This is the second instalment of our series on Marketing Attribution. If you didn’t see our first one then read about Google Analytics as an attribution tool. Today, we are going to explore Spot Matching – a method used to measure the impact of TV advertising. We’ll look at the theory behind it, highlight its strengths and weaknesses, and compare it to econometric attribution.  While offering granular attributions and a fast turnaround time, it has limitations in terms of measuring response only in a short window of time. Spot-Matching vs. Econometrics The theory Spot-matching measures ..read more

When a history of MetaMetrics blogs comes to be written, the record will show that we gave March 2024 over to the subject of the ear. Specifically, the digital ear. And the reason for that is simple – we’ve seen clients increase their investment in digital audio, for better or worse, by nearly 400% in the last 5 years. As we explore the world of digital audio, the big question emerges: Is it worth the cost? Defining Digital Audio Before we explore the worthiness of the investment, let’s establish some definitions. What exactly is meant by ‘digital audio’? In today’s digital age, most audio ..read more

Well, another year hoves into view. 2024. How did that happen? This year, we thought we would indulge in what we abhor others doing – namely some prognostication for what the year might hold in store for us all, in particular for marketing effectiveness. We build econometric models, which are sometimes used to make forecasts. So, without further ado, and with massive overreach, here are our confident, bold, unequivocal predictions for the year ahead. 1. Proliferation and fragmentation 2024 will see even more fragmentation of audiences chiefly as existing platforms – content owners and distrib ..read more

Here we are with the second instalment of our Essential Econometrics series. If you haven’t already read Part 1, then I suggest you start with that. Otherwise, read on for Part 2. 6. Using Econometrics for what it can do best We’d be lying if we said that Econometrics was a unicorn and was the answer to everything. It isn’t. We often tell people that they don’t need a model. After all, predicting the outcome of a radical change from the norm is not an econometric strength. For example, a publisher wanted to know what would happen should they switch their paid publication to free, but honestly ..read more

Before we say “abracadabra” or “hey presto” let’s agree on what Econometric Modelling actually is. When applied to sales and other commercial KPIs, Econometric Modelling has become known as Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM). Marketing, of course, covers the whole range of levers (price, promotion, placement) but the focus of MMM studies is often on the media element – identifying the contribution of media to sales, calculating the ROI of media, and optimising media budgets and deployment in the future. And, of course, it’s the future that’s the ultimate goal. It’s all well and good knowing how y ..read more

If you’re a regular partaker of our bloggage, you will be used to us talking about econometrics. Yes, we do it. Yes, we love it. In this article, we thought we’d give everyone a break by talking about something other than specifically econometrics. But before anyone fears that you’re going to have to read my pontifications on renewable energy or the state of the world today, I will confine myself to marketing attribution. And econometrics will have, if not a starring role, something more than a walk-on cameo. Life: There’s More to it Than Econometrics The variety of approaches to marketing ..read more

“What impact will the vanishing cookie have on econometrics?” In some ways, this is an article that doesn’t need writing, for the short answer to the question, “What impact will the vanishing cookie have on econometrics?” is “nil.” So, as much as we might personally lament the passing of those little text files that clutter up our hard-drives, the impact on econometrics should be negligible. Feel free to stop there. However, if you want to know more, carry on reading, for there is a bit more to this topic that’s worth considering. It’s helpful to look at the Great Cookie Massacre through two ..read more

2023. A new year (still, just about). And like all new years it offers us the opportunity to take stock and make plans. And if that stock-taking and plan-making leads you to conclude that you really could do with brushing up on your econometric nous, then allow us to point you in the direction of our helpful, free ebooks which are both helpful and free and, as all the best ebooks, readily available to download from our website.  We wrote our ebooks to help demystify econometrics and explain a bit more about how it can support your marketing activities and your decision making. Some of yo ..read more

It will soon be that Most Wonderful Time of the Year. …so sang Andy Williams and who am I to argue with him? I know this because our daughter has, for several weeks now, been wide-eyed with excitement. She’s even put up her own tree and decorated it, bless her, and is already talking about Santa and presents. She is, I might add, 24 but it proves my point. The other Wonderful Thing that happens around now is that our Marketing Manager pesters me to write a festive blog. Normally I find a fascinating and, dare I say, captivating way of weaving the obvious magic of Econometrics into a festive th ..read more

The short version Yes. But with qualifications. Which may be very important. The long version Here goes… An econometric model, for the benefit of any laymen who may have wandered in here by accident, is an approach to marketing attribution that takes your historic sales and decomposes them by the things that caused them (we call them ‘drivers’). Take the last 12 months, for example. Suppose your sales were £20m. Some of them came from market demand, some from seasonality. Others came from promotions. Still others were due to customers seeing one of your adverts and deciding to buy your produc ..read more