designs themselves, as in the following examples of the operational improvements generative AI could bring:

• Enhanced design. Generative AI can help product designers reduce costs by selecting and using materials more efficiently. It can also optimize designs for manufacturing, which can lead to cost reductions in logistics and production.
• Improved product testing and quality. Using generative AI in generative design can produce a higher-quality product, resulting in increased attractiveness and market appeal. Generative AI can help to reduce testing time of complex systems and accelerate trial phases involving customer testing through its ability to draft scenarios and profile testing candidates.

We also identified a new R&D use case for nongenerative AI: deep learning surrogates, the use of which has grown since our earlier research, can be paired with generative AI to produce even greater benefits. To be sure, integration will require the development of specific solutions, but the value could be significant because deep learning surrogates have the potential to accelerate the testing of designs proposed by generative AI.

While we have estimated the potential direct impacts of generative AI on the R&D function, we did not attempt to estimate the technology’s potential to create entirely novel product categories. These are the types of innovations that can produce step changes not only in the performance of individual companies but in economic growth overall.

Industry impacts

Across the 63 use cases we analyzed, generative AI has the potential to generate $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion in value across industries. Its precise impact will depend on a variety of factors, such as the mix and importance of different functions, as well as the scale of an industry’s revenue (Exhibit 4).

For example, our analysis estimates generative AI could contribute roughly $310 billion in additional value for the retail industry (including auto dealerships) by boosting performance in functions such as marketing and customer interactions. By comparison, the bulk of potential value in high tech comes from generative AI’s ability to increase the speed and efficiency of software development (Exhibit 5).

In the banking industry, generative AI has the potential to improve on efficiencies already delivered by artificial intelligence by taking on lower-value tasks in risk management, such as required reporting, monitoring regulatory developments, and collecting data. In the life sciences industry, generative AI is poised to make significant contributions to drug discovery and development.

We share our detailed analysis of these industries below.

Generative AI supports key value drivers in retail and consumer packaged goods

The technology could generate value for the retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry by increasing productivity by 1.2 to 2.0 percent of annual revenues, or an additional $400 billion to $660 billion. 1 Vehicular retail is included as part of our overall retail analysis. To streamline processes, generative AI could automate key functions such as customer service, marketing and sales, and inventory and supply chain management. Technology has played an essential role in the retail and CPG industries for decades. Traditional AI and advanced analytics solutions have helped companies manage vast pools of data across large numbers of SKUs, expansive supply chain and warehousing networks, and complex product categories such as consumables. In addition, the industries are heavily customer facing, which offers opportunities for generative AI to complement previously existing artificial intelligence. For example, generative AI’s ability to personalize offerings could optimize marketing and sales activities already handled by existing AI solutions. Similarly, generative AI tools excel at data management and could support existing AI-driven pricing tools. Applying generative AI to such activities could be a step toward integrating applications across a full enterprise.

Generative AI at work in retail and CPG

Reinvention of the customer interaction pattern.

Consumers increasingly seek customization in everything from clothing and cosmetics to curated shopping experiences, personalized outreach, and food—and generative AI can improve that experience. Generative AI can aggregate market data to test concepts, ideas, and models. Stitch Fix, which uses algorithms to suggest style choices to its customers, has experimented with DALL·E to visualize products based on customer preferences regarding color, fabric, and style. Using text-to-image generation, the company’s stylists can visualize an article of clothing based on a consumer’s preferences and then identify a similar article among Stitch Fix’s inventory.

Retailers can create applications that give shoppers a next-generation experience, creating a significant competitive advantage in an era when customers expect to have a single natural-language interface help them select products. For example, generative AI can improve the process of choosing and ordering ingredients for a meal or preparing food—imagine a chatbot that could pull up the most popular tips from the comments attached to a recipe. There is also a big opportunity to enhance customer value management by delivering personalized marketing campaigns through a chatbot. Such applications can have human-like conversations about products in ways that can increase customer satisfaction, traffic, and brand loyalty. Generative AI offers retailers and CPG companies many opportunities to cross-sell and upsell, collect insights to improve product offerings, and increase their customer base, revenue opportunities, and overall marketing ROI.

