Digital Bites March 2026 wrap up and slides

Last Tuesday, we hosted our first Digital Bites event of 2026 at one of our favourite venues, the Everyman Cinema in Manchester. A huge thank you to all our attendees and speakers for joining us and making it a memorable day. Since launching Digital Bites in 2021, we’ve loved bringing marketers from the North together for afternoons filled with actionable strategies, expert insights, and networking – we’re looking forward to bringing it back later this year!

This particular event felt like one of those sessions where everything clicks into place. Not because there was a single big theme, but because every talk, in its own way, pointed to the same underlying shift in marketing right now. Things are getting harder to track, harder to measure and harder to predict, but the opportunity to stand out has never been clearer.

Let’s break down the talks, one by one

Dan Seekings – Group Head of Creative, Connective3

Talk: The last legal unfair competitive edge

Dan opened the event by bringing the conversation back to something simple but often overlooked. As more brands gain access to the same tools, platforms and data, the gap between them isn’t getting smaller because of capability, it’s getting smaller because everyone is playing in the same space.

What still sets brands apart is creativity. Not just in big campaign moments, but in how they show up consistently. It’s one of the few areas that can’t be easily replicated or automated, which is exactly why it matters more now than ever.

View Dan’s slides here

Charlotte Stevens – Consumer Data Media Lead, Nestle

Talk: How to scale data activation in a world with fewer signals

Charlotte’s talk shed light on a huge challenge for today’s marketers: navigating a world of diminishing data. Signals are disappearing, people are harder to identify, and at the same time expectations around personalisation haven’t dropped.

A big part of the shift is also on the consumer side. People are more aware of their data and more in control of it, which makes staying addressable more difficult, but also more important. The brands that adapt are the ones that stop relying on a single source of truth and start thinking more flexibly about how they can build a full picture of their audience.

View Charlotte’s slides here

Keira Penney – Social Media Strategist, Freelance

Talk: Underqualified or overthinking? Why you don’t have to be an expert to have a personal brand

Keira’s session was a reminder of how easy it is to overcomplicate personal branding. The biggest barrier for most of us isn’t a lack of knowledge or a missing niche, it’s the pressure to be an expert on day one. The takeaway was less about tactics and more about mindset. You don’t need to have it all figured out to start, you just need to start.

View Keira’s slides here

Lizzie Lewington – Head of SEO Performance, Connective3
Talk: The future of search – How to win in SEO in 2026 and beyond

Lizzie unpacked how much search has changed, even in the past twelve months. While traditional search still dominates, it’s no longer the only place for brand discovery and consumer decision-making.

Customer journeys are more fragmented than ever, with users moving across platforms, formats and touchpoints long before converting. That means showing up in one place isn’t enough anymore. Visibility needs to stretch across the entire ecosystem, including the moments that influence and assist a conversion, not just the ones that claim credit for it.

The takeaway: SEO isn’t just a Google tactic anymore, it’s everywhere.

View Lizzie’s slides here

Nick Handley – Performance Director, Connective3
Talk: Measuring what actually matters in the age of brand-led performance

Nick’s talk focused on the growing measurement gap, and more specifically, the difficulty of isolating the metrics that truly matter.

As brand and performance continue to overlap, it’s harder to separate what’s driving results. Standard platform reporting only tells part of the story, which is why incrementality testing is becoming essential. Understanding what activity genuinely drove additional value versus what was going to happen regardless of the spend is where the real insight sits.

View Nick’s slides here

Alicia Torres – Marketing Manager, Force24
Talk: Inbox energy vs buyer reality

Alicia highlighted a disconnect that a lot of marketers overlook. While many believe their activity plays a big role in influencing buyers, most consumers feel like they’re making those decisions on their own.

That gap changes how we should approach things like email and messaging. It’s not about sending more, it’s about being more relevant. Personalisation and segmentation play a big role here, particularly when it comes to understanding the difference between engaged and unengaged audiences.

View Alicia’s slides here

Ronja Ostner – PR Strategist, Connective3
Talk: Why PR must stay human in an AI-saturated world

Ronja’s talk centred on the growing impact of AI in PR and the challenges that come with it. With more AI-generated content being produced than ever before, the space is becoming increasingly crowded.

However, it isn’t just about the volume, it’s the lack of distinction. When everything is designed to sound right, very little stands out. This is where the human touch wins. Emotion, originality and lived perspective are harder to replicate, and they’re exactly what create your competitive advantage.

Her takeaway was simple but powerful: In a world of AI content, being human is your edge.

View Ronja’s slides here

Heather Clark – Head of Luxury & Fashion, Pinterest
Talk: Decoding dreams – Using Pinterest Predicts to power decisions

Heather introduced Pinterest Predicts and how it can be used to understand emerging trends before they fully take off.

What makes this tool so valuable is that it tracks future intent; what people are planning to do, not just what they’ve already done. That gives brands a clearer view of where culture is heading.  The real value lies in the transition from insight to action – using these pioneer trends to guide everything from creative campaigns to core product development.

The takeaway was clear: Spotting the trend is the baseline, but knowing how to pivot your strategy to meet it is the real win.

View Heather’s slides here

That’s all from us! We’ll be back with another Digital Bites later this year, so we hope to see you there for more actionable insights. In the meantime, check out the full photo album here and make sure you’re following us on social to kept in the loop with our latest updates!