In the dynamic world of B2C, conversions and revenues are not solely affected by internal strategies or Advertising. The hidden forces of external factors wield significant influence, steering the trajectory of performance. These elements, ranging from seasonality and competition to press mentions and new content, often act as powerful drivers of user behavior.

Understanding the spider web of external influences and their impact on performance is akin to deciphering an elaborate puzzle. While companies recognize their relevance, pinpointing and effectively measuring these factors pose a persistent challenge.

Unknown contributors are important for measurement

Marketing measurement must account or acknowledge external variables that may influence marketing performance, as otherwise, marketing measurement will provide Advertisers with a skewed measurement result.

When a game gets mentioned by a celebrity, performance may often spike up. 
Legacy measurement (i.e. attribution) will often show a similar pattern of increased results, even when paid advertising did not actually improve, but only enjoyed the external influence, allowing paid results to win more credit for yielding performance.  


 

The 3 Key External Influencers

Marketing performance can be influenced by dozens of factors, but there are three that are stronger and more volatile than others, which we wanted to outline:
 

1. Seasonality:
   Seasonality is often mistaken to mean only Summer, Winter, Spring, Autumn, but seasonality in marketing refers to a lot more influencing factors, such as: Weekend vs. Weekdays, Special days affect, Holiday effects, Month of the year, Weather, and so on.
   Each Advertiser should learn what seasonality factors influence their own marketing performance. Adjusting marketing spends, and tactics against those will allow Advertisers to leverage those for strategy and operations.
   
   
    
2. Competition:
   In a fiercely competitive market, the actions and strategies of competitors greatly shape sales outcomes. Price fluctuations, marketing campaigns, product launches, and customer engagement initiatives by competitors can sway consumer loyalty and purchasing decisions. The challenge for businesses lies in keeping a pulse on competitor movements and swiftly adapting strategies to maintain or gain market share.
   
    
3. Mentions and New Content:
   The power of coverage, be it through press mentions, influencer endorsements, or content releases, is a catalyst for driving performance. Positive reviews, features in influential publications, or viral content can swiftly elevate brand visibility and consumer interest. Identifying these moments of media impact and leveraging them to bolster sales remains a nuanced task.

Despite their irrefutable influence, accounting for these external factors remains intangible for many businesses. The complexity lies not only in their complex nature but also in the challenge of differentiating causation from correlation. Often, multiple factors intersect and influence performance, making it difficult to isolate their individual impacts.

So, how can businesses navigate this labyrinth of external influences to optimize sales strategies?

Why is there a spike in conversions ?

The example below is a real example of an incrementality measurement, where the INCRMNTAL platform shows its true powers.

This example is showing that a significant number of conversions, and engagements, were attributed to an “unknown” effect. 

When measuring an activity, such as an App Featuring (in this example), the platform utilizes the customers’ own seasonality data: weekdays, weekends, holidays, special days , as well as any other marketing activity that the platform can track.
Whatever the platform cannot identify, nor attribute to marketing activities, will fall under “unknown contribution”.

Advertisers using the INCRMNTAL platform have the ability to fill the gaps, by adding activities to the platform. These can be any type of activity: Promotions, Holidays, Tech issues, competition, or whatever else an Advertiser wants to inform the platform of.

Adding such activities will allow the platform to distribute the contribution amongst paid marketing activities, other activities, while leaving the rest to “Unknown”, which may be explained by Seasonality, or a different external variable. 

Harnessing data analytics and advanced algorithms proves to be an effective tool in unraveling the mysteries of the unknown. Analyzing historical performance data, marketing activities, and seasonality can provide valuable insights into the impact of external factors.

The INCRMNTAL platform is an innovation force, shedding light on the perplexing world of unknown contributing factors. Unlike traditional analytics tools that often fall short in measuring the entirety of external influences, INCRMNTAL stands apart by embracing the uncharted territory. This platform goes beyond conventional metrics by harnessing predictive capabilities to outline the expected seasonality curve and meticulously gauging the impact of all marketing activities, designating the remaining factors as "unknown," illuminating these external impacting elements that evade conventional measurement methods.

By acknowledging these unknowns, INCRMNTAL acknowledges the complex web of external influences, paving the way for a more comprehensive understanding of marketing performance within an ever-evolving landscape.