Meridian by Google: A new platform to Unlock Marketing Insights with Marketing Mix Modelling
Marketers face a complex challenge: measuring the true impact of marketing efforts across an ever-growing number of channels. Fragmented media consumption and privacy regulations make it difficult to track how each marketing dollar contributes to sales.This, in combination with deprecation of third-party cookies [Read our other article on this topic here], made Google realise it is time for a new solution. It recently announced the launch of a new product: ‘Meridian’.
Meridian is an open-source model built by Google that provides innovative solutions to key measurement challenges. It is built to enable privacy-durable, advanced measurement while meeting marketers where they are.
After reading this article, you will understand how Meridian is built to help you resolve one of the main challenges of marketing; measuring the impact of your marketing efforts. And, how you can get the chance to be one of the first to try it.
What does Marketing Mix Modelling do for my business?
Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) comes in to perform statistical analysis and helps to achieve the following:
- Identify incrementality: Isolate the true impact of your marketing campaigns from external factors that might influence sales.
- Measure marketing effectiveness: Quantify the contribution of each marketing channel to your bottom line.
- Measure ROI (Return on Investment): Understand how much revenue each marketing dollar generates.
- Forecast future performance: Predict the impact of different marketing investments on future sales.
Announcing Meridian: An Open-Source Marketing Mix Model
1. Making Video Measurement more actionable by including reach and frequency
What does that mean? Up’s intake:
Two metrics are included into the measurement of the performance of video campaigns. These include:
- Reach: This refers to the total number of unique viewers who see your video ad at least once. Including reach in your measurement helps you understand how many people you’re getting in front of with your video campaign.
- Frequency: This refers to the average number of times a unique viewer sees your video ad.
Including these metrics in measurement of the performance of your video campaigns helps you move beyond basic metrics like views or clicks and allows you to tailor your video campaigns for maximum impact.
2. Make lower funnel measurement more accurate
By this, Google means to include search query data into the mix of lower funnel measurement.
We will explain this a little further, as this is still not so self-explanatory.
Lower funnel measurement in marketing refers to tracking how potential customers behave in the final stages of the buying journey, right before conversion (purchase, sign-up, etc.). This might involve metrics like adding items to cart, initiating checkout, or finally making a purchase.
By including search query data, the accuracy of these lower funnel measurements can be improved. It helps you understand not just the “what” (adding to cart, initiating checkout) but also the “why” behind those actions.
3. Calibrate MMMs with experiments, across channels by integrating incrementality experiments
It’s totally normal if this does not ring a bell with you immediately. Incrementality experiments are an advanced way to measure the true impact of a marketing channel. They involve splitting your audience into two groups: a test group that sees the marketing channel in question, and a control group that doesn’t.
By using the results of incrementality experiments to adjust the coefficients assigned to different marketing channels within the MMM, and by feeding the data from incrementality experiments into the MMM, Google aims to improve the model consistently, helping it to learn and evolve over time.
According to Google, Meridian is designed to be innovative, transparent, actionable and educational. It is positioned as a significant step forward. Whether they will make their promises true still has to be proven.
Is this the future of measurement, or could it be another product launched just a little too early? (hinting to Google Analytics 4, for which we have created some helpful resources! – see here)
How can I sign up?
It’s still in early stages.
Meridian is currently in limited availability, with plans to open access to all marketers and data scientists soon. You can sign up to be one of the first to try it out – get early access here. After submitting the form, you can be invited to join in one of the two waves – March 2024 and May 2024. If you are selected, Google will send you an email with instructions and resources. Well worth the try!
UP Analytics has vast experience with Marketing Mix Modelling. If you want to know how we can help you, feel free to reach out to us. We are happy to discuss how we can help measure the impact of your marketing efforts, among all other Google-related services. Reach out if you want some help here.
Blog by Tika Spijkerman, Analyst at UP Analytics
