Incrementality in B2B Marketing

Incrementality definition

Incrementality is a term used in marketing and advertising to refer to the additional or incremental effect of a specific campaign or advertising effort on sales or other desired outcomes. For example, if a company is running two advertising campaigns at the same time, and one campaign results in a 10% increase in sales while the other campaign results in a 5% increase in sales, the 10% increase would be considered the incrementality of the first campaign. Incrementality is used to measure the effectiveness of a specific campaign or advertising effort, and to compare the relative effectiveness of different campaigns or efforts.

Why Incrementality isn’t practical for most B2B marketing budgets

While incrementality can be powerful in certain B2C scenarios, it’s generally inaccessible and inefficient for B2B marketers without massive ad spend, which limits its relevance for most B2B companies.

The concept of incrementality has gained traction as a way to measure the true impact of a campaign, but few B2B companies can afford to apply it effectively. The reality is that incrementality measurements are typically useful for companies spending over $1 million a month on campaigns. That kind of budget allows for proper A/B testing, control groups, and the complexity required to see significant incremental effects. For most B2B marketers, incrementality measurement falls outside feasible budgets and resources.

Alternatives to Incrementality for B2B Marketers

B2B marketers with smaller budgets (think sub-$1 million monthly ad spend) often benefit more from methods designed to maximize insights from limited data. Rather than focusing on incrementality, most B2B marketers find value in understanding how campaigns perform over the full customer journey and aligning marketing and sales efforts. Using revenue attribution models and tracking each stage of the journey reveals where to allocate spend and what tactics resonate with specific customer segments.

Why Incrementality can be cost-prohibitive

Even if a B2B company could theoretically measure incrementality, the costs are often too high to justify the practice. Incrementality requires rigorous A/B testing with significant statistical control, often with dedicated teams and specialized software for ongoing tracking. Such processes are cost-effective only at large scales and would likely drain the budget of an average B2B marketing team. Thus, incrementality might end up a costly diversion rather than a productive measurement tool.

When does Incrementality make sense?

There are some cases where incrementality testing could be relevant—such as if your B2B company operates at the scale of a large B2C business. But for most B2B marketers, focusing on revenue attribution and granular insights from the customer journey will provide a clearer path to optimizing campaign impact.

How do you measure incrementality?

There are several ways to measure incrementality, depending on the specific goals of a marketing or advertising campaign. Here are a few common methods:

  1. Sales lift: This method involves comparing the sales of a product or service before and after a marketing or advertising campaign to determine the incremental effect of the campaign on sales. For example, if a company runs a marketing campaign for a new product and sees a 10% increase in sales after the campaign, the campaign would be considered to have a 10% sales lift.

  2. Conversion rate: This method involves comparing the number of people who take a desired action (such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter) before and after a marketing or advertising campaign to determine the incremental effect of the campaign on the desired action. For example, if a company runs an advertising campaign to promote a new product and sees a 5% increase in the number of people who make a purchase after the campaign, the campaign would be considered to have a 5% increase in conversion rate.

  3. Return on investment (ROI): This method involves comparing the cost of a marketing or advertising campaign to the incremental revenue or profit generated by the campaign to determine the overall effectiveness of the campaign. For example, if a company spends $1000 on an advertising campaign and sees an increase in sales of $2000 as a result of the campaign, the campaign would have an ROI of 100% ($2000 in increased sales / $1000 in advertising costs = 100%).

  4. Customer lifetime value (CLV): This method involves estimating the total value of a customer over the course of their relationship with a company, and comparing the CLV of customers acquired before and after a marketing or advertising campaign to determine the incremental effect of the campaign on customer value. For example, if a company runs a marketing campaign for a new product and sees an increase in the average CLV of customers who make a purchase after the campaign, the campaign would be considered to have increased the CLV of those customers.

Ultimately, the specific method used to measure incrementality will depend on the goals and objectives of a particular marketing or advertising campaign.

The role of Attribution in understanding campaign impact

An alternative to incrementality is to focus on attribution because it’s scalable, affordable, and actionable for B2B marketers. Attribution modeling tracks how each campaign influences the buyer’s journey and ultimately drives revenue, rather than isolating one campaign’s impact in a vacuum. This holistic view makes it easier to identify what’s working, what isn’t, and where budget adjustments will yield the highest ROI.

Focus on what drives impact

For most B2B companies, the cost and complexity of incrementality testing outweigh the potential benefits. By concentrating on revenue attribution, you’ll gain practical insights into which channels, messages, and tactics are moving the needle for your business. This approach is not only more budget-friendly but also provides actionable data that aligns marketing closely with revenue outcomes.