[Podcast] Episode 13: Top Tips for Driving Growth for our Brands

Growing a brand isn’t just about spending more—it’s about making smarter decisions. In this episode, we break down the key strategies that drive real growth, from using data effectively to balancing short-term wins with long-term brand building.

We explore why bringing in a media agency early leads to stronger campaigns, how to track success beyond conversions, and what really matters when analysing competitors. Personalisation and testing are essential, but only when done right—learn how to refine your approach and optimise every media investment.

With expert insights and actionable takeaways, this episode will help you scale your brand efficiently and stay ahead of the competition. Tune in now.

Watch or read the full episode below.

Top Tips for Driving Growth for our Brands

Scaling a brand isn’t just about spending more on advertising—it’s about spending smarter. The most successful brands don’t just launch campaigns and hope for the best; they carefully plan, track performance in real time, and continuously test and refine their strategy.

How to Drive Brand Growth: Smarter Strategies That Work

Growth comes from making informed, data-driven decisions, whether that’s knowing when to bring in a media agency, measuring the right success metrics, or keeping an eye on competitors while focusing on long-term brand building.

For brands looking to accelerate growth, there are a few key principles that make all the difference. Understanding the right time to involve a media agency, making sure data is working for the business rather than becoming overwhelming, balancing short-term wins with long-term brand growth, and refining personalisation without overstepping boundaries can help brands scale efficiently without wasted budget.

The Right Time to Involve a Media Agency?

Many brands wait too long before bringing in a media agency, often only reaching out when they start seeing underwhelming results. But the most effective marketing strategies are built before the first ad is even placed. Involving an agency as early as possible allows brands to benefit from a wealth of insights that go far beyond internal performance data.

A strong media plan isn’t just about running ads; it’s about understanding market trends, audience behaviours, and competitor activity before spending any money. Having access to broader industry data ensures brands are making strategic, well-informed decisions rather than guessing where to allocate their budgets.

One of the biggest advantages of working with an agency early is the ability to tap into real-time data. Agencies track not just what’s happening in the market now, but also how competitors are positioning themselves and where audiences are engaging with content. This kind of intelligence ensures media spend isn’t just well-placed—it’s optimised from the very start.

Data Should Drive Action, Not Just Reports

Having access to data is one thing, but knowing what to do with it is what separates successful brands from those that struggle to scale. Many businesses find themselves overwhelmed with numbers but fail to translate them into meaningful actions. That’s where real-time tracking and dashboarding come into play.

A well-structured data system ensures brands aren’t just collecting numbers but using them to make smarter decisions. Instead of waiting for reports at the end of a campaign, tracking media performance in real time allows businesses to adjust campaigns while they’re still live. If something isn’t working, tweaks can be made immediately rather than after the budget has already been spent.

Beyond campaign performance, data should also highlight competitor movements. Brands that track share of voice, messaging effectiveness, and market trends can spot opportunities before their competitors do. Staying ahead of shifts in audience behaviour, emerging platforms, and changing media consumption habits ensures brands remain relevant and competitive.

Balancing Short-Term Wins and Long-Term Brand Growth

A strong marketing strategy doesn’t just focus on immediate conversions; it also considers how the brand is growing over time. While short-term performance metrics such as click-through rates, conversions, and response rates help track direct impact, long-term success comes from brand awareness, audience loyalty, and market positioning.

Short-term performance is crucial, but if a brand isn’t measuring how well it is resonating with consumers over time, growth can plateau quickly. Metrics such as brand awareness, consideration, and share of search help measure whether media investments are having a lasting impact. If people are searching for a brand more frequently, it’s a sign that media spend is generating real brand equity rather than just short-lived engagement.

To maintain this balance, successful brands track both immediate conversions and long-term shifts in consumer behaviour. Understanding how different media channels contribute at different stages of the funnel ensures that budgets are allocated effectively. While some channels deliver quick wins, others, like TV, YouTube, and Connected TV, play a bigger role in shaping consumer perceptions over time.

Keeping a Close Eye on Competitors (But Not Just Their Spend)

Many brands assume that tracking competitor ad spend is enough, but it’s only part of the picture. Understanding what competitors are saying, how their audience is responding, and where they are leaving gaps is just as important.

Brands that take a holistic approach to competitor analysis look at more than just share of voice. They assess creative effectiveness, audience sentiment, and messaging strategies to determine what is resonating in the market. Some competitors might be spending heavily on media but failing to connect with their audience due to weak creative or poor targeting. Others might be missing opportunities that a brand can capitalise on by positioning itself differently.

By analysing not just how much competitors are spending, but also how well their campaigns are performing, brands can refine their own media strategy to gain an advantage.

Personalisation: Finding the Right Balance

Consumers expect personalisation, but too much targeting can feel intrusive. While retargeting can be highly effective, brands should be careful not to over-rely on it. Simply increasing retargeting budgets doesn’t necessarily lead to more conversions—it often just means serving more ads to the same people.

The key to effective personalisation is balancing broad audience reach with strategic targeting. Personalisation should feel relevant and helpful rather than repetitive or invasive. Brands that strike the right balance ensure that they are keeping their funnel full with new audiences while re-engaging past visitors in a way that adds value.

A common mistake is hyper-targeting based on past behaviour without considering context. Just because someone looked at a product once doesn’t mean they want to be followed around the internet with ads for it indefinitely. A smarter approach involves using audience data to tailor messaging and offers while still keeping a broad enough reach to drive new customer acquisition.

Testing, Learning, and Scaling Up the Right Way

One of the biggest mistakes brands make is assuming they already know what works. The reality is that consumer behaviour is always evolving, and what worked last year might not work today. That’s why continuous testing and optimisation should be at the heart of any growth strategy.

Testing isn’t just about A/B testing ads—it should extend to media channels, audience segments, creative formats, and bidding strategies. Brands that treat testing as an ongoing process are able to refine their approach in real-time, rather than waiting for campaigns to finish before making adjustments.

One of the most effective ways to reduce risk is to test in digital channels before scaling to larger investments like TV. Digital platforms provide fast, measurable results, making it easier to determine which messaging and creative elements perform best. Once a winning formula is found, it can be scaled up across bigger and slower-moving channels with confidence.

The Formula for Sustainable Brand Growth

Successful brands don’t grow by accident—they grow because they plan strategically, track the right metrics, and optimise continuously. The most effective strategies aren’t just about maximising short-term performance, but also about building long-term brand equity.

Bringing in media expertise early, making real-time data work for decision-making, tracking both performance and brand awareness, understanding the competitive landscape, and running structured testing programs all contribute to sustained, scalable growth.

With the right approach, brands can ensure that every marketing pound is spent efficiently and that their media strategy is working as hard as possible to drive both immediate results and long-term success.

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