Growing with Digital Marketing: Evidence, Metrics, and Mistakes

This case explores how firms can use digital marketing to drive growth-while avoiding the analytical pitfalls that often distort performance. Through four short vignettes across different industries, the case examines key managerial decisions around targeting, metric selection, measurement of incremental impact, and budget allocation. Despite the promise of precise targeting and real-time data, digital channels can obscure fundamental marketing trade-offs. The case challenges students to evaluate whether observed results reflect true incremental value or misleading attribution, and to determine when to scale, adjust, or stop digital initiatives.