What is an MMT (Matched Market Test)?
Matched Market Tests measure a media experiment at the geographic level, which reveals a more complete picture
It is the most common and simple way to measure the incremental impact of media on a client’s business
There are two different types of MMTs: Growth & Holdout
Growth MMTs: Spend is increased in the test market(s). The ideal outcome is that results are lifted in the areas where spending was increased.
Holdout MMTs: Spend is decreased in the test market(s) - Ideal outcome is that results decline in the areas where spend was decreased.
Company-Wide MMT Resources:
Meta Growth MMTs
Running a Growth MMT
The first step is making sure your client is aligned with running a Growth MMT - this is the AM’s responsibility, but the opportunity should be flagged by the paid social lead if the client brings up wanting to understand the impact of paid social for their business.
Additionally, you need to confirm what the goal of the growth MMT is- is it to test PDM Marketing as a whole, is it Meta as a whole, or is it tactic specific?
Once the client is onboard with running an MMT, the AM is responsible for working with the media planning/data science teams to get the test markets & recommended budget
The AM should share the budget with you to ensure it is enough to run the Growth MMT - if they don’t reach out with the budget, make sure you ask them for a review
Once the budget and test markets are finalized, begin to set up the structure for the Growth MMT within Meta.
Growth MMT Structure
If the goal of the MMT is to prove the full impact of PDM Marketing or Paid Social, then you will adjust your location targeting to INCLUDE ONLY THE TEST MARKETS within all live & new ad sets for the duration of the test. (if your goal is to test only a specific Meta tactic, not the whole account, please proceed to the end of this section to see separate set-up instructions)
Test Markets should be DMA Regions, NOT CITIES! If a DMA Region does not appear as an option, please visit this article to see the Meta DMA targeting options.
We know it’s possible that changing your targeting on live ad sets will reset the learnings, but we’ve found the test outcome to prove more positive when the existing campaigns targeting is adjusted, rather than starting a new one from scratch, but feel free to use your best judgment for each individual account. (if you create new ad sets with the limited targeting, please pause all other live ad sets that do not include the MMT targeting.
Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns:
Unfortunately, specific geo-targeting is NOT currently an option on all ASC+ campaigns (Beta is rolling out as of 5/1 to select accounts).. Please create a mock campaign to check for ability to use this feature. If it is not yet an option for your account, please check with your Meta rep or Alex Smith to submit your account for use of this feature. This means that you will need to pause your ASC campaign entirely for the duration of your test and create a standard conversion campaign with the limited geo’s as targeting in its place.
If your account is heavily reliant on ASC as its main performance driver, please alert your AD/AM, measurement team coordinator, and the client that results may not prove themselves out as expected due to the inability to test an MMT with ASC.
Lastly, adjust budgets accordingly to the plan provided by your AD/AM & Measurement Team Coordinator. A reminder that this is a GROWTH test, so your spending should be increasing in the given targets, and ideally results. After a few days, please break out your account by region to ensure this is the case.
Budget Adjustments During The Test; You may optimize campaign/ad set budgets during the duration of the test, but ensure that you are not veering from the set budget plan for your account (even if results are not efficient).
START HERE if your goal is to test a tactic within Meta
If the goal of the MMT is to prove the growth impact of a specific Meta tactic (i.e. Reach & Frequency Campaign, DABA/DPA, etc.), then you will adjust your location targeting on the specific campaign/ad set holding the test initiative to hit ONLY THE TEST MARKETS in your targeting.
Test Markets should be DMA Regions, NOT CITIES! If a DMA Region does not appear as an option, please visit this article to see the Meta DMA targeting options.
Advantage+ Shopping: this tactic cannot currently be tested in an MMT format due to the inability to target by specific geos.
Create your new campaign/ad set for the chosen initiative. Adjust the targeting to include only the chosen DMA locations. Adjust the budget according to the plan. Set live on the specified test date.
Once the test is over, if this tactic has proven successful, adjust your targeting to standard geos used across the other campaigns.
Meta HOLDOUT MMTs
Running a HOLDOUT MMT: You’re in luck! The steps for this test are the exact same as the Growth MMT, except your goal is slightly different - you’re looking for a drop-off in performance in the chosen test areas, rather than an improvement.
Structure: You will EXCLUDE the chosen markets from all live ad sets if the test is for a full account or the chosen campaign if the test is for a tactic only.
Adjust budgets according to the plan provided by your AD/AM or Measurement
Examples Of How To Present The Test Outcomes To Clients + Next Steps: