Using Geo-Testing to Drive Business Growth

This article explores how Geo-testing can transform your marketing campaigns.

What do great companies do differently? A range of things.

One shared commonality between the most successful companies of the last decades has been their ability to use the scientific method to test and gain early feedback on tactics and strategies before making key business decisions. 

From Bell Labs to Toyota to Google to Apple – each of these great companies have embraced the scientific method as part of lean and agile methodologies to test a range of facets across marketing, product development and store design before investing and implementing on a wider scale. To quote the management expert Jim Collins “Great companies fire bullets and then calibrate before firing cannonballs”.

What is Geo Testing?

At core, Geo Testing involves comparing the performance of a marketing tactic – such as a new marketing channel or price change – in one region with the response in another region without the same activity. 

This powerful technique is a rapid and effective way to gain data-driven assurance about the impact of a tactic and enables our clients to fine tune or adapt before increasing marketing investment or making any changes. 

At IMS we use a powerful market match algorithm to construct our Geo Tests with the highest confidence. Our marketing leading algorithm has the power to test the variance of KPIs across thousands of micro regions to ensure we custom build the Geo Test in the most effective way to eliminate bias and produce independent and powerful insight for our clients.  

What can Geo Testing be used for?

Geo Testing enables marketers to test any facet of marketing including messaging, channels, pricing, and products to gain rapid feedback and confidence before fine tuning and implementing any change at scale. 

IMS have used Geo testing to help our clients answer an array of key marketing and business challenges including:

• Will a specific marketing channel work for our business?
• What is the ROI of a marketing channel such as OOH or BVOD?
• How will a new channel or marketing platform work for us? 
• What is the true impact of Brand PPC?
• How does sponsorship investment impact our business? 
• Which creative has the biggest impact on our KPI?  
• What is the impact of a price change on sales? 
• How does store design impact average basket value? 

What impact can Geo Testing have on a business?

Geo Testing has enabled a range of leading IMS clients to optimise their marketing channels, reduce marketing investment risks, improve marketing ROI, optimise pricing, and make critical decisions around retail distribution and store design. In each of these cases Geo Testing has empowered our clients to make better decisions, mitigate risk, reduce costs and drive business growth.  Geo Testing is a core part of the IMS Build – Measure – Learn Model. Our market leading analytics framework harnesses cutting edge analytics, people creativity, and expert business acumen to help our clients gain rapid feedback, make data-led decisions, optimise their marketing and drive business growth.

Contact our experts to transform your marketing strategy with IMS Geo Testing

I bring expertise in data analytics with a background in design engineering, venture capital, and data science. I enjoy presenting my work to clients and engaging with industry peers at conferences. My multi-disciplinary background and passion for data analytics provide unique insights into the latest trends and developments in data analytics.