As the complexity of customer decision journeys continues to evolve, brands need to ensure their measurement strategies keep pace or risk being left behind.
At our recent Charlie Oscar Presents event, TikTok’s Head of Measurement UK, Charlotte Skornik, led the discussion on the “marketing measurement trifecta”: incrementality, attribution, and marketing mix modelling (MMM). She explained how each approach offers unique value, but together, they provide a more holistic view of campaign performance, enabling brands to truly understand the value of their entire marketing mix.
Charlotte highlighted the challenges brands face and uncovered why combining these approaches is essential for modern marketing effectiveness.
INCREMENTALITY: MEASURING PURE IMPACT
Incrementality is widely regarded as the purest form of measurement, and here’s why:
- The Method: It involves creating two groups, one exposed to ads and one not exposed to ads, then comparing the outcomes. These outcomes could include offline sales, conversions, or changes in brand perception.
- The Value: Incrementality isolates the true impact of advertising, stripping away external noise and offering clarity on what drives results.
However, as effective as incrementality is, it’s often limited to short-term assessments. This is where attribution and MMM come into play.
ATTRIBUTION: MAPPING THE JOURNEY
Attribution, especially multi-touch attribution (MTA), examines every touchpoint in a customer’s journey and assigns credit proportionally:
- Beyond Last-Click: Last-click attribution is outdated and fails to account for the broader customer journey. MTA considers both views and clicks, capturing the contribution of each touchpoint.
- Short-Term Focus: Like incrementality, attribution tends to focus on campaign-level results.
While attribution provides useful insights, it doesn’t capture the long-term effects of brand-building activities where tracking less consistent or simply not possible (e.g. PR, Linear TV, Influencer, Audio).
MARKETING MIX MODELLING
MMM stands apart by focusing on long-term trends and overall brand demand:
- Holistic View: MMM evaluates the impact of all marketing channels, both online and offline, on business outcomes.
- Omnichannel Insight: It helps brands understand how upper-funnel activities like TikTok, YouTube, and influencer marketing impact metrics such as retail sales, not just digital conversions.
- Real-World Context: Unlike attribution, MMM accounts for external factors such as seasonality, promotions, and economic shifts.
Dan Wilson, Chief Data Officer at Charlie Oscar, explains that MMM helps brands measure brand demand—how many people want to buy your products, versus brand sales, which are influenced by short-term triggers.
