What are the Pros and Cons of Incrementality Testing Versus MMM or MTA?
Incrementality Testing, like MMM (Marketing Mix Modeling or Media Mix Modeling), benefits from controlling for the broad set of media and non-media factors that impact the consumer decision making process. Like MTA (Multi Touch Attribution), Incrementality Testing can measure the effects of media at a very granular (campaign/audience/ad set) level but without relying on the challenges associated with user level path building and data collection/reconciliation issues.
Furthermore a properly developed design of experiments that encompasses a broad range of marketing channels can inform tactical marketing optimization where MMM forecasting stops without the limitations and drawbacks of MTA.
MMM is a top down (aggregate marketing data) and very artistic statistical exercise where one or more models (e.g. econometric, multi-linear regression) are leveraged to extract key information and insights by deriving information from multiple sources of marketing, economic, weather and financial data. MMM is also a high-touch consultative approach that is very manual with little to no automated data inputs, whereas MTA and Incrementality, when deployed properly, is a very automated approach leveraging preconfigured connectors that extract the required marketing data on regular cadence. (It’s important to note that MTA can take 6 months or more to deploy, whereas Incrementality can be up and running with reporting in 4-6 weeks.) See this article for more on why always-on automated experimentation is the future of marketing measurement.
As a result, in most cases MMM insights are delivered on a quarterly basis, whereas Incrementality and MTA results are reported daily. MMM lends itself to big strategic media portfolio considerations and long-term planning cycles while incrementality and MTA outputs can be used to make very tactical near-term shifts in budget allocation.
Incrementality Testing vs MMM vs MTA
| Incrementality | MMM | MTA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Media Portfolio Planning | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tactical Media Optimization | Yes | No | Yes |
| Digital Ad Optimization | Yes | No | Yes |
| Reporting Refresh Frequency | Daily | Quarterly | Daily |
| Measures Clicks & Impressions | Yes | Yes | No |
| Offline Marketing Measurement | Yes | Yes | No |
| Scenario Planning/Forecasting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Design of Experiments Methodology | Yes | No | No |
Measured provides cross-channel reporting and incrementality testing capabilities. Learn more here.
