At those flashy marketing events full of innovative new campaigns and star-studded panels, we’re often the folks in the back asking the question absolutely no one asked for: “Cool campaign — how are you going to measure it?” 

For years, teams would respond with some mix of traditional measurement approaches, like multi-touch attribution (MTA) or traditional marketing mix modeling (MMM). And usually they’d do so with a hint of doubt. After all, the shortcomings of these approaches are pretty well-known. 

But as incrementality has gone from niche to mainstream, we’re hearing more teams center causality. They’re hungry for measurement approaches that build a causal foundation between marketing strategy and business outcomes. 

We’re pretty firm that effective measurement requires establishing causality — and that starts with building a marketing measurement plan that puts incrementality testing at the center of it. So let’s walk through how you can do that step by step — then put your team on the path to better decisions and better outcomes. 

The critical components of an effective measurement plan

1. Establish clear business objectives

Before selecting measurement methodologies, define what business outcomes matter most. Common examples include:

• Revenue growth
• Customer acquisition
• Profitability/contribution margin
• Brand awareness/consideration
• Customer retention

Example: A subscription-based software company might prioritize measuring new subscriber acquisition costs and retention rates over general brand awareness metrics. Meanwhile, a skincare company might instead focus mostly on revenue growth across channels like DTC, Amazon, Ulta, and more.

2. Embrace incrementality testing as your foundation

Incrementality testing is the gold standard for establishing causality in marketing. (Don’t believe us? Just ask Meta.) By creating controlled experiments with test and control groups, marketers can isolate the true impact of specific marketing activities.

Testing in action: Health and wellness brand Ritual knew their audience was on TikTok — but they were skeptical of the incrementality of the ad product. They designed a 2-cell test in the Haus app and found that TikTok’s platform reporting was overstating performance by about 10%, which they now take into consideration when reporting on this channel internally. This learning alone has saved Ritual millions in annual spend. 

But not all incrementality tests are built alike. Here are a key points to consider when implementing incrementality testing:

• Test design must include proper randomization
• Control groups must be truly comparable to test groups, using synthetic controls, which are more precise than matched-market tests
• Measurement must account for external factors and seasonality

3. Build a causality-driven marketing mix model

While incrementality testing is powerful for measuring specific campaigns or channels, it's not always practical to test everything continuously. This is where a causal marketing mix model (MMM) becomes valuable.

Unlike traditional MMMs that rely solely on historical correlations, Causal MMM incorporates experimental results as ground truth to calibrate the model. This creates a more accurate understanding of how different marketing channels contribute to business outcomes.

Causal MMM in action: An outdoor gear brand implements a causality-based MMM that's built on a foundation of geo experiments testing various media channels. When the MMM shows their connected TV advertising drives significant incremental sales, they can trust this finding because it's aligned with their experimental results rather than just historical correlations.

4. Develop a comprehensive measurement framework

An effective measurement plan integrates multiple methodologies into a coherent framework. You might use A/B tests for actionable insights on creative performance and geo-based incrementality tests to help you get a causal understanding of campaign effectiveness. 

This experimental data might then be used as ground truth for your Causal MMM. Insights can then be distributed across the team to reallocate budgets and inform real-time channel optimizations. 

This layered approach balances both tactical insights for immediate optimization and strategic understanding for long-term planning.

Implementation considerations

Data requirements

A robust measurement plan requires clean, consistent data. Key data sources to incorporate:

• Campaign spending across all channels
• Performance metrics from advertising platforms
• Website/app analytics
• CRM data and sales information
• External factors (weather, competitor activity, economic indicators)
• Promotional calendars and pricing changes

Privacy considerations

With increasing privacy regulations, ensure your measurement approach is privacy-durable:

• Avoid over-reliance on user-level tracking
• Implement aggregate measurement methodologies
• Use cohort-based analysis rather than individual tracking where possible
• Keep track of evolving regulations

Instead of tracking individual users across platforms (which is increasingly difficult), privacy-durable geo experiments measure the impact of marketing in specific geographic regions without requiring individual user data. 

Organizational alignment

For a measurement plan to succeed, organizational buy-in is essential:

• Secure executive sponsorship for the measurement approach
• Align on KPIs across marketing, finance, and executive teams
• Establish clear processes for how measurement insights will inform budget decisions
• Create standardized reporting that connects marketing activities to business outcomes

Relying on an incrementality testing partner that offers clear dashboards and easy-to-interpret results can help drive buy-in from even the most skeptical executive stakeholders. 

Common pitfalls to avoid

1. False precision

Beware of measurement providers promising unrealistic levels of precision. When a vendor guarantees they can attribute results with 98% accuracy or promises extremely narrow confidence intervals, this should raise red flags.

False precision in action: Say you’re spending $10M on a campaign and run a holdout experiment to see if it’s truly incremental. Based on the reported precision of the test, you determine that you are only taking a 5% risk of falsely detecting lift. That sounds pretty reliable, so you move forward.

