But it’s not enough to be data-driven. Data, by itself, can’t deliver insights. The most successful organisations use data to inform decisions, rather than dictate them. And the most savvy marketers know that creating seamless, personalised experiences is still the way to their customer’s hearts.
Adobe partnered with Econsultancy to explore the most significant digital trends for EMEA markets that will affect marketing, creative and technology professionals in 2018. The results speak for themselves.
Organisations with ‘a cohesive, long-term plan’ for the customer experience are more than 2x as likely to outperform competitors.

More than ever, design is integral to shaping customer experience (CX) strategy. In fact, brands say that a design-led approach does more to differentiate themselves from competitors than relying on data alone.

Organisations describing themselves as ‘design-driven’ are 69% more likely to have exceeded their business goals by a significant margin.

But again, as companies become more experience-driven, the key is to find creative ways to improve SEO while delivering experiences that offer something relevant, personalised and new. The Internet is already saturated with content about “digital transformation” — what new insight can your company bring to the table?

Paid search (PPC) has seen the largest jump in the proportion of marketers planning to increase budget for 2018 (40%).


The top digital-related priority for organisations in 2018 is content and experience management. Almost half (45%) of companies surveyed rank this as one of their three most important priority areas for the year ahead, with a fifth (20%) stating that this is their primary focus.

Content marketing (58%) is the area where respondents are most likely to be planning a budget increase during 2018, while content management is also being allocated greater investment by a significant proportion of marketers (48%).


Top-performing companies are 50% more likely than their peers to have well-designed user journeys that facilitate clear communication and a seamless transaction.

Top-performing companies are more than twice as likely to focus on IoT (Internet of Things) and AI (artificial intelligence) initiatives like bots to deliver real-time customer-centric experiences.

Bottom line: Vanity metrics and standard KPIs don’t secure or grow marketing budgets. It’s imperative for companies to align around shared business goals that drive value – then bring all their relevant data together in a holistic view to fully understand and deliver customer-centric experiences.