Digital marketing today is a global arena where competition for user attention happens every second. In this space, the winner is not the one who shouts the loudest, but the one who can build trust and see trends before others. We spoke with Kostiantyn Shurupov, an expert with more than 10 years of experience in affiliate and digital marketing, to discuss how tools are changing, what sets strong teams apart, and what the industry should prepare for.
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Kostiantyn, many marketing professionals follow a narrow track: some go into advertising, others into analytics. But you have a very diverse background. Was that a conscious choice?
— Yes, absolutely. I was never interested in limiting myself to just one area. I tried myself in technical support, business development, working with bloggers, ad buying, and A/B testing. This gave me a comprehensive understanding of the industry. Marketing is an ecosystem: you can’t build a strategy if you only see one fragment of it.
You have worked with international companies and local markets. Where is it harder to build marketing?
— Local markets require more creativity and flexibility. Resources there are limited, and every step must bring results. International companies have larger budgets, but that’s not always an advantage: it’s easy to slip into inertia and stop taking risks. Ideally, you should combine both approaches: leverage scale while keeping startup energy.
In gaming projects, you were responsible for a wide range of marketing activities. Which channels turned out to be the most effective?
— Influencer marketing and collaborations. People trust people, and no banner ad can compare to a video by a blogger whom the audience watches every day. At the same time, it’s important not just to buy integrations, but to build long-term relationships. The second tool is A/B testing. Sometimes even a tiny detail in a creative can multiply conversion rates.
In your opinion, what sets successful marketing teams apart?
— Three things: speed of reaction, the ability to work with data, and trust within the team. In marketing, there is no time for long approvals — the market changes daily. You need to quickly test hypotheses and make decisions based on data. But if there’s no trust in the team, everything falls apart. Only strong communication makes it possible to implement complex projects.
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about “ad fatigue.” How can companies stay interesting to their audience?
— Again, honesty works here. Users have become very sensitive to manipulation. If a brand promises more than it can deliver, people will notice it quickly. Genuine stories work: showing processes, talking about people, being closer. And of course, humor. It always wins.
You mentioned the importance of personal branding. How much does it really affect company marketing?
— Very strongly. When a leader or top manager has a recognizable personal brand, it becomes an additional communication channel. People are more likely to trust a company if they see a real person with values and a face behind it. In the future, this trend will only strengthen: brands will be built around personalities, not the other way around.
What mistakes in marketing do you consider the most critical?
— First, copying other people’s strategies. What worked for one brand won’t necessarily work for another. Ignoring analytics. Marketing without numbers turns into guesswork. And third, forgetting about the product. You can build a brilliant advertising campaign, but if the product doesn’t solve the user’s problem, it’s all meaningless.
In your practice, there must have been campaigns that didn’t meet expectations. How do you view such situations?
— For me, they are not failures but investments in experience. In marketing, it’s impossible to predict everything: the audience may respond very differently from what the research showed. The key is not to dwell on it but to analyze the reasons. Sometimes the channel didn’t work, sometimes the creative, sometimes the timing was wrong. If you draw conclusions and apply them in future campaigns, any mistake becomes a resource.
Nowadays, a lot is said about the role of data and algorithms. But where, in your opinion, is the line between analytics and creativity?
— Analytics provides the soil where creativity grows. Without data, creativity often turns into “shooting in the dark,” but dry analytics without ideas doesn’t inspire users. I believe the ideal formula is when numbers point the direction and creativity fills it with emotions. The balance between them defines the strength of a marketing strategy.
Looking ahead: how do you see digital marketing in ten years?
— It will become maximally personalized and integrated into people’s lives. Advertising will not be a separate message but part of familiar scenarios — from smart refrigerators to virtual reality. At the same time, the value of human creativity will increase: artificial intelligence will be able to automate routine, but emotions, context, and cultural codes will still depend on people. I’m sure the marketing of the future is a symbiosis of technology and human intuition.
