Facebook Measurement | Attribution and Lift Tests

Introduction

Hey there, it's Marie Qey, and thanks to my friends at Facebook, I'm here to explain the science behind digital marketing. Advertisers sometimes wonder if they're getting the most out of every digital marketing dollar. There are as many different ways to measure that as there are colors in a rainbow, but in this article, we'll focus on just two: lift tests and attribution, and how you can use them together to measure your campaign success.

When using only one of these methods, you might miss out on some valuable information. Both attribution and lift tests can help us understand value in a campaign, but how these methods get to those metrics is a little different.

Here's how:

Attribution

Attribution helps marketers determine which touchpoints on the customer journey generate the most conversions. It helps them understand how channels and touchpoints can work together to optimize a media strategy.

Lift Test

A lift test is a bit more granular. It measures the true causal effect of an isolated marketing activity. However, one important note: lift tests don't show you the customer journey or the multiple variables that might have impacted those conversions along the way. That's why you'll want to use both measurement methods.

When used together, lift tests and attribution can give you a fuller picture of the value your business strategy creates. Data from both measurements in tandem can also help you better understand the performance of your campaign.

• Attribution will tell you which channels generate the most impact for your business.
• Lift tests will reveal the incremental impact a specific ad has within the channel used in your campaign.

Here's an example: my friends over at Jasper's Market wanted to better understand the true value of their digital marketing dollars. First, they used attribution to find the number of conversions across each marketing channel and learned which channel had the most conversions. Then, the Jasper's team did a lift test within that ad platform to find out if their ads showed incremental impact in their campaigns. Once they learned which campaign had incremental impact, they knew where to invest in the future.

Now you know more about how to measure the true value of your marketing dollars. Consider what you want to test in your campaigns and why. Do you want to better understand which channels provide the best return on investment, or do you want to understand which ad provides you with the most conversions? When you use both attribution and lift together, you'll better understand the true value of your marketing efforts based on what matters to your business.

If you want to make more deliberate digital marketing investments to achieve your business goals, put both measurement methods to work for you.

And as always, for more on the science behind digital marketing, keep watching.