Unlocking the full power of your media spend with modern MMM

Media mix modeling (MMM), a statistical technique used to understand marketing’s impact on revenue, has been around since the 1960s. But for many, MMM still feels like that slow, pricey, once-a-year report that arrives long after budgeting decisions need to be made.

 Today’s marketers need more than that to remain competitive in our increasingly fast-paced and evolving industry. They need an approach that’s faster, more flexible, and built for the realities of marketing today and beyond. Thankfully, MMM has evolved in key ways that enable just that. 

From looking back to looking ahead

MMM of the past could take several months or even more than a year to update. The time and effort it took to collect the data, run the model, and interpret the results made the process unsustainable. By the time the insights were ready, the window to capitalize on those results had passed. 

Thanks to advances in technology — such as smarter data pipelines, cloud computing, and automation — organizations can now refresh MMM models monthly or even weekly. That means teams can adjust their marketing game plan in real time, leading to smarter optimizations that actually keep up with the pace of the market. Also, with forecasting tools at your fingertips, teams can run “what if” scenarios within a matter of minutes to make decisions more confidently.

From standalone model to integrated toolkit

In the past, MMM was often implemented and then shelved, racking up dust because it contradicted other measurement methods. The modern marketer, however, knows that MMM is just one tool in their measurement toolkit. It’s important for MMM to be used alongside platform data, incrementality tests, and even qualitative insights from the people with boots on the ground.

At Collective Measures, we recommend using incrementality results as an input to inform and validate your model. This blending of methods helps marketers get a fuller sense of what’s really driving their results, striking the right balance between speed and precision.

From insights to action

Even with these advancements, any technology is only as good as the ability to harness its potential to solve real-world problems and drive meaningful outcomes. That’s why translating insights into clear, tactical next steps is just as important as building the model itself.

Take one CM client’s MMM, which recommended increasing Meta investment by more than 50%. Instead of jumping in headfirst, the data engineering and analytics team collaborated with the media team to align on a “crawl, walk, run” approach, starting with an incremental 15% increase. This allowed us to validate the model’s recommendation in a future model refresh while accounting for real-world considerations like audience saturation and budget pacing.

In another case, one channel appeared to be underperforming compared to others. Rather than writing it off completely, we recommended an incrementality test. This test ensured that more recent strategy updates could be reflected in the model and provided a clearer picture of performance.

Getting started

With tighter budgets and increasing pressure to prove the impact of every dollar, modern MMM is not just nice to have; it’s a necessity. Here are three ways to kickstart an MMM journey today:

1. Clarify objectives: Align with internal teams and stakeholders on what you’re trying to achieve. Are you looking to optimize revenue or new customer acquisition? Is it important to have regional measurement results or will a national view suffice? Clear goals will help shape the modeling approach and data requirements.
2. Assess and organize the data: Conduct an audit of the quality, granularity, and availability of your media and business outcome data. High-quality inputs are critical for delivering a high-quality model, and data inputs should be structured in a way that supports specific objectives. Wherever possible, configure your inputs so that they can automatically flow into your MMM pipeline as this will ensure efficient model refreshes down the road.
3. Build the right partnerships: Modern MMM requires both organizational alignment and technical support. Work to identify internal champions and potential external partners who can help bring the vision to life. Together, develop a clear game plan for implementing MMM and scaling it over time.