What is a MMT (Matched Market Test)?
Matched Market Tests measure a media experiment at the geographic level, which reveal 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)
Holdout MMTs: Spend is decreased in the test market(s)
Programmatic 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
Since Growth MMTs are to prove out TOF/Awareness campaigns, you will not see last-click Conversions , Revenue or ROAS in analytics for channels such as (Connected TV, Streaming Audio, Podcasts & Digital Out Of Home as these channels are not typically “clickable”) - it is very important that the client is aware that they will not see much last-click attribution
In-platform KPIs will be set up and reported out using both click + view based attribution with a conversion window that has been determined based on the kind of business
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
Either budget or desired markets based on data science team groupings need to be established before forecasting, this will save one extra step of back and forth. If we have budgets, we can establish which market grouping(s) to choose and build a forecast from there. If client/AM/we feel strongly about certain markets but have not been provided a budget, we will use the forecasting process to determine this. If a client has both a budget and markets in mind, we will use the forecast to determine what is feasible
Programmatic lead must be included in the audience building process to ensure alignment with GWI build and DSP audience build for the most accurate comparison i.e. number of and + or statements.
Programmatic lead must then validate GWI pull against DSP forecasting, using main guardrails (i.e. audience, geos, device, inventory & frequency). Census data should also be checked in this process in order to align on most accurate TAM (Note: GWI typically under represents true amount, whereas DSP over calculates, and census should be viewed as upper bound/ceiling)
Validation process will be done based on media channel in the plan (TV vs Display vs. OLV etc.)
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 review
Validation to happen in DSP following the persona being identified + built out
Once the budget and test markets are finalized, build out the Growth MMT campaign
Growth MMT Campaign Build
Growth MMTs should run Awareness campaign type/TOF
Determine how many media channels are to be included + tested within the MMT. For Programmatic, the following channels can be tested:
Display, Native, Online Video, Connected TV, Streaming Audio/Podcast + Digital Out Of Home
Validate that there is enough MMT budget in [Programmatic] and confirm which media channel(s) the client is testing to ensure there is enough investment to support the # of media channels tested
If your MMT budget is sufficient enough to support more than one media channel, you must determine if we are testing the channels together or the efficacy of each channel in differing markets
Budget that is sufficient for this approach: Budget should be greater than or equal to +$100k over an 8-week test
When possible, Programmatic to also implement brand awareness measurement as a validation proof point prior to executing an MMT
MMTs are not recommended on brands new to programmatic. Recommend 2-3 month channel ramp up time to be fully optimized (in-platform)
Programmatic Holdout MMTs (Update)
Running a Holdout MMT
Make sure your client’s ad account is allowlisted for the Premium Audience feature when creating a Custom Audience - instructions on how to check below:
In the ads manager, navigate to Assets > Audiences
Once you’re in the Audiences section, click “Create Audience” > “Custom Audience”
Check that “Premium Audience” is an option when creating a Custom Audience
If the Premium Audience feature is not available in your client’s ad account, share the ad account ID with our reps (Justin and Ed) in the shared Slack channel and ask them to allowlist the account for the Premium Audience feature
Make sure your client is aligned with running a Holdout MMT - this is the AM’s responsibility
If you run a Holdout MMT in an Awareness campaign, you will not see Revenue or ROAS in-engine - it is very important that the client is aware that they will not see Revenue or ROAS in-engine
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 Holdout MMT - if they don’t reach out with the budget, make sure you ask them for review
Once the budget and test markets are finalized, build out the Holdout MMT campaign
Holdout MMT Campaign Build
Depending on budget, Holdout MMTs can run in an Awareness campaign OR Conversion campaign
If budget is less than ~$35k, run the Holdout MMT in an Awareness campaign
If budget is greater than ~$35k, you can run the Holdout MMT in either an Awareness campaign OR Conversion campaign
MMT daily budget would go entirely towards one ad group
This one ad group should target all DMAS except for the Holdout market(s) and include interest/behavior targeting that aligns with the brand’s audience demographic
For the ad group in your MMT campaign, you need to create a Custom Audience using the Premium Audience feature
In the ads manager, navigate to Assets > Audiences
Click “Create Audience” and then click “Custom Audience”
After clicking “Custom Audience”, select the “Premium Audience” feature
Create a Premium Audience where the identified Holdout DMAs are included - even though the Premium audience includes the Holdout DMAs, this audience will be excluded from the ad group