From early momentum to a bigger opportunity
As DS Smith expanded its campaigns across Europe they wanted to build on early success and create a more joined-up approach that could work across multiple markets, each with its own operational nuances and commercial priorities. The challenge was not just scaling activity, but doing so in a way that kept performance consistent, relevant and measurable.
Like many organisations running multi-market campaigns, DS Smith had strong performance data, but less visibility into lead quality. Reporting naturally focused on conversion volumes, but without a clearer way to connect PPC activity to commercial outcomes, it was difficult to separate high-value opportunities from lower-quality enquiries.
This created a familiar challenge, that campaigns could appear successful on paper, while the true value to the business remained harder to quantify.
Turning data into commercial clarity
To solve this, DS Smith introduced a commercial intelligence framework designed to bring greater consistency, clarity and commercial focus to its digital activity.
Rather than treating all conversions equally, the new approach looked deeper at intent, quality and downstream value. It combined:
- consistent PPC structures across markets
- tailored landing pages shaped around regional operational requirements
- stronger lead qualification informed by sales team feedback
- integrated attribution that connected campaign data with indicators of commercial intent
Spindogs played a central role in turning that framework into a working reality across Europe. The digital marketing team helped standardise account structures, validate tracking, strengthen governance and ensure that each market could work from a more consistent and reliable foundation.
The result was a better way of running PPC: one built to support smarter decisions, stronger lead quality and more meaningful commercial outcomes.
Better leads, stronger outcomes
Across the PPC programme, DS Smith saw more than a fourfold increase in qualified submissions.
More importantly, this was not growth for growth’s sake, as the uplift reflected a stronger calibre of lead. By refining campaign structure, qualification and attribution, DS Smith was able to reduce lower-value enquiries and attract businesses more closely aligned to its commercial criteria.
Romania provides a particularly strong example of that progress. Over a 12-month review period, 176 signed contracts were analysed against marketing activity. Of those, 17 were identified as marketing-influenced, meaning marketing contributed to 10% of all signed contracts. When duplicate companies were removed to isolate genuinely new customer relationships, marketing influence rose to 12%, or roughly one in every eight new customer relationships.
In a complex industrial B2B environment, where sales cycles are long and multiple touchpoints shape the final decision, that is a significant contribution. It places Romania at the upper end of expected industrial B2B performance benchmarks and shows that PPC was not simply generating activity, but helping create measurable commercial value.
A model built for long-term growth
Today, the partnership has given DS Smith a more scalable and repeatable model for digital performance across Europe.
Instead of relying on conversion volume as the primary marker of success, the business now has greater visibility across the customer journey, a clearer understanding of lead intent and a stronger link between marketing activity and commercial outcomes.
For Spindogs, the work has been about more than campaign management, it has been about helping DS Smith build a PPC model that is consistent across markets, grounded in better data and capable of supporting long-term growth.
“Working with Spindogs has been an absolute pleasure. They’ve been incredibly supportive in growing our PPC campaigns across Europe, providing invaluable technical expertise throughout. Their team integrated seamlessly with ours, and their collaborative approach has made a real difference in helping us achieve our commercial goals.”