Unlocking Marketing Success: MMM vs MTA and the Unified Solution

By Charlie Hinton VP Analytic Consulting

In the fast-paced and evolving marketing world, where new channels, platforms, and strategies evolve and emerge constantly, measuring and optimizing marketing campaign effectiveness is more crucial than ever. With so many media buying levers, marketers need robust tools to understand what works and what doesn’t.

Two methodologies have emerged and have gained prominence for their ability to provide deep insights: Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) and Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA). Each approach brings unique strengths to the table, yet neither on its own can offer a complete picture of the granular contributions of digital media.

It is important to understand that MTA is facing its own set of unique challenges due to the major changes tied to the deprecation of third-party cookies and other privacy-focused initiatives. These challenges require that companies identify creative solutions for providing MTA capabilities that can properly credit customer touchpoints in a world where the traditional way of measuring that touchpoint accurately, has diminished. That said, instead of asking which one is best – MMM vs MTA – rather look at them combined. Working together, they create a robust, integrated framework that equips marketers and media planners with the insights needed to optimize live digital campaigns.

MMM vs MTA: Neither Work Optimally or Effectively in Isolation

MMM provides a macro view of marketing effectiveness, analyzing the short—and long-term impact of various channels, which is ideal for strategic investment decisions. MTA offers micro-level insights into which touchpoints work best along the path to conversion. MMM guides budget decisions, focusing on channel allocation, while Attribution helps media planners tune their strategies dynamically while campaigns are active.

When used in isolation, both MMM and MTA present limitations that can constrain a comprehensive understanding of marketing effectiveness, constraining the ability of marketers to proactively and prescriptively act. MMM, as a broad tool, may overlook detailed media insights, while MTA is more susceptible to omitted variable bias, potentially failing to consider other marketing and business factors, external influences, and seasonality. A unified measurement approach that combines both methods provides a common ground on the factors that contribute to sales growth incrementally, taking into account business and external dynamics and avoiding decisions based solely on attributing credit.

Furthermore, without integrating these frameworks, significant challenges can make siloed attribution less reliable and future proofed. These challenges underscore the critical need for an integrated approach that combines the strengths of MMM and MTA, ensuring strategic investment decisions are based on a complete picture.

The Challenges with Siloed MTA

Despite its potential, MTA and similarly siloed capabilities face continuous challenges as a standalone marketing measurement solution. Marketers must seriously consider these challenges prior to implementing attribution without a complementary and synergistic MMM in place.

• Data Fragmentation: With interactions scattered across multiple platforms, each with its own policies on data sharing, capturing the entire customer journey can be exceedingly difficult if not impossible.

• Privacy Concerns: Regulations such as GDPR and CCPA mandate that companies obtain explicit consent for collecting customer data.
• Adoption Barriers: Implementing advanced attribution models such as MTA requires significant technical expertise and resources, which can make it challenging for some organizations.

See our previous blog for a more comprehensive list of these challenges.

What Does the Future Look Like for Attribution?

The future of attribution lies in unified measurement frameworks that combine MMM’s strategic insights with MTA’s real-time data-driven decisions, eliminating the discussion around MMM vs MTA. AI and machine learning improve how brands model customers’ interactions with advertising across the marketing funnel, while privacy-preserving technologies like differential privacy will ensure safe, comprehensive data collection.

Unified measurement ensures operational, non-digital media, and external factors are integrated into MTA, shifting the focus from mere credit allocation to touchpoint incrementality. As a result, it effectively addresses modern marketing measurement needs, enhancing in-flight optimization.

Case Study: MMM vs MTA Solved with a Unified Solution for a Global Health Care Company

Challenge

Healthcare marketing has evolved into a complex landscape with new ways of reaching various stakeholders in the ecosystem.

There has been a significant change from the HCP-focused personal selling model that was prevalent over a decade ago. While traditional MMM alone provides insights into the impact of media, it doesn’t offer a near-time assessment of all touchpoints that move patients along all journey stages, from pre-diagnosis and awareness to maintenance.

While MTA models are excellent at optimizing each phase of the patient journey and audience reach, they do not account for formulary status, competitive activity, market events, and HCP promotions. MMM alone is not granular enough to optimize digital audiences while campaigns are live across multiple objectives.

Solution Implemented and Activated

Implementing an integrated approach that combines MMM and MTA enabled a more precise evaluation of the incremental impact of each touchpoint throughout the complex patient journey. Aligning patient journey data with HCP-level MMM estimates unlocked the effects of professional promotions aimed at physicians and their influence on patient acquisition. MTA was linked to patient reach across different journey phases, enabling planners to assess which tactics were incremental. This was particularly beneficial when linked to formulary status and competitive impact factors.

By optimizing the patient journey and factoring in the effects of omnichannel HCP and DTC marketing, the unified approach generated incremental revenue of $74 million within just six months.

Unified Measurement is the Future

In today’s era of marketing complexity, relying on a single model is no longer adequate. Nor is relying on insights that don’t meet the speed and needs of business. Brands must abandon the notion of evaluating multi touch attribution vs marketing mix and embrace a unified marketing measurement and optimization approach that can be activated and leveraged at the speed-of-business. This integrated strategy equips marketers to navigate contemporary challenges while optimizing toward future opportunities quickly. The benefits are multifaceted: campaigns become more efficient, customer journeys are more targeted, and long-term marketing goals are achieved.

Are you ready to implement a unified measurement framework and drive your brand’s success? Contact Ipsos MMA to explore how we can help you strategically and tactically optimize in this ever-evolving marketing landscape.