But what if the experiment isn’t as precise as you thought? Imagine the actual chance of mistakenly detecting lift is 25%, not 5%. That would mean you’re only 75% confident in your results — not as reassuring! If you’re measuring a multi-million dollar campaign, you could end up pouring millions into a marketing campaign that drives no real impact. 

2. Platform-reported metrics as gospel

Platforms grade their own homework. Facebook, Google, and other ad platforms have incentives to show their channels performing well. Their attribution models often overstate impact by claiming credit for conversions that would have happened anyway and double-counting conversions across platforms

A furniture retailer might see Meta reporting 3,000 conversions while their internal data shows only 2,000 total orders during the same period. This discrepancy highlights why third-party measurement is critical.

3. Failing to account for long-term effects

Some marketing activities (particularly brand-building efforts) don't deliver immediate measurable results but contribute significantly to long-term growth. A comprehensive measurement plan must account for both short and long-term impacts.

Case study: A comprehensive measurement approach

Let's examine how a hypothetical health supplement brand, VitaBoost, implemented an effective measurement plan:

Challenge: VitaBoost was spending $15 million annually across search, social, display, CTV, and direct mail, but had limited insight into which channels were truly driving new customer acquisition versus capturing existing demand.

Measurement Plan Implementation:

1. Foundation: VitaBoost established incrementality testing as their ground truth. They ran quarterly geo experiments for their major channels to understand the true causal impact.
2. Integration: They turned to Causal MMM, which incorporated these experimental results and ensured their model reflected actual causal relationships rather than mere correlations.
3. Organizational Alignment: The marketing and finance teams agreed on contribution margin as their primary KPI, ensuring everyone was optimizing toward the same goal.

Results: The measurement plan revealed several counterintuitive insights:

• Direct mail, previously considered outdated, was actually delivering the highest incrementality, driving new customers at an efficient cost.
• Google Brand Search, despite excellent platform metrics, showed minimal incrementality, suggesting it was capturing demand generated elsewhere.
• CTV showed modest immediate returns but significant long-term effects when measured over a 90-day window.

Based on these insights, VitaBoost reallocated 30% of their budget, reducing spend on non-incremental channels and increasing investment in high-performing areas. This resulted in a 22% increase in new customer acquisition while maintaining the same overall marketing budget.

Plans are meant to evolve

Developing a comprehensive marketing measurement plan is not a one-time exercise but an ongoing process that evolves with your business and the broader landscape. The most effective approach centers on establishing causality through rigorous incrementality testing, then building upon that foundation with complementary methodologies.

By focusing on what truly matters — the causal impact of marketing on business outcomes — marketers can move beyond the limitations of correlational analytics and platform-reported metrics. This unleashes more confident decision-making, more efficient budget allocation, and ultimately, stronger business results.

Marketing plan measurement FAQ

What is measurement in a marketing plan?

Measurement in a marketing plan is the process of evaluating the effectiveness and impact of marketing activities on business outcomes. It goes beyond simply tracking metrics and instead establishes causal relationships between marketing efforts and business results. Effective measurement distinguishes between correlation (when marketing activities and outcomes appear together) and causation (when marketing activities actually drive those outcomes), allowing marketers to understand which activities genuinely contribute to business growth.

What are the components of a measurement plan?

An effective measurement plan includes several key components:

1. Clear business objectives and KPIs
2. Incrementality testing framework to establish causality
3. Causality-driven marketing mix modeling
4. Comprehensive data sources (campaign spending, performance metrics, website analytics, CRM data)
5. Privacy-compliant measurement methodologies
6. Organizational alignment on measurement approach and KPIs
7. Standardized reporting connecting marketing activities to business outcomes

How do you write a measurement plan?

To write an effective measurement plan:

1. Start by establishing clear business objectives (revenue growth, customer acquisition, profitability, etc.)
2. Implement incrementality testing as your foundation for establishing causality
3. Develop a comprehensive framework that integrates multiple measurement methodologies
4. Ensure you have clean, consistent data from all relevant sources
5. Make your approach privacy-durable to withstand regulatory changes
6. Secure organizational alignment and executive sponsorship
7. Avoid common pitfalls like false precision and over-reliance on platform-reported metrics
8. Account for both short-term and long-term marketing effects
9. Create a process for translating measurement insights into actionable budget decisions

What are the 7 steps of a marketing plan?

The seven steps of a comprehensive marketing plan include:

1. Situation Analysis: Assess your current market position, including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
2. Target Audience Definition: Identify and develop detailed profiles of your ideal customers.
3. Goal Setting: Establish specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives.
4. Strategy Development: Create broad approaches to achieve your marketing goals.
5. Tactical Planning: Outline the specific actions, channels, and campaigns you'll implement.
6. Budget Allocation: Determine how to distribute your marketing resources across channels and initiatives.
7. Measurement Framework: Develop a system to track performance, establish causality, and optimize your marketing efforts based on results.