Incrementality
Incrementality
Incrementality is the additional outcome caused by an activity compared with what would have happened without it. The comparison is counterfactual, so it needs an appropriate method.
How it works.
A carefully designed experiment can compare exposed and control conditions to estimate the effect of an intervention. Its usefulness depends on design, sample, contamination and the assumptions behind the comparison.
What to watch for.
An attributed conversion is not automatically incremental. Nor does a before-and-after change alone isolate the effect of marketing when other factors changed at the same time. Avoid using causal language beyond the evidence.
Put the definition to work.
Start with the decision and the feasible test design. Incrementality analysis can provide a different kind of evidence from routine platform reporting, but it is not created simply by renaming a dashboard metric.