Modern Measurement in Paid Search

Fiftheen experienced marketeers from big advertisers came together to discuss the evolving role of measurement tools, the challenges they bring, and strategies to help organizations align their paid search strategy with business goals. Google’s playbook The Modern Measurement was used as a discussion starter for the session. This article breaks down the key insights from the session, along with practical tips and observations for marketers aiming to optimize their strategies in this new environment.

Evolving Measurement Frameworks

In this evolving environment, having a strong framework for assessing marketing effectiveness will be crucial for future success. Solutions such as Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM), incrementality testing, and data-driven attribution each have their own (dis)advantages. Combining the multiple measurement methods at our disposal — both capitalizing on their strengths and complementing their weaknesses — is a key part of that. We discussed the following methods:

• MMM as a Growth Driver: MMM is emerging as a crucial tool for growth, offering a holistic view across channels. MMM frameworks require a strong foundation that integrates KPIs from silos to support both short- and long-term business objectives.
• Data-Driven Attribution: Data-driven attribution models remain essential for assessing cross-channel performance. Despite imperfections, experts agreed that machine-led attribution is vital, particularly for aligning with real-time algorithms, and advised against in-house development.
• Incrementality Testing: While incrementality testing offers valuable insights into the true impact of media spend, it is limited to snapshots, presenting scalability challenges.

Challenges in Cross-Channel Alignment

• The fragmented use of MMM, attribution, and incrementality testing across organizations often hinders integrated measurement. Siloed teams and disparate KPIs contribute to these challenges, with departments frequently focusing on metrics specific to their scope.
• Experts emphasized the difficulty in validating MMM results in organizations traditionally reliant on single-touch or last-click attribution. Experts highlighted the need for automated, machine-based attribution rather than in-house solutions. The necessity to build trust in MMM data was highlighted, as well as the role of incremental experiments to refine cross-channel understanding.
• A recurring challenge is the lack of communication between departments using different measurement approaches.

MMM, Attribution, and Incrementality in Practice

• Establishing cross-Channel metrics: To maximize MMM’s utility, data collection must be consistent and granular. Classifying campaigns by search format, region, and category enables deeper insights and better resource allocation.
• Brand vs. performance metrics: Understanding the interplay between upper-funnel brand campaigns and lower-funnel search-driven sales is critical. MMM can account for both direct and indirect brand effects, while attribution tends to focus on immediate conversions. Balancing these insights is crucial for aligning search and brand strategies.
• Integrating competitor analysis in MMM: Competition significantly impacts MMM accuracy. Experts recommended including competitor data in MMM models to account for the “opportunity cost” of not displaying ads. Incorporating auction dynamics and analyzing competitor visibility were highlighted as valuable practices that could help gauge the effectiveness of search ads in driving consumer interest.
• Addressing data gaps and Attribution models: Data gaps, such as those from Safari’s limitations on tracking, present a significant challenge, requiring advanced solutions like consent mode and enhanced conversions to improve data capture accuracy. These tools help address gaps in user-based attribution and ensure results are representative across channels.

Practical Tips and Recommendations

• Collaborate with stakeholders: Aligning senior management and key departments with MMM and incrementality goals is essential to bridge the internal silos. Encouraging stakeholder buy-in through structured goal-setting, aligned organizational KPI’s, and storytelling can bridge knowledge gaps and promote a data-driven culture. The experts recommended fostering collaboration across teams, from data analysts to marketing specialists, and establishing one central measurement team to act as a “single source of truth.” Additionally, storytelling was highlighted as an essential skill for conveying MMM insights in a way that resonates with non-technical stakeholders. This collaborative approach can help departments align on KPIs and better integrate tools across the organization.
• Leverage Third-Party Expertise: External partners can be instrumental in implementing MMM, providing specialized tools, and facilitating knowledge transfer. Agencies can also support internal teams with unbiased insights and enable consistent reporting across channels.
• Adopting MMM to manage limited data: In a landscape of increasing data restrictions MMM allows marketers to analyze performance across channels without relying heavily on user-level data, making it a valuable tool for gaining insights when data access is limited. By utilizing MMM, businesses can better allocate resources, understand the impact of both online and offline channels, and make strategic decisions that align with overall business objectives.
• Start with Incrementality Testing: Incrementality remains a useful tool, especially when validating MMM insights. It offers a relatively straightforward entry point to advanced measurement. For channels where user-level tracking is complex, such as SEO, geo-based lift studies can provide alternative measurement avenues.
• Optimize for Search-Specific Needs: Paid search performance is particularly sensitive to branding effects, underscoring the need to balance brand-building and sales-driven initiatives. While incrementality testing is valuable, organizations should use MMM for comprehensive scenario planning to guide search strategies within the context of broader media investments.

To conclude

Achieving a cohesive measurement strategy in paid search requires a long-term commitment and a cross-functional approach to data integration. As privacy concerns reshape the paid search landscape, marketers must adopt comprehensive and collaborative measurement strategies.  With these strategies, marketers can navigate the complexities of modern measurement and ensure a more accurate understanding of campaign performance in the evolving digital space.

Renée Akkerma

PPC Director bij dentsu Benelux