Lift Test Enhancements: More Powerful, Easier to Launch

In-platform reporting and most attribution models are based around certain rules, which makes them great at capturing correlation instead of causation. When it comes to divining the true value of their marketing mix, almost every performance marketer knows that incrementality testing is the gold standard because it captures causation.

So if lift tests are the gold standard, then why do so many marketers still rely on in-platform reporting or rules-based attribution models like last click?

On their face, a lift test can seem like a burdensome lift for marketing teams. Data science resources are either stretched thin or non-existent. Allocating budget towards lift tests can be difficult, especially during times of peak seasonality.

Of course, these same teams are being squeezed to make better bets with shrinking budgets, especially in times where the economy can be unpredictable.

At WorkMagic, we’re rethinking what lift testing can be. Brands should be able to run tests to validate different POVs or accommodate different scenarios. When incrementality is kept up-to-date through periodic testing, that helps every growth team unlock more meaningful insights that drive more profit and efficiency.

Breaking through old test barriers

We’re introducing three key improvements to our geo-lift tests that can remove barriers to testing and get marketers the key insights they need to pick winners:

Launch-to-Measure Testing

A new methodology that requires much less budget to measure the same kind of results. A launch-to-measure test (or a reverse holdout test for those in the know) measures lift by introducing new ads to a smaller segment and holding out the rest of your audience. This is perfect for testing new channels or tactics, or running a lift test when budgets are running thin.

Tactic and Campaign Level Testing

Channel-level insights are extremely valuable, but to optimize at the speed of the market, you need to know which tactics and campaigns are really driving incremental outcomes. Now, marketers can finally validate the incremental value of different strategies (like brand vs. non-brand, video vs. search), or even get down to the campaign level to test the incremental value of certain ad concepts.

Built-In Power Analysis

With our built-in power analysis for test set up, you no longer have to rely on data scientists to tell you if your tests are properly designed to spit out actionable results. As you set up your tests on WorkMagic, the platform will tell you if your budgets and testing windows are sufficient enough to get good results. While our data scientists love speaking with our customers, you won't have to ping them as much to schedule a test.

Why scaling brands need to test more regularly

Removing barriers to lift testing gets key insights into the hands of marketers faster. The quicker they know what's driving incrementality, the faster they can allocate budgets to maximize results. Remove assumptions from your decision making and go from:

• Guesswork to precision: With barriers removed, testing becomes a natural part of campaign planning rather than an exception.

• Static insights to agile learning: Teams can now move from validating channels to drilling down into the tactics that scale them.

• Dependency to empowerment: Instead of leaning on scarce data science resources, marketers get built-in guardrails that make tests trustworthy by default.

In short: you shouldn't feel uncertainty or doubt about testing. There's nothing that confirms impact and drives confident decisioning like a well designed lift test. With this update, we've made it even easier than ever to set one up, regardless of your current situation.

How Liquid IV used tactic-level lift testing to drive more efficiency

Liquid IV didn't just want to understand how TikTok contributed to their business as a whole, they wanted to dive deeper and validate if their TikTok Web Ads and Shop Ads were worth further investment.

As a result of the test, the team found:

• The combination of TikTok Shop and Web Ads performed 3.53x better than just TikTok Web Ads, most likely due to their ability to quickly capture and convert awareness into product sales.

• The ad dollars that went to Shop Ads were also more efficient, with a 49% lower iCPA, and a 71% higher iROAS.

By diving down to the tactical level, Liquid IV further understood what drove their ongoing success with TikTok. This level of clarity is crucial once you have a larger understanding of the channels that drive success. Once you figure out which channels deserve the most investment, it's crucial to figure out how to allocate budgets on a tactical and campaign level to squeeze further efficiency and profitability.

If you have a hypothesis: about a new channel, a new tactic, or want to test something even when budgets are running light, talk to your Customer Success Manager and we'll walk you through our new lift test enhancements and get you set up.

Or, if you don't have a WorkMagic account, book a demo with us and we'd love to talk to you about your measurement goals.