Performance marketing sounds great in theory. “Just optimize your campaigns for measurable outcomes like leads or purchases.”
The problem? Incrementality.
Incrementality is about understanding whether ads are really driving new sales or just capturing sales that would have happened anyway.
We can track if someone purchases after clicking on an ad. But we can’t say if the ad is the actual reason behind a purchase (causation), or if it’s just a coincidence (correlation).
This is why performance marketing can produce pretty numbers while generating little-to-no real growth. Real growth is incremental, which is both difficult to achieve and measure.
It requires judgment, analysis, experimentation, and risk-taking. It also requires long-term thinking, with consistent investments in brand and awareness.
Growth marketing is not easy, but it’s the best way to drive real business outcomes. And that’s why we do it.
