Incrementality-Based Measurement
Incrementality-based measurement is the gold standard of marketing analytics. It credits marketing only for the *lift* it generates above the baseline. Unlike attribution, it accounts for seasonality, brand equity, and organic demand, ensuring that you only pay for net-new revenue.
The Short Version
Paying for growth, not just activity.
Visual Explanation
Why ROAS Lies
ROAS is lying to you. Not because the math is wrong. Because the question is.
Prerequisites
The Profitability Illusion
Your agency reports $5M in revenue contribution. Your CFO sees flat growth year-over-year.
This gap exists because you are measuring activity (Attribution), not Incrementality. You are paying for sales that were happening anyway.
How it works
Establish a Baseline (Counterfactual)
Measure Actual Revenue
Incrementality = Actual - Baseline
Common Misconceptions
Thinking you need to run 'blackout tests' constantly (Modern methods like SpendSignal use modeling)
Applying a flat 'incrementality multiplier' across all channels (It varies dynamically)
Confusing it with 'Brand Lift' surveys
Frequently Asked Questions
QIs this harder to set up?
Traditionally, yes. But SpendSignal automates the modeling so you get incrementality metrics out of the box without data science teams.
QDo big companies use this?
Yes. Uber, eBay, and Netflix famously turned off millions in ad spend after discovering their attribution models were over-crediting by 1000%+. They moved to incrementality.