Accelerating the creation of value in key areas

Generative AI tools can facilitate copy writing for marketing and sales, help brainstorm creative marketing ideas, expedite consumer research, and accelerate content analysis and creation. The potential improvement in writing and visuals can increase awareness and improve sales conversion rates.

Rapid resolution and enhanced insights in customer care

The growth of e-commerce also elevates the importance of effective consumer interactions. Retailers can combine existing AI tools with generative AI to enhance the capabilities of chatbots, enabling them to better mimic the interaction style of human agents—for example, by responding directly to a customer’s query, tracking or canceling an order, offering discounts, and upselling. Automating repetitive tasks allows human agents to devote more time to handling complicated customer problems and obtaining contextual information.

Disruptive and creative innovation

Generative AI tools can enhance the process of developing new versions of products by digitally creating new designs rapidly. A designer can generate packaging designs from scratch or generate variations on an existing design. This technology is developing rapidly and has the potential to add text-to-video generation.

Factors for retail and CPG organizations to consider

As retail and CPG executives explore how to integrate generative AI in their operations, they should keep in mind several factors that could affect their ability to capture value from the technology:

• External inference. Generative AI has increased the need to understand whether generated content is based on fact or inference, requiring a new level of quality control.
• Adversarial attacks. Foundation models are a prime target for attack by hackers and other bad actors, increasing the variety of potential security vulnerabilities and privacy risks.

To address these concerns, retail and CPG companies will need to strategically keep humans in the loop and ensure security and privacy are top considerations for any implementation. Companies will need to institute new quality checks for processes previously handled by humans, such as emails written by customer reps, and perform more-detailed quality checks on AI-assisted processes such as product design.

Why banks could realize significant value

Generative AI could have a significant impact on the banking industry , generating value from increased productivity of 2.8 to 4.7 percent of the industry’s annual revenues, or an additional $200 billion to $340 billion. On top of that impact, the use of generative AI tools could also enhance customer satisfaction, improve decision making and employee experience, and decrease risks through better monitoring of fraud and risk.

Banking, a knowledge and technology-enabled industry, has already benefited significantly from previously existing applications of artificial intelligence in areas such as marketing and customer operations. 1 “ Building the AI bank of the future ,” McKinsey, May 2021. Generative AI applications could deliver additional benefits, especially because text modalities are prevalent in areas such as regulations and programming language, and the industry is customer facing, with many B2C and small-business customers. 2 McKinsey’s Global Banking Annual Review , December 1, 2022.

Several characteristics position the industry for the integration of generative AI applications:

• Sustained digitization efforts along with legacy IT systems. Banks have been investing in technology for decades, accumulating a significant amount of technical debt along with a siloed and complex IT architecture. 3 Akhil Babbar, Raghavan Janardhanan, Remy Paternoster, and Henning Soller, “ Why most digital banking transformations fail—and how to flip the odds ,” McKinsey, April 11, 2023.
• Large customer-facing workforces. Banking relies on a large number of service representatives such as call-center agents and wealth management financial advisers.
• A stringent regulatory environment. As a heavily regulated industry, banking has a substantial number of risk, compliance, and legal needs.
• White-collar industry. Generative AI’s impact could span the organization, assisting all employees in writing emails, creating business presentations, and other tasks.

Generative AI at work in banking

Banks have started to grasp the potential of generative AI in their front lines and in their software activities. Early adopters are harnessing solutions such as ChatGPT as well as industry-specific solutions, primarily for software and knowledge applications. Three uses demonstrate its value potential to the industry.

A virtual expert to augment employee performance

A generative AI bot trained on proprietary knowledge such as policies, research, and customer interaction could provide always-on, deep technical support. Today, frontline spending is dedicated mostly to validating offers and interacting with clients, but giving frontline workers access to data as well could improve the customer experience. The technology could also monitor industries and clients and send alerts on semantic queries from public sources. For example, Morgan Stanley is building an AI assistant using GPT-4, with the aim of helping tens of thousands of wealth managers quickly find and synthesize answers from a massive internal knowledge base. 4 Hugh Son, “Morgan Stanley is testing an OpenAI-powered chatbot for its 16,000 financial advisors,” CNBC, March 14, 2023. The model combines search and content creation so wealth managers can find and tailor information for any client at any moment.

