Abstract

Digital marketing is a well-researched field and a rapidly transforming function that requires continuous adaption from employees. Extant work on digital marketing identified that new technologies and digitalization are valuable and enable firms to improve their processes to become more efficient. However, previous research focused solely on specific aspects separately, without addressing the lack of a holistic understanding of digital marketing effectiveness, and how to link capabilities, strategy, and practice. To address this gap, I examine how and why firms can be successful at digital marketing at the organizational level. I answer this question by using a qualitative approach, where I collected a combination of archival and interview data with digital marketing experts and executives. My analysis highlights how a culture of optimization, based on six key values, facilitates the integration of digital marketing capabilities into daily processes such as iterative strategizing that adaptable employees, that are responsible learners, can exploit to contribute to digital marketing excellence. This study has several theoretical and managerial implications, which are discussed in turn.