Optimize Everything: How marketers can save time, cut costs, and create sharper digital experiences

Let’s skip the “spend more, win more” mantra. Smarter marketing isn’t about a showy budget or chasing every new tool — it’s about getting more from what you’ve already got.

AI might sound like another one of those “must-have-now” fads, but it’s better to think of it more as a booster pack: something that amplifies what’s already in place, not something that you just bolt on.

Optimization reveals the true value of your current tech and teams.

Use what you’ve got, close the gap between strategy and execution, and connect the dots across systems. That’s where real efficiency and results show up. To see how marketers are doing it, we surveyed 100 UK marketers using personalization and experimentation tools—and 1,000 UK consumers.

Pressure is rising

Marketers are walking a tightrope. Budgets are shrinking, teams are stretched, but expectations keep on climbing. The ask? Do more with less.

81% of marketing leaders say they’re expected to deliver more with fewer resources.
21% of marketers report spending too much time justifying their work instead of delivering it.
16% say they feel constant pressure to prove marketing’s value.
13% feel they’re stuck firefighting instead of progressing campaigns.
15% struggle to find time for creative thinking.

And the takeaway? Simplify processes, reduce duplication, and give your team the space they want need to actually make an impact

Complex tech stacks hold teams back

Today’s marketing tech is a tangled mess of disconnected tools that waste time and drain energy. Fixing that starts with simplification.

Over half of marketers (53%) want a more unified system to streamline workflows and improve outcomes.
20% are already consolidating their tech stacks.
Currently, only 24% of marketers have a well-integrated system that connects AI, personalization, content, and experimentation
10% of marketers say they’re using too many disconnected tools.

B2B teams especially struggle, nearly a third say fragmented systems make ROI impossible to prove.

The fix? Simplify. Connect. Automate. Every connection you make gives time back to your team.

Tiger teams take off

Unifying your tools is one thing. Unifying your people is another. 80% of marketers have regular face-to-face time with leadership to align on goals.

But 75% of marketers say decisions are still primarily made at the top.
17% feel their business doesn’t understand the true complexity of marketing.

One solution is to build “tiger teams." More than half of marketers (53%) now operate in these small, cross-functional squads designed to tackle one challenge at a time. Originally developed by NASA, tiger teams are all about speed and specialism—they cut through red tape and silos by bringing the right mix of skills to solve high-impact problems, quickly.

a man and woman sitting on chairs — Shafqat Islam, President, Optimizely sits down with Ellie Dunbar, Sr. Content Marketing Manager, to explain how to structure and optimize your marketing team (May 2024)

AI demands integration

Marketers are investing heavily in AI, but are finding it doesn’t always work the way it should without proper integration.

78% of marketers plan to use AI to plan and optimize seasonal campaigns this year.
Over a quarter (28%) say managing multiple AI tools has made performance tracking more difficult.
30% of marketers say their organization struggles to balance AI use with human creativity in major campaigns.

And consumers? They’re catching up—and paying attention. There’s still some concern about the way marketers, retailers, and brands are using AI.

57% say AI-generated content feels impersonal.
34% have noticed more errors in AI-generated content.
75% want brands to be transparent about their AI use.
69% think AI and data use should be more tightly regulated.
46% are open to AI if it delivers better personalization.
41% are indifferent to AI, as long as the experience is good.

The bottom line is that AI alone isn’t the answer. AI that’s built into a strategy of continuous optimization becomes far more powerful.

Consumers want smarter experiences

Personalization isn’t a “nice to have” anymore. It's the baseline expectation. 84% of marketers agree: customer expectations around personalization have never been higher.

Where things are improving:

Website personalization is now rated excellent or good by 62% of consumers.
Email personalization has improved by 6 percentage points since last year.

Where things are still off:

16% of consumers say the content they receive from brands is boring — an increase of 8 percentage points year over year!
Only 34% of consumers feel that the content they receive is targeted to them — a drop of 8 percentage points from last year.

True optimization means every channel pulls its weight. Keep testing. Keep refining. Close the gap wherever it appears.

Consumers are buying more carefully

With costs up, consumers are not only thinking twice about handing over their cash, they’re much choosier and even quick to abandon brands that they feel fall short.

72% are comparing prices more closely.
66% are cutting back on impulse purchases online.
60% rely on loyalty schemes for better deals.
A third will abandon sites without personalized recommendations.
31% prefer smaller, independent retailers over big brands.
29% have uninstalled retail apps to avoid temptation.

When wallets are tight, relevance and value win. Optimization helps every interaction count.

Marketers know where the wins are

Despite all the pressure, marketers know exactly where to focus for the biggest impact.

The priorities are clear: faster insights, more connected teams, and less waste.

The future belongs to the optimized

Marketers and consumers agree on one thing: the future is about optimization.

2025 is existing tools and strategies. Success isn’t about adding more—it's about making what you already have work harder.

Unify your systems. Make AI deliver more. Keep testing, refining, and improving.

Because the winners in 2025? They won’t be those who do more. They’ll be the ones who do it better.

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