One European bank has leveraged generative AI to develop an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) virtual expert by synthesizing and extracting from long documents with unstructured information. The model answers complex questions based on a prompt, identifying the source of each answer and extracting information from pictures and tables.

Generative AI could reduce the significant costs associated with back-office operations. Such customer-facing chatbots could assess user requests and select the best service expert to address them based on characteristics such as topic, level of difficulty, and type of customer. Through generative AI assistants, service professionals could rapidly access all relevant information such as product guides and policies to instantaneously address customer requests.

Code acceleration to reduce tech debt and deliver software faster

Generative AI tools are useful for software development in four broad categories. First, they can draft code based on context via input code or natural language, helping developers code more quickly and with reduced friction while enabling automatic translations and no- and low-code tools. Second, such tools can automatically generate, prioritize, run, and review different code tests, accelerating testing and increasing coverage and effectiveness. Third, generative AI’s natural-language translation capabilities can optimize the integration and migration of legacy frameworks. Last, the tools can review code to identify defects and inefficiencies in computing. The result is more robust, effective code.

Production of tailored content at scale

Generative AI tools can draw on existing documents and data sets to substantially streamline content generation. These tools can create personalized marketing and sales content tailored to specific client profiles and histories as well as a multitude of alternatives for A/B testing. In addition, generative AI could automatically produce model documentation, identify missing documentation, and scan relevant regulatory updates to create alerts for relevant shifts.

Factors for banks to consider

When exploring how to integrate generative AI into operations, banks can be mindful of a number of factors:

• The level of regulation for different processes. These vary from unregulated processes such as customer service to heavily regulated processes such as credit risk scoring.
• Type of end user. End users vary widely in their expectations and familiarity with generative AI—for example, employees compared with high-net-worth clients.
• Intended level of work automation. AI agents integrated through APIs could act nearly autonomously or as copilots, giving real-time suggestions to agents during customer interactions.
• Data constraints. While public data such as annual reports could be made widely available, there would need to be limits on identifiable details for customers and other internal data.

Pharmaceuticals and medical products could see benefits across the entire value chain

Our analysis finds that generative AI could have a significant impact on the pharmaceutical and medical-product industries—from 2.6 to 4.5 percent of annual revenues across the pharmaceutical and medical-product industries, or $60 billion to $110 billion annually. This big potential reflects the resource-intensive process of discovering new drug compounds. Pharma companies typically spend approximately 20 percent of revenues on R&D, 1 Research and development in the pharmaceutical industry , Congressional Budget Office, April 2021. and the development of a new drug takes an average of ten to 15 years. With this level of spending and timeline, improving the speed and quality of R&D can generate substantial value. For example, lead identification—a step in the drug discovery process in which researchers identify a molecule that would best address the target for a potential new drug—can take several months even with “traditional” deep learning techniques. Foundation models and generative AI can enable organizations to complete this step in a matter of weeks.

Generative AI at work in pharmaceuticals and medical products

Drug discovery involves narrowing the universe of possible compounds to those that could effectively treat specific conditions. Generative AI’s ability to process massive amounts of data and model options can accelerate output across several use cases:

Improve automation of preliminary screening

In the lead identification stage of drug development, scientists can use foundation models to automate the preliminary screening of chemicals in the search for those that will produce specific effects on drug targets. To start, thousands of cell cultures are tested and paired with images of the corresponding experiment. Using an off-the-shelf foundation model, researchers can cluster similar images more precisely than they can with traditional models, enabling them to select the most promising chemicals for further analysis during lead optimization.

Enhance indication finding

An important phase of drug discovery involves the identification and prioritization of new indications—that is, diseases, symptoms, or circumstances that justify the use of a specific medication or other treatment, such as a test, procedure, or surgery. Possible indications for a given drug are based on a patient group’s clinical history and medical records, and they are then prioritized based on their similarities to established and evidence-backed indications.

