Why marketers are embracing waste as a part of experimentation

"Every marketing budget should have waste in it. If there's zero waste, the company isn't trying anything new - not experimenting with new channels, formats, measurement, tech or audiences. The team isn't creating the conditions where something new and valuable can emerge. The kind of growth that only shows up once outside of comfort zones, where things feel unfamiliar, risky, even a little scary."

"But with the right measurement and decision frameworks, early inefficiencies often point the way to growth. Cloud-based tech company AppFolio is a perfect example of this. When its marketing platform held the company back, it dared to try something new. Tinuiti helped the company experiment by pitting a new programmatic solution against AppFolio's existing tech. This calculated waste unlocked unprecedented flexibility and drove a 3x increase in click-through rate."

Planned marketing waste funds experiments that test new channels, formats, measurement, technology and audiences to discover growth outside comfort zones. Leaders require clear test parameters: duration, acceptable loss, and decision rules tied to measurement and transparency. Early results will often be inefficient, but structured measurement and decision frameworks convert those inefficiencies into signals for scaling. Calculated experiments can unlock flexibility and significant performance gains, as when Tinuiti tested a programmatic solution against AppFolio's existing tech and achieved a threefold increase in click-through rate. Distinguishing smart, bounded experimentation from aimless spending prevents media dollars from leaking away.

Read at Digiday