Celebrating the Digital Marketer of the Year Finalists

Jun 18

Digital Marketer of the Year Finalists 2025

Digital marketing now sits at the heart of every growth strategy – from AI-powered insight to creator-led storytelling – and the pace of change has never been faster. The Digital Women Awards honour the practitioners who don’t just keep up, but lead. Our Digital Marketer of the Year finalists have blended data, creativity and purpose to deliver standout commercial results, elevate customer experiences and push the industry into new territory. Meet the women who have redefined what’s possible for digital marketing in 2025.

Hollie Thubron - House Of Performance

About:
Hollie is a Senior Performance Consultant at HOP. She has spent the past two and a half years crafting full-funnel paid media programmes for brands in multiple markets and verticals. Her channel mix spans Google, Bing, Meta, TikTok, programmatic, connected TV, digital out-of-home, Pinterest, Reddit, Mumsnet and more. Hollie leads on end-to-end strategy, day-to-day optimisation, account audits, team management and new business pitching – staying hands-on while steering the bigger picture to deliver measurable growth for every client.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Hollie uses paid media as a lever for genuine business transformation rather than simply efficient spend. Leading cross-channel strategies she has delivered category-shifting results: a 2024 FixMyCar campaign drove a 32% uplift in brand awareness, 307% more brand searches and a 61% lift in first-choice consideration. Alongside hands-on delivery, Hollie built the structured testing framework now embedded in HOP’s consultancy offer, mentors junior talent and has been pivotal in client retention streaks. A regular speaker at events, she demonstrates impact that far exceeds her time in the industry and earns her place on the award shortlist.

Meriem Nacer - 4M Digital Consulting

About:
Meriem is a freelance paid-media consultant, coach, and founder of 4M Digital. Drawing on 15 years’ experience – from steering accounts for John Lewis and VW to scaling start-ups – she builds growth-focused strategies across Google Ads, Meta, and multi-channel campaigns. After rising to Head of Paid Media in agency life, she launched her consultancy in 2019 to offer hands-on, collaborative support that pairs performance with long-term capability building.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Meriem is shortlisted for because she pairs standout performance results with a mission to lift the whole paid media industry. A qualified PTLLS trainer she delivers tailored workshops, mentors, runs bespoke workshops, and in March 2025 founded a free, inclusive community that hosts regular Q&As, resources, and peer support for marketers. By sharing templates, speaking at events, and writing her first book and training course, Meriem is proving that clarity, education, and generosity drive sustainable growth and a more accessible, equitable industry.

Venessa Santiago - Well Go USA Entertainment

About:
Venessa is a Dallas-based digital marketer who mixes creativity with data for scroll-stopping results. Armed with a B.S. in Digital Marketing and now pursuing an MBA in Marketing Analytics & Insights, she lives for the sweet spot where storytelling meets spreadsheets. By day she heads social and paid campaigns at Well Go USA Entertainment. After hours she freelances on brand launches, fine-tunes her Adobe skills, and tackles coursework.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Venessa has transformed Well Go USA’s digital footprint by pairing fan-first creativity with rigorous performance marketing. In the past year she engineered 100% organic social growth campaigns that lifted Facebook followers by 50% and generated 19.7 million reach, all while producing 500+ bespoke assets across X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Beyond content, she earned Apple Search Ads certification, built Google Performance-Max strategy, and project-managed cross-functional launches. A self-confessed “chronically online” creative, Venessa’s mission is simple: craft digital campaigns and communities that spark real conversations and connect people through the movies they love.

Lori Watson - SPAR Scotland

About:
Lori is the Digital Marketing Officer for SPAR Scotland, where – within just two years – she has overhauled both B2B and consumer-facing channels. Her initiatives range from launching influencer partnerships and gamified ad campaigns to piloting WhatsApp Communities and fresh content workflows, all designed to deepen engagement and drive measurable sales for the store convenience network.

Reason for Shortlisting:
When Lori stepped into her role, SPAR Scotland’s digital footprint was little more than an untended foundation; in less than two years she has mapped the company’s digital estate, then gamified campaigns that awarded prizes, and focused on a social strategy that showcases local suppliers, community projects, and in-store launches. The result is a rapidly growing, highly engaged customer community – all achieved while Lori juggles every aspect of SPAR Scotland’s B2B and B2C channels.

