Incrementality in media buying and remarketing has been getting a lot of press, and with good reason. There are a number of advantages when it comes to incrementality, many of which we’ll discuss in this post.
Forms Of Mobile KPIs
First, let’s start with the different forms of KPIs when it comes to mobile marketing campaigns. CPM used to be the ruler of the roost, although this was supplanted by CPC, CPI, CPA, ROAS and now incrementality.
What Is Incrementality?
Incrementality Testing, which is also known as “Uplift Modeling”, “Incremental Sales Lift”, and versions thereof, is a test that looks at the impact of a single variable on a user’s behavior. Typically, this type of testing will compare two groups that have been exposed to two different types of ad – much like medical experiments use a “control” group that gets a placebo and a group that actually receives the drug or therapy being tested. In the case of mobile marketing, one audience will see a branded ad, and one won’t see an ad at all (this being the control group). The incremental difference, or the “lift”, is simply the difference between the two. It seeks to isolate the effects of a specific campaign on overall sales, which of course has numerous benefits:
- Understand what works and what doesn’t
- Focus on winners
- Ability to test properly and constantly optimize
- Expend resources in a smart way (money, time, etc.)
For example, take users of an online retail store, who browsed, added items to their carts, and then left the site without completing the purchase. With incremental testing, these users would be divided into two groups: one of these groups would see retargeting ads, and the other wouldn’t. If the group that was retargeted goes on to have a 20% conversion rate, while the non-targeted group has only a 5% conversion rate, the “lift”, or incremental difference, is 15%. That campaign had a 15% incremental effect on sales. If executed correctly however, the incremental method of testing and measuring the success of your mobile campaigns can be a massive advantage and key element in your success.
What Incrementality Is Not
Incremental testing and assessment should not be confused with A/B testing, even though it is a subset of it. As Quantcast put it, “AB testing is an umbrella term that encompasses Incrementality Testing. In the world of online advertising, AB Tests can be used to test creative treatments, email subject lines, Call to Actions (CTAs), or website pages. In comparison, Incrementality Testing focuses on the lift of key purchase indicators, as measured by conversion rate (CVR).” For the nuts and bolts calculations when it comes to lift and incrementality testing, MediaMath offers some in-depth explanations.
Considered KPIs
Every part of your mobile marketing campaign needs to be considered, planned and deliberate. While most people pay particular attention to this when building their campaign, it’s just as important to put in this effort when monitoring, measuring and optimizing your campaigns. The incremental method is a phenomenal way to see exactly what’s working and what isn’t, and offers a move away from some of the more “vanity” metrics – allowing you to meet and exceed your business goals.
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