Researchers start by mapping the patient cohort’s clinical events and medical histories—including potential diagnoses, prescribed medications, and performed procedures—from real-world data. Using foundation models, researchers can quantify clinical events, establish relationships, and measure the similarity between the patient cohort and evidence-backed indications. The result is a short list of indications that have a better probability of success in clinical trials because they can be more accurately matched to appropriate patient groups.

Pharma companies that have used this approach have reported high success rates in clinical trials for the top five indications recommended by a foundation model for a tested drug. This success has allowed these drugs to progress smoothly into Phase 3 trials, significantly accelerating the drug development process.

Factors for pharmaceuticals and medical products organizations to consider

Before integrating generative AI into operations, pharma executives should be aware of some factors that could limit their ability to capture its benefits:

• The need for a human in the loop. Companies may need to implement new quality checks on processes that shift from humans to generative AI, such as representative-generated emails, or more detailed quality checks on AI-assisted processes, such as drug discovery. The increasing need to verify whether generated content is based on fact or inference elevates the need for a new level of quality control.
• Explainability. A lack of transparency into the origins of generated content and traceability of root data could make it difficult to update models and scan them for potential risks; for instance, a generative AI solution for synthesizing scientific literature may not be able to point to the specific articles or quotes that led it to infer that a new treatment is very popular among physicians. The technology can also “hallucinate,” or generate responses that are obviously incorrect or inappropriate for the context. Systems need to be designed to point to specific articles or data sources, and then do human-in-the-loop checking.
• Privacy considerations. Generative AI’s use of clinical images and medical records could increase the risk that protected health information will leak, potentially violating regulations that require pharma companies to protect patient privacy.

Work and productivity implications

Technology has been changing the anatomy of work for decades. Over the years, machines have given human workers various “superpowers”; for instance, industrial-age machines enabled workers to accomplish physical tasks beyond the capabilities of their own bodies. More recently, computers have enabled knowledge workers to perform calculations that would have taken years to do manually.

These examples illustrate how technology can augment work through the automation of individual activities that workers would have otherwise had to do themselves. At a conceptual level, the application of generative AI may follow the same pattern in the modern workplace, although as we show later in this chapter, the types of activities that generative AI could affect, and the types of occupations with activities that could change, will likely be different as a result of this technology than for older technologies.

The McKinsey Global Institute began analyzing the impact of technological automation of work activities and modeling scenarios of adoption in 2017. At that time, we estimated that workers spent half of their time on activities that had the potential to be automated by adapting technology that existed at that time, or what we call technical automation potential. We also modeled a range of potential scenarios for the pace at which these technologies could be adopted and affect work activities throughout the global economy.

Technology adoption at scale does not occur overnight. The potential of technological capabilities in a lab does not necessarily mean they can be immediately integrated into a solution that automates a specific work activity—developing such solutions takes time. Even when such a solution is developed, it might not be economically feasible to use if its costs exceed those of human labor. Additionally, even if economic incentives for deployment exist, it takes time for adoption to spread across the global economy. Hence, our adoption scenarios, which consider these factors together with the technical automation potential, provide a sense of the pace and scale at which workers’ activities could shift over time.

About the research

This analysis builds on the methodology we established in 2017. We began by examining the US Bureau of Labor Statistics O*Net breakdown of about 850 occupations into roughly 2,100 detailed work activities. For each of these activities, we scored the level of capability necessary to successfully perform the activity against a set of 18 capabilities that have the potential for automation.

We also surveyed experts in the automation of each of these capabilities to estimate automation technologies’ current performance level against each of these capabilities, as well as how the technology’s performance might advance over time. Specifically, this year, we updated our assessments of technology’s performance in cognitive, language, and social and emotional capabilities based on a survey of generative AI experts.

Based on these assessments of the technical automation potential of each detailed work activity at each point in time, we modeled potential scenarios for the adoption of work automation around the world. First, we estimated a range of time to implement a solution that could automate each specific detailed work activity, once all the capability requirements were met by the state of technology development. Second, we estimated a range of potential costs for this technology when it is first introduced, and then declining over time, based on historical precedents. We modeled the beginning of adoption for a specific detailed work activity in a particular occupation in a country (for 47 countries, accounting for more than 80 percent of the global workforce) when the cost of the automation technology reaches parity with the cost of human labor in that occupation.

