In the beginning, we just wanted to help clients enter new markets. We created a system that minimizes financial risk and maximizes the chance of successful expansion. We presented this case study at the Google Premier Partner Summit.
What is the Google Premier Partner Summit?
Every year, Google invites partner agencies to an all-day summit on the latest trends, marketing and technology. At the end of the day, they present an award to the most successful one.
At the same time, they are always on the lookout for interesting stories and successful marketing companies to take part in a panel discussion at the summit. Not just any stories and companies, though, but only those that can already demonstrate concrete results and fit into the central theme.
“In our first meeting I was impressed with your ability to articulate your profitability plan through consulting services, and how you plan to help both your company and your customers to grow through those services. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with others at our 2023 EMEA Partner Summit. You raised the bar for everyone and inspired us too,” says Suzanne Claassen (Director, Central Eastern Europe, Google Customer Solutions, Google) a few days after the end of the summit.
The key agenda was and still is artificial intelligence, in addition to this year’s topic of the reorientation of agencies for the sale of services connected with consulting activities and data analytics.
Attending the Google Premier Summit is an honour in itself for any agency. A seat in the audience is given by invitation only and the presentations on the stage are delivered by Google specialists.
Apart from Google, only three marketing companies – Jellyfish and the7stars from Great Britain and Ireland and Dexfinity from Slovakia – took part in this year’s summit. How did we achieve this?
Trend-watching, hard work or fluke?
The summer of 2023 saw the occasion of the Google Roundtable, where agencies from the Czech Republic and Slovakia met. The main topic was the focus of marketing on consultations and data, which Google sees as crucial for the success of agencies.
During the discussion, it quickly became clear that while other companies are still thinking about these services, we have already have real results. In July 2023, consulting services, data analytics and retention accounted for 25% of Dexfinity’s revenue.
Suzanne Claassen, Google’s director of customer solutions for Central and Eastern Europe, found our forward-thinking approach extremely appealing. Effort and hard work eventually resulted in an invitation to a panel discussion at the Google Premier Partner Summit in Dublin.
The key theme of the Google summit was “Change”
Imagine that you live in the era of horses and your customers want to travel faster and more comfortably. You want to satisfy the demand and therefore you and your team are working on inventing an even more perfect horse.
However, this is not the answer to changing demand. The real change lies in the invention of the car, thereby creating a whole new category that fulfills the needs of customers much better.
The environment of online business and technology is also changing. Throughout the entire summit, Google appealed to the participating guests to create new products and solutions and get used to new branches of marketing such as data, artificial intelligence, omnichannel strategies or changing the service portfolio.
Afterwards, results were assessed across 6 categories from 64 shortlists (App Growth, Brand Awareness, Lead Generation, Workplace Excellence, Online Sales, International Growth).
Examples of successful changes in the Industry panel
Michal Lichner represeneted Dexfinity in the Industry panel and spoke about about our successful transformation of the service portfolio. Aislinn O’Toole from Jellyfish explained how they managed to convince clients to try non-traditional marketing solutions and services.
The third speaker was Adam Chugg from the7stars, who introduced the audience to their approach to creating a completely new department within an existing company.
A story told by Dexfinity
Why did we start the transformation of the portfolio much earlier than others? We frequently deal with entering a new market for our partners. Many switch to Hungarian or Romanian markets only because their acquaintances or competitors do so.
For some, such an intuitive decision actually works out, but much more often the path to success becomes quite complicated. Why? Because they expand without data and lack the necessary market and competition analysis.
We put a stop to this and decided to set up client expansion with a link to consulting services and data analytics. These have proven to be decisive factors minimising the risks of expansion in practice.
Analysis educates both the client and the specialists
Strategic export analysis predicts demand. It reveals what customers buy and what ads they click on. Furthermore, even before the launch of the online store, the client has data on customer behavior and knows what payment gateways or transport methods they use.
Export analysis and consultations will prepare the client for expansion and at the same time minimise the risk of wasting a large proportion of the budget on ineffective PPC campaigns. The bonus? Tidy data and an educated client who knows that we work according to numbers and not gut feelings.
Thanks to the adjustment of the portfolio of services and the recruitment of senior specialists and consultants, we managed to create a system that changes expansion from wandering through the dark forest to a safe journey along marked-out paths.
Fantastic experience and response
Our experience of the Summit itself and its organisation is extremely positive. We gained new experiences and forged friendships, and at the same time we were the first from Slovakia to present our results in front of many other agencies from the entire EMEA region.
Expand wisely
Do you have an online store that you would like to expand abroad with? Don’t underestimate the pitfalls of new markets. Get in touch and we’ll help you find the right country for your product and show you how to get and retain your first customers there.