Kimberley Andrews - Ingenious Marketing

About:
Kimberley is the founder of Ingenious Marketing, a freelance consultancy that delivers clear, results-focused marketing for growing brands. Drawing on 15 years’ experience across insurance, construction, health & fitness, recruitment and the third sector, she blends digital strategy with hands-on execution in web design, PPC, social media and branding. Her mission is simple: make modern marketing understandable, accessible and powerful for every business she serves.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Kimberley delivers everything from PPC, SEO and WordPress builds to social, design and full-funnel strategy for clients that range from Experience Oxfordshire and Age UK to recruitment start-ups and B2B manufacturers. Kimberley’s approach is hands-on and transparent: she audits each business, crafts a bespoke plan, and then executes it herself, explaining every step clearly. Her pro-bono and low-cost help for charities and early-stage founders, coupled with constant upskilling, shows her commitment to making high-quality marketing accessible to those who need it most.

Lily Dedman - Assembly Global

About:
Lily is an SEO Account Director at Assembly Global, where she architects data-driven, user-first search strategies for luxury and technology brands. Blending deep technical SEO, content optimisation, UX and accessibility, she ensures that SEO is not just about rankings but delivering measurable ROI. Beyond performance metrics, Lily is passionate about fostering inclusivity in digital spaces, spearheading the company’s disability initiative and championing inclusive, ethical search practices both inside the agency and across the wider industry.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Lily merits a spot on the Digital Marketer of the Year shortlist for turning advanced, user-first SEO into concrete business wins while championing an inclusive future for search. In 12 months she lifted G-Star’s key product-page clicks by 264%, added 32% YoY organic revenue for Chanel Skincare CA, and generated nearly £250k in new business. She also authored Assembly Global’s “Future of SEO 2025” playbook, mentors juniors and grads, and, as Disability Lead for the agency’s Together+ group, ensures accessibility and ethics sit at the heart of every strategy – proving she drives growth for brands and progress for the industry.

Emily Honey - House Of Performance

About:
Emily entered the performance-marketing world less than two years ago, joining House of Performance straight after completing her Master’s in Psychology. Despite having no formal marketing background, she quickly immersed herself in paid search, paid social and cross-channel optimisation, earning a promotion to Performance Consultant and then to Performance Marketing Manager, where she now shapes strategy for key accounts, turns data into growth-driving insight and mentors junior talent.

Reason for Shortlisting:
In less than two years, Holly has progressed from graduate hire to Performance Marketing Manager, earning two promotions on the strength of her results, curiosity and initiative. Her data-driven campaigns have delivered double- and triple-digit growth for House of Performance’s clients, yet she measures her impact by more than KPIs. Remembering how daunting the industry felt when she arrived, Holly built an onboarding and training programme for new graduates, personally mentoring each hire.

Emma Hodges - Biscuit Communications

About:
Emma founded Biscuit Communications after nearly 25 years in marketing, blending Fortune 500 know-how with the practical realities of running a business while raising a family. Since going freelance in 2015 – and celebrating a decade in 2025 – she has built a reputation for crafting high-impact strategies that fit the few spare minutes owners actually have, forging client partnerships that have flourished continuously since 2017.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Emma merits the Digital Marketer of the Year shortlist because she consistently turns digital strategy into measurable, long-lasting impact. Her RISE framework (Reach, Influence, Shine, Excel) has powered five years of growth for a housing charity for older people, keeping six sites at 97% occupancy and filling a new retirement village to 92% on schedule. Emma secured a Google Ad Grant, built a content-repurposing engine, and launched targeted social and paid campaigns that continue to generate leads even on a shoestring budget. Emma blends enterprise-level insight with practical know-how, delivering digital systems that keep working long after launch.

Amelia Morris - Farrow & Ball

About:
Amelia is the Digital Marketing Manager for heritage paint brand Farrow & Ball, where for nearly four years she has owned the global performance-marketing strategy. Her focus is on maximising ROI across paid channels like Google and Meta, as well as optimising organic SEO. Her test-and-learn mindset and flair for compelling creative have consistently exceeded growth targets and strengthened Farrow & Ball’s position online.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Amelia has translated her passion for the Farrow & Ball brand into measurable, award-winning growth. She has become one of the company’s youngest Digital Marketing Managers, steering global e-commerce revenue by pairing bold creative ideas with data-driven optimisation. Beyond her core responsibilities, Amelia’s habit of mining performance data for emerging trends, implementing new creatives, and upskilling herself on the latest platform updates keeps the brand ahead of the curve. Her blend of fresh perspective, meticulous execution and proven, industry-recognised results make her a candidate for Digital Marketer of the Year.

The Digital Women Awards are proud to celebrate these extraordinary individuals.