Based on a historical analysis of various technologies, we modeled a range of adoption timelines from eight to 27 years between the beginning of adoption and its plateau, using sigmoidal curves (S-curves). This range implicitly accounts for the many factors that could affect the pace at which adoption occurs, including regulation, levels of investment, and management decision making within firms.

The modeled scenarios create a time range for the potential pace of automating current work activities. The “earliest” scenario flexes all parameters to the extremes of plausible assumptions, resulting in faster automation development and adoption, and the “latest” scenario flexes all parameters in the opposite direction. The reality is likely to fall somewhere between the two.

The analyses in this paper incorporate the potential impact of generative AI on today’s work activities. The new capabilities of generative AI, combined with previous technologies and integrated into corporate operations around the world, could accelerate the potential for technical automation of individual activities and the adoption of technologies that augment the capabilities of the workforce. They could also have an impact on knowledge workers whose activities were not expected to shift as a result of these technologies until later in the future (see sidebar “About the research”).

Automation potential has accelerated, but adoption to lag

Based on developments in generative AI, technology performance is now expected to match median human performance and reach top-quartile human performance earlier than previously estimated across a wide range of capabilities (Exhibit 6). For example, MGI previously identified 2027 as the earliest year when median human performance for natural-language understanding might be achieved in technology, but in this new analysis, the corresponding point is 2023.

As a result of these reassessments of technology capabilities due to generative AI, the total percentage of hours that could theoretically be automated by integrating technologies that exist today has increased from about 50 percent to 60–70 percent. The technical potential curve is quite steep because of the acceleration in generative AI’s natural-language capabilities.

Interestingly, the range of times between the early and late scenarios has compressed compared with the expert assessments in 2017, reflecting a greater confidence that higher levels of technological capabilities will arrive by certain time periods (Exhibit 7).

Our analysis of adoption scenarios accounts for the time required to integrate technological capabilities into solutions that can automate individual work activities; the cost of these technologies compared with that of human labor in different occupations and countries around the world; and the time it has taken for technologies to diffuse across the economy. With the acceleration in technical automation potential that generative AI enables, our scenarios for automation adoption have correspondingly accelerated. These scenarios encompass a wide range of outcomes, given that the pace at which solutions will be developed and adopted will vary based on decisions that will be made on investments, deployment, and regulation, among other factors. But they give an indication of the degree to which the activities that workers do each day may shift (Exhibit 8).

As an example of how this might play out in a specific occupation, consider postsecondary English language and literature teachers, whose detailed work activities include preparing tests and evaluating student work. With generative AI’s enhanced natural-language capabilities, more of these activities could be done by machines, perhaps initially to create a first draft that is edited by teachers but perhaps eventually with far less human editing required. This could free up time for these teachers to spend more time on other work activities, such as guiding class discussions or tutoring students who need extra assistance.

Our previously modeled adoption scenarios suggested that 50 percent of time spent on 2016 work activities would be automated sometime between 2035 and 2070, with a midpoint scenario around 2053. Our updated adoption scenarios, which account for developments in generative AI, models the time spent on 2023 work activities reaching 50 percent automation between 2030 and 2060, with a midpoint of 2045—an acceleration of roughly a decade compared with the previous estimate. 6 The comparison is not exact because the composition of work activities between 2016 and 2023 has changed; for example, some automation has occurred during that time period.

Adoption is also likely to be faster in developed countries, where wages are higher and thus the economic feasibility of adopting automation occurs earlier. Even if the potential for technology to automate a particular work activity is high, the costs required to do so have to be compared with the cost of human wages. In countries such as China, India, and Mexico, where wage rates are lower, automation adoption is modeled to arrive more slowly than in higher-wage countries (Exhibit 9).

Generative AI’s potential impact on knowledge work

Previous generations of automation technology were particularly effective at automating data management tasks related to collecting and processing data. Generative AI’s natural-language capabilities increase the automation potential of these types of activities somewhat. But its impact on more physical work activities shifted much less, which isn’t surprising because its capabilities are fundamentally engineered to do cognitive tasks.

