Have We Made a Dent in Measuring Marketing's Impact?

Have We Made a Dent in Measuring Marketing's Impact?

The old adage, "If it can't be measured, it's not marketing" has likely been a culprit in derailing true marketing efforts. Over the last two decades, the trend has been towards a focus on bottom-funnel attribution and ROI, but measuring marketing's impact goes much further than this.

Has being fully data-driven changed marketing for the better? Historically, marketers have prioritized direct attribution and ROI over measuring impact. Measuring marketing specifically to revenue is essential but fraught with complications and probably needs to be revisited.

How Do I Look at Marketing Holistically?

First, let's look at attribution theory and how it started. Invented, not for marketing, but for social psychology in 1958, its original intent was to find the causal structure of the environment as a primary structure of motivation. While there is no one way to measure attribution, marketers adopted this theory in the early 2000s to understand the impact of marketing efforts on a desired outcome. The "desire to know" became the holy grail in marketing. The myths and the snake oil entered the fray, and the holy grail of marketing measurement has never been reached. In fact, it's gotten worse. While marketing attribution would have thrived in the late 2000s, the war on cookies, privacy, and the rise of walled gardens like Facebook and Apple have all but destroyed the ability to measure the environment and see the direct impact on revenue. Attribution still exists and comes in many forms: last click, multi-touch, Markov modeling, and more, but none of these work in the way that marketers may expect. With true visibility so low, the modeling part of attribution takes a front seat, and you are likely moving closer to probabilistic matching than deterministic, and this is a problem for marketing in 2025 and beyond.

As a marketer, what do I want to know? I want to know the impact of my work! I don't care about the last click, only about the overall blend of marketing tactics and techniques used to drive customer acquisition, retention, or lifetime value. The old way of doing attribution is out, and the modern approach of Integrated Impact Modeling is in. Real marketers want marketing to work, and they want it to drive revenue. When your marketing investment in brand awareness, social engagement, and media mix is maximized, you know you're succeeding. Most importantly, you know if you're achieving the efficiency you need and the impact marketers want.

What Is Integrated Impact Modeling?

Integrated Impact Modeling (IIM) is the most effective way to measure the impact of your marketing dollars. IIM relies on using a combination of data points, blending "who did what" information together to understand the impact of marketing activities. In contrast to traditional methods, IIM is always-on, learning, and evolving. It applies attribution and incrementality techniques in a holistic way to help marketers see the impact of marketing.

Think of it this way: when different marketing channels are used together, they create an impact larger than the sum of their parts. Instead of trying to measure each part separately, IIM measures the overall impact and assigns value based on the combined effect.

What Are the Key Differences Between Attribution and Impact Modeling?

Attribution is a specific technique for measuring direct actions, while impact modeling is a collection of methods for understanding all marketing influences, including indirect effects.

The key differences are:

1. Visibility: Attribution needs to track every interaction, while impact modeling can work with partial data.
2. Approach: Attribution follows linear paths, while impact modeling captures non-linear influences.
3. Flexibility: Impact modeling adapts to changes in data availability and marketing environments.
4. Scope: Attribution focuses on conversion events, while impact modeling considers the entire customer journey.

Why Does This Matter?

Modern marketing requires a sophisticated approach to measurement. With diminishing tracking capabilities and increasing privacy regulations, relying solely on attribution is like trying to navigate with an incomplete map. Impact modeling gives you a more complete picture, helping you understand not just what led to conversions, but what truly influenced your customers.

The old way of thinking about marketing as a series of separate channels is outdated. Today's customers experience your brand across multiple touchpoints, often simultaneously. Shouldn't your measurement approach reflect this reality?

Marketers can now shift from asking "Which channel gets credit?" to "How do our marketing efforts work together to drive business results?" This change in perspective leads to more strategic decisions and better allocation of marketing resources.

How Can I Get Started with Impact Modeling?

Start by breaking free from channel-centric thinking. Consider these steps:

1. Collect data from all available sources, even if incomplete
2. Establish clear business outcomes you want to measure
3. Apply statistical modeling to understand relationships between marketing activities and outcomes
4. Look for patterns and correlations across channels
5. Use experimental design to verify causation
6. Continuously refine your models based on new data

So back to our question, has marketing made a dent in measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing? Yes, but we need to continue to adapt our measurement approaches as the landscape evolves. What's your next step to increase your ROI?

Stay flexible; by predicting where things are going and how everything relates together, you can stay on trends, move budgets, and get the results with less investment. That's what you want, right? Spend less, get more. Well, you can with clarity, confidence, and action!

With Integrated Impact Marketing, you can combine analytics with creative and see the impact across walled gardens that limit the data they send. You can measure all channels in a way that works for your business.

What Is ViVV Labs?

We are on a mission to build the world's best Integrated Impact Marketing platforms. Think of it as your on-call data scientist who understands your goals and simplifies the complexity of cross-channel and cross-measurable marketing. It's easy to use and will measure the impact of your marketing, not just the last-click sales. A holistic approach to your ad spend is likely going to be the only thing you can do as the years progress.

Give us a call, and we'd love to philosophize and show you how measuring impact holistically is the best thing for your bottom line.