With the new year in full swing, many marketing teams sit on unused budgets from the last fiscal year.

Rather than lose those funds or scramble to reallocate them, now’s the perfect time to run incrementality tests: show where your spend is working, and where it’s not, to inform optimizations for the months ahead.

What Is Incrementality Testing, and Why Should You Care?

Incrementality testing answers one simple question: “Did this campaign actually move the needle, or would we have gotten these results anyway?”

It’s like having a superpower that lets you separate cause from coincidence. Instead of relying on gut feelings or vague metrics, you’re armed with data that tells you what’s working and what’s wasting your budget.

And the best part? You can reinvest in high-performing strategies, like scaling your creative pipeline or experimenting with new channels. It’s budget Feng Shui: out with the clutter, in with the impact.

How Incrementality Testing Works—Without Making Your Head Spin

Let’s keep it simple. Here’s what an incrementality test looks like:

Think of it as a bake-off: you need one cake with your secret ingredient (test group) and one without (control group). The results tell you if your secret sauce is worth keeping.

Tests You Should Run Today

Now that you’re sold on the concept, let’s talk specifics. Here are three tests to help trim the fat from your marketing budget:

1. Geo Lift Testing

Take, for instance, an emerging apparel brand wanting to see if a new YouTube ad drives store traffic. They run the ads in Texas but hold them back in Florida, then compare the results. This is Geo Lift Testing 101—a perfect approach for brands with a geographic presence.

You get clear, clean results that show whether your ads are truly effective.

2. Conversion Lift Testing

For digital-first brands, conversion lift testing measures how many extra sales or sign-ups a campaign generates. You can do this by splitting your audience into test and control groups, showing ads only to the test group. This is a quick way to measure incremental sales without requiring a geographic setup. 

3. Media Mix Modeling (MMM)

Think of MMM as having a bird’s-eye view into your performance marketing efforts. Instead of zooming in on one campaign, MMM takes a step back to analyze how all your marketing channels work together. This can be done by aggregating your external sources into a centralized view.

This method highlights which channels are working well together and which are coasting. This helps with long-term planning and budgeting.

What’s Next? Take Action and Win Back Your Budget

You don’t need to rebuild your entire marketing strategy overnight. Start with one test. Maybe it’s a geo lift test for your Facebook ads or a conversion lift test for your email campaigns. The insights will be worth it—not just in dollars saved but in smarter strategies.

Once you’ve done the cutting, reinvest those savings into scalable creative campaigns. Build a library of high-quality UGC or test a new channel (looking at you, TikTok – if you’re still around for the long run). Incrementality isn’t just about saving money; it’s about making every dollar count.

Real Talk: The Challenges (and How to Overcome Them)

Let’s be honest—incrementality testing isn’t all rainbows and ROAS. Here are some common hurdles and how to tackle them:

Final Thoughts (and Your Next Move)

Marketing isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing better. Incrementality testing gives you the tools to market smarter, not harder.

Ready to dive in but not sure where to start? We’ve got you. Contact us today, and we’ll help set up incrementality tests that free your budget and unlock your brand’s full potential.

Because your marketing budget deserves better than guesswork. And so do you.