As a result, generative AI is likely to have the biggest impact on knowledge work, particularly activities involving decision making and collaboration, which previously had the lowest potential for automation (Exhibit 10). Our estimate of the technical potential to automate the application of expertise jumped 34 percentage points, while the potential to automate management and develop talent increased from 16 percent in 2017 to 49 percent in 2023.

Generative AI’s ability to understand and use natural language for a variety of activities and tasks largely explains why automation potential has risen so steeply. Some 40 percent of the activities that workers perform in the economy require at least a median level of human understanding of natural language.

As a result, many of the work activities that involve communication, supervision, documentation, and interacting with people in general have the potential to be automated by generative AI, accelerating the transformation of work in occupations such as education and technology, for which automation potential was previously expected to emerge later (Exhibit 11).

Labor economists have often noted that the deployment of automation technologies tends to have the most impact on workers with the lowest skill levels, as measured by educational attainment, or what is called skill biased. We find that generative AI has the opposite pattern—it is likely to have the most incremental impact through automating some of the activities of more-educated workers (Exhibit 12).

Another way to interpret this result is that generative AI will challenge the attainment of multiyear degree credentials as an indicator of skills, and others have advocated for taking a more skills-based approach to workforce development in order to create more equitable, efficient workforce training and matching systems. 7 A more skills-based approach to workforce development predates the emergence of generative AI. Generative AI could still be described as skill-biased technological change, but with a different, perhaps more granular, description of skills that are more likely to be replaced than complemented by the activities that machines can do.

Previous generations of automation technology often had the most impact on occupations with wages falling in the middle of the income distribution. For lower-wage occupations, making a case for work automation is more difficult because the potential benefits of automation compete against a lower cost of human labor. Additionally, some of the tasks performed in lower-wage occupations are technically difficult to automate—for example, manipulating fabric or picking delicate fruits. Some labor economists have observed a “hollowing out of the middle,” and our previous models have suggested that work automation would likely have the biggest midterm impact on lower-middle-income quintiles.

However, generative AI’s impact is likely to most transform the work of higher-wage knowledge workers because of advances in the technical automation potential of their activities, which were previously considered to be relatively immune from automation (Exhibit 13).

Generative AI could propel higher productivity growth

Global economic growth was slower from 2012 to 2022 than in the two preceding decades. 8 Global economic prospects , World Bank, January 2023. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was a significant factor, long-term structural challenges—including declining birth rates and aging populations—are ongoing obstacles to growth.

Declining employment is among those obstacles. Compound annual growth in the total number of workers worldwide slowed from 2.5 percent in 1972–82 to just 0.8 percent in 2012–22, largely because of aging. In many large countries, the size of the workforce is already declining. 9 Yaron Shamir, “Three factors contributing to fewer people in the workforce,” Forbes , April 7, 2022. Productivity, which measures output relative to input, or the value of goods and services produced divided by the amount of labor, capital, and other resources required to produce them, was the main engine of economic growth in the three decades from 1992 to 2022 (Exhibit 14). However, since then, productivity growth has slowed in tandem with slowing employment growth, confounding economists and policy makers. 10 “The U.S. productivity slowdown: an economy-wide and industry-level analysis,” Monthly Labor Review, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 2021; Kweilin Ellingrud, “ Turning around the productivity slowdown ,” McKinsey Global Institute, September 13, 2022.

The deployment of generative AI and other technologies could help accelerate productivity growth, partially compensating for declining employment growth and enabling overall economic growth. Based on our estimates, the automation of individual work activities enabled by these technologies could provide the global economy with an annual productivity boost of 0.5 to 3.4 percent from 2023 to 2040, depending on the rate of automation adoption—with generative AI contributing 0.1 to 0.6 percentage points of that growth—but only if individuals affected by the technology were to shift to other work activities that at least match their 2022 productivity levels (Exhibit 15). In some cases, workers will stay in the same occupations, but their mix of activities will shift; in others, workers will need to shift occupations.

