Marketing has never been more complex or more fragmented. From disappearing cookies to siloed data to rising expectations, it has become harder to measure, track, and convert. 

And yet, across the DACH region - Germany, Austria, and Switzerland - many marketers aren’t just keeping up, they’re moving forward in leaps and bounds. Not by chasing the latest tactics or tools, but by rethinking how marketing drives value in the first place. 

We chatted again with Markus Widmer, Managing Director at e-dialog, to explore what high-performing marketers in the region are doing differently, and what others can learn and take away from them. 

The answer? They're not thinking in terms of channels or campaigns anymore. They’re reflecting and using models that adapt, and strategies that prioritise customer value over clicks. 

It’s about people, process, and patience. 

From Leads to Lifetime Value: Rethinking the Role of Conversions 

Traditionally, performance marketing has been fixated on simple conversions: a lead, a download, a form fill. But increasingly, marketers are asking: Does this conversion also contribute in a certain way to (achieving) the business goals? 

Widmer shared a familiar scenario: “If people look only at the bottom of the funnel, if they look only at the performance campaigns - and many do that, especially now, when budgets are under pressure, right? It's not a great time economically. So, people will slash possibly part of their marketing budget. And their first impulse is to slash what isn't easily measurable. But just because it's not easily measurable doesn't mean it doesn't have an impact. That’s sort of a fallacy that happens.” 

The shift from quantity to quality is at the heart of value-based bidding. It means using internal data (like CRM or LTV models) to steer algorithms toward actions that drive margin, not just motion. And it requires collaboration beyond the marketing team, for example, with departments such as finance, data, and sales, which all play an important role in the question of what "value" actually looks like.. 

In a world where privacy restrictions and AI-driven platforms limit genuine visibility into individual behaviors, this shift toward business outcomes over marketing metrics is a competitive advantage. It's about trading cheap wins for compounding growth – and isn’t this what all marketers want? 

 

Full-Funnel Isn’t a Buzzword. It’s a Budgeting Strategy. 

With third-party cookies on the way out and platform signals getting fuzzier, marketers are finding themselves in unfamiliar territory: imperfect data. 

That’s why more brands are turning to approaches like: 

  • Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM): To understand media impact over time. 
  • Bayesian Forecasting: To simulate what might happen under different budget scenarios. 
  • Lift Experiments: To isolate the real impact of campaigns in a privacy-safe way. 

These aren’t new techniques, but they’re now being used in smarter, more accessible ways. The takeaway is not to chase precision for its own sake. Marketers should chase the clarity that drives decisions. 

Campaigns Aren’t One-Offs Anymore, But Learning Systems 

Another clear trend across high-performing teams in the DACH region is a mindset shift: away from campaign “flights” and toward always-on learning loops. 

This means building marketing strategies that become smarter. Creative, audiences, and placements are constantly tested and optimised based on real-world feedback, not assumptions. And media calendars are more flexible, adapting to what’s working now instead of what was planned six months ago. 

It’s a culture shift, too. Teams that embrace experimentation over perfection are the ones able to unlock scale without relying on hacks or short-term wins. 

Marketing + Finance: Speaking the Same Language  

Many marketers still struggle to get buy-in for long-term brand investments or data infrastructure because they’re speaking in metrics that don’t matter to business leaders. 

“If you walk into a CFO meeting talking about click-through rates, you’ll lose the room,” said Widmer. “You need to speak their language, not just yours.” 

This means tying together marketing performance to concepts like Gross margin contribution, Payback period, and Incremental revenue. When translating work into business outcomes, conversations change, and budgets can shift. And then marketing starts being seen for what it really is: an investment in growth, not just an expense. 

 

Turning Complexity Into Competitive Advantage

As the marketing landscape grows more complex, the most forward-thinking teams aren’t fighting the chaos:  they’re harnessing it. What sets high-performing marketers apart isn't just better tools or bigger budgets, but a fundamental shift in mindset: from channel-centric to customer-centric, from isolated tactics to integrated systems, from short-term wins to sustainable value.

By moving away from outdated performance silos and toward a data-driven, full-funnel, value-based approach,  brands can translate marketing activity into measurable business outcomes,  even in uncertain economic times.

The takeaway? Success today demands more than flashy creatives and clever messaging. It requires structure, experimentation, and a shared language between marketing and the business. If we want to drive real impact, we need to rethink not only what we measure - but why it matters.

Marketing isn’t just a cost center. When done right, it’s the engine of growth.

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