Marketing Attribution Mistake #5: Failing to Adjust for the COVID-19 Pandemic

07/27/2020

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If you’ve continued to follow along with OptiMine’s blog series about the top marketing attribution mistakes, you’ll know we have made it to Attribution Mistake #5: Failing to Adjust for the COVID-19 Pandemic.

 

First things first, it is important to note that with this particular attribution mistake, we are setting aside the real, tragic impacts of the virus (which we aren’t trying to minimize in any way), and focusing on how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed all the rules—especially from a marketing measurement point of view. Consider:

 

     1. Consumer behavior has tilted towards e-commerce & mobile

 

     2. Media consumption has changed radically

 

     3. Business performance, margins, & ROI won’t be the same

 

 

Which begs the question: why would you use pre-pandemic methods to measure performance now when so much has changed? The major mistake here is to assume that what worked from a marketing measurement perspective in the past still applies in today’s world, because unfortunately, things are different.

 

Plus, if you are using a traditional media mix model (MMM) to measure your marketing performance, the pandemic creates an even larger issue—MMM models require 1-3 years of historical data, and due to the extreme effects of the pandemic, the models will no longer accurately measure current performance because that history is not relevant to today’s behaviors. Only OptiMine uses detailed daily level models that can be adjusted for the pandemic time period to provide an accurate, timely read on the latest behaviors and performance.

 

 

 

 

Although we have finished revealing each of the top 5 attribution mistakes, it is just as important to understand the big picture of how to successfully measure marketing performance in today’s world. Make sure you download the full guide now: https://uscampaign.optimine.com/july-2020-marketing-attribution-mistakes-blog5