Considerations for business and society

History has shown that new technologies have the potential to reshape societies. Artificial intelligence has already changed the way we live and work—for example, it can help our phones (mostly) understand what we say, or draft emails. Mostly, however, AI has remained behind the scenes, optimizing business processes or making recommendations about the next product to buy. The rapid development of generative AI is likely to significantly augment the impact of AI overall, generating trillions of dollars of additional value each year and transforming the nature of work.

But the technology could also deliver new and significant challenges. Stakeholders must act—and quickly, given the pace at which generative AI could be adopted—to prepare to address both the opportunities and the risks. Risks have already surfaced, including concerns about the content that generative AI systems produce: Will they infringe upon intellectual property due to “plagiarism” in the training data used to create foundation models? Will the answers that LLMs produce when questioned be accurate, and can they be explained? Will the content generative AI creates be fair or biased in ways that users do not want by, say, producing content that reflects harmful stereotypes?

Using generative AI responsibly

Generative AI poses a variety of risks. Stakeholders will want to address these risks from the start.

Fairness: Models may generate algorithmic bias due to imperfect training data or decisions made by the engineers developing the models.

Intellectual property (IP): Training data and model outputs can generate significant IP risks, including infringing on copyrighted, trademarked, patented, or otherwise legally protected materials. Even when using a provider’s generative AI tool, organizations will need to understand what data went into training and how it’s used in tool outputs.

Privacy: Privacy concerns could arise if users input information that later ends up in model outputs in a form that makes individuals identifiable. Generative AI could also be used to create and disseminate malicious content such as disinformation, deepfakes, and hate speech.

Security: Generative AI may be used by bad actors to accelerate the sophistication and speed of cyberattacks. It also can be manipulated to provide malicious outputs. For example, through a technique called prompt injection, a third party gives a model new instructions that trick the model into delivering an output unintended by the model producer and end user.

Explainability: Generative AI relies on neural networks with billions of parameters, challenging our ability to explain how any given answer is produced.

Reliability: Models can produce different answers to the same prompts, impeding the user’s ability to assess the accuracy and reliability of outputs.

Organizational impact: Generative AI may significantly affect the workforce, and the impact on specific groups and local communities could be disproportionately negative.

Social and environmental impact: The development and training of foundation models may lead to detrimental social and environmental consequences, including an increase in carbon emissions (for example, training one large language model can emit about 315 tons of carbon dioxide). 1 Ananya Ganesh, Andrew McCallum, and Emma Strubell, “Energy and policy considerations for deep learning in NLP,” Proceedings of the 57th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics , June 5, 2019.

There are economic challenges too: the scale and the scope of the workforce transitions described in this report are considerable. In the midpoint adoption scenario, about a quarter to a third of work activities could change in the coming decade. The task before us is to manage the potential positives and negatives of the technology simultaneously (see sidebar “Using generative AI responsibly”). Here are some of the critical questions we will need to address while balancing our enthusiasm for the potential benefits of the technology with the new challenges it can introduce.

Companies and business leaders

How can companies move quickly to capture the potential value at stake highlighted in this report, while managing the risks that generative AI presents?

How will the mix of occupations and skills needed across a company’s workforce be transformed by generative AI and other artificial intelligence over the coming years? How will a company enable these transitions in its hiring plans, retraining programs, and other aspects of human resources?

Do companies have a role to play in ensuring the technology is not deployed in “negative use cases” that could harm society?

How can businesses transparently share their experiences with scaling the use of generative AI within and across industries—and also with governments and society?

Policy makers

What will the future of work look like at the level of an economy in terms of occupations and skills? What does this mean for workforce planning?

How can workers be supported as their activities shift over time? What retraining programs can be put in place? What incentives are needed to support private companies as they invest in human capital? Are there earn-while-you-learn programs such as apprenticeships that could enable people to retrain while continuing to support themselves and their families?

What steps can policy makers take to prevent generative AI from being used in ways that harm society or vulnerable populations?

Can new policies be developed and existing policies amended to ensure human-centric AI development and deployment that includes human oversight and diverse perspectives and accounts for societal values?

