On the evening of 6th February 2025, around 60 digital marketing professionals gathered at Peak Ace’s Berlin office for another insightful and engaging Digital Marketing Meetup. As part of our ongoing series, this event once again provided a space for industry experts, marketers, and business owners to connect, share knowledge, and discuss the latest trends in digital marketing! In this blog post, we’ll tell you all about it.
The expert insights from our brilliant talks
This edition of our meetup featured two fantastic speakers, Roel van de Mortel (CMO at sofatutor) and Antonio Baroni (Senior PPC Manager at Peak Ace), who shared their expertise on key topics shaping the digital marketing landscape today.
Talk 1: Optimizing ourselves down: How we unintentionally sabotaged our Meta ads performance – Roel van de Mortel, sofatutor
Kicking off the evening, Roel van de Mortel from sofatutor delivered an in-depth session on the realities of running Meta Ads. He showed us two different approaches to video ads and how they performed, with some surprising results. The presentation sparked a lively Q&A, with attendees eager to dive deeper into the subject and share their own experiences.
Here are some eye-opening statistics about a video ad that Roel shared. Despite high engagement:
- 99%+ of impressions didn’t lead to clicks
- 95% of viewers dropped off before 25 seconds
- 70% didn’t even make it past the first 3 seconds
- Most of the comments weren’t about sofatutor or its service
The key takeaway? Meta’s algorithm isn’t a magic bullet. While indirect ads can work, they don’t always boost performance – sometimes, they even hurt it. Roel emphasised the importance of long-term strategic optimisation, advising that real success takes at least three months of consistent effort.
Roel’s Winning Approach:
- Experiment with different video formats to see what resonates with your audience.
- Focus on reach and branding, rather than purely optimising for conversions.
- Flip the script – sometimes, the opposite approach works best!
The discussion following Roel’s talk sparked a lively debate on best practices for Meta advertising, giving attendees a fresh perspective on crafting impactful ad strategies.
Talk 2: The Sharpest Tools in Your Pocket: Carving out a Multi-Channel Strategy – A Leatherman Case Study – Antonio Baroni, Peak Ace
The second talk of the evening was presented by Peak Ace’s own Antonio Baroni, who presented our Leatherman case study. Antonio shared our process with Leatherman from start to finish, including the initial goals, our strategy, the challenges we faced along the way, the solutions we implemented and our excellent results. His team was tasked with achieving ambitious growth targets, and their data-driven approach delivered beyond expectations.
Here are the highlights:
- Goal: Increase revenue by 94%, with 20% from non-brand campaigns and 10% from past purchasers.
- Challenges: Struggles with ROAS, complexities in A/B testing, and the pressure of peak season hurdles.
- The winning strategy: Using personas, lookalike audiences, and website visitors to create laser-focused targeting.
The Result? 141% revenue growth – far exceeding the original goal!
Antonio’s talk resonated strongly with the audience, demonstrating the power of precise audience segmentation and strategic testing. Attendees walked away with actionable tactics to apply in their own performance marketing efforts.
Networking, knowledge exchange, and a great atmosphere
Beyond the expert talks, the meetup provided an excellent opportunity for networking. From the moment guests arrived, the venue buzzed with conversation, as attendees exchanged ideas, discussed industry trends, and made new connections.
Of course, no Peak Ace event is complete without delicious food and drinks. Guests enjoyed a well-stocked open bar and a variety of snacks. Did you attend this time? What did you think of the meetup?
Join us at our next Meetup!
We’re already looking forward to our next Digital Marketing Meetup, set to take place at the end of April 2025. Whether you’re an industry veteran or just starting your digital marketing journey, our meetups offer the perfect chance to gain insights from top experts, connect with like-minded professionals, and enjoy a great evening of learning and networking.
Stay tuned for more details – we can’t wait to see you there!