Individuals as workers, consumers, and citizens

How concerned should individuals be about the advent of generative AI? While companies can assess how the technology will affect their bottom lines, where can citizens turn for accurate, unbiased information about how it will affect their lives and livelihoods?

How can individuals as workers and consumers balance the conveniences generative AI delivers with its impact in their workplaces?

Can citizens have a voice in the decisions that will shape the deployment and integration of generative AI into the fabric of their lives?

Technological innovation can inspire equal parts awe and concern. When that innovation seems to materialize fully formed and becomes widespread seemingly overnight, both responses can be amplified. The arrival of generative AI in the fall of 2022 was the most recent example of this phenomenon, due to its unexpectedly rapid adoption as well as the ensuing scramble among companies and consumers to deploy, integrate, and play with it.

All of us are at the beginning of a journey to understand this technology’s power, reach, and capabilities. If the past eight months are any guide, the next several years will take us on a roller-coaster ride featuring fast-paced innovation and technological breakthroughs that force us to recalibrate our understanding of AI’s impact on our work and our lives. It is important to properly understand this phenomenon and anticipate its impact. Given the speed of generative AI’s deployment so far, the need to accelerate digital transformation and reskill labor forces is great.

These tools have the potential to create enormous value for the global economy at a time when it is pondering the huge costs of adapting and mitigating climate change. At the same time, they also have the potential to be more destabilizing than previous generations of artificial intelligence. They are capable of that most human of abilities, language, which is a fundamental requirement of most work activities linked to expertise and knowledge as well as a skill that can be used to hurt feelings, create misunderstandings, obscure truth, and incite violence and even wars.

We hope this research has contributed to a better understanding of generative AI’s capacity to add value to company operations and fuel economic growth and prosperity as well as its potential to dramatically transform how we work and our purpose in society. Companies, policy makers, consumers, and citizens can work together to ensure that generative AI delivers on its promise to create significant value while limiting its potential to upset lives and livelihoods. The time to act is now. 11 The research, analysis, and writing in this report was entirely done by humans.

Michael Chui is a partner in McKinsey’s Bay Area office, where Roger Roberts is a partner and Lareina Yee is a senior partner; Eric Hazan is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Paris office; Alex Singla is a senior partner in the Chicago office; Kate Smaje and Alex Sukharevsky are senior partners in the London office; and Rodney Zemmel is a senior partner in the New York office.

The authors wish to thank Pedro Abreu, Rohit Agarwal, Steven Aronowitz, Arun Arora, Charles Atkins, Elia Berteletti, Onno Boer, Albert Bollard, Xavier Bosquet, Benjamin Braverman, Charles Carcenac, Sebastien Chaigne, Peter Crispeels, Santiago Comella-Dorda, Eleonore Depardon, Kweilin Ellingrud, Thierry Ethevenin, Dmitry Gafarov, Neel Gandhi, Eric Goldberg, Liz Grennan, Shivani Gupta, Vinay Gupta, Dan Hababou, Bryan Hancock, Lisa Harkness, Leila Harouchi, Jake Hart, Heiko Heimes, Jeff Jacobs, Begum Karaci Deniz, Tarun Khurana, Malgorzata Kmicinska, Jan-Christoph Köstring, Andreas Kremer, Kathryn Kuhn, Jessica Lamb, Maxim Lampe, John Larson, Swan Leroi, Damian Lewandowski, Richard Li, Sonja Lindberg, Kerin Lo, Guillaume Lurenbaum, Matej Macak, Dana Maor, Julien Mauhourat, Marco Piccitto, Carolyn Pierce, Olivier Plantefeve, Alexandre Pons, Kathryn Rathje, Emily Reasor, Werner Rehm, Steve Reis, Kelsey Robinson, Martin Rosendahl, Christoph Sandler, Saurab Sanghvi, Boudhayan Sen, Joanna Si, Alok Singh, Gurneet Singh Dandona, François Soubien, Eli Stein, Stephanie Strom, Michele Tam, Robert Tas, Maribel Tejada, Wilbur Wang, Georg Winkler, Jane Wong, and Romain Zilahi for their contributions to this report.

For the full list of acknowledgments, see the downloadable PDF .

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