In today’s high-stakes performance marketing landscape, most brands are still flying blind.
With attribution models in disarray and cookie-based tracking becoming obsolete, marketers are scrambling for answers. ROAS, CPA, last-touch—these familiar metrics often paint a distorted picture of success. For Ridestore, the team behind cult-loved ski and snowboard brands Montec and Dope, this confusion was slowing down decision-making and creating waste.
The answer? A smarter, structured approach—powered by Incrementality Testing.
In a recent webinar hosted by Dema, Ridestore’s CMO Dan and Vervaunt’s growth director Declan broke down their approach to data.
Why Traditional Attribution Wasn’t Enough
Dan from Ridestore described attribution as a “minefield.” With conflicting data from media mix modelling (MMM), multi-touch attribution (MTA), and various platform dashboards, there was no single source of truth. Metrics like 7-day clicks, last-touch conversions, or platform-reported ROAS created more questions than answers.
Even triangulating between these sources left Ridestore’s team feeling reactive rather than confident. Core KPIs like CPA and ROAS appeared strong—but didn’t reflect actual profitability, especially for new customer acquisition.
For high-volume, DTC-focused brands, this created a real business risk.
Setting the Right Goals Before Testing
Before diving into experimentation, the Ridestore team took a step back and asked: What truly matters to the business?
Their answer was clear—profitability on first-time orders, without sacrificing product quality or raising prices. This goal helped them replace top-line ROAS with a new performance indicator: EPOAS – Expected Profit on Ad Spend, with a focus on New Customer EPOAS.
By aligning marketing KPIs more closely with finance, they created a more scalable and sustainable measurement framework—and laid the groundwork for adopting incrementality testing tools that could support this shift.
The Journey Into Incrementality Testing Software
Ridestore didn’t take the easy path. Over 12 months, the team committed to a rigorous program of incrementality testing across channels and markets.
They started with lift studies on Meta and Google, but quickly ran into platform limitations. Technical bugs, lack of control over test setup, and poor support for geo-testing made it clear: they needed independent incrementality testing software—purpose-built for experimentation, with clean data flows and actionable outputs.
Despite initial friction, the tests revealed powerful insights:
- Where spend was genuinely incremental
- Where budget was wasted on users who would have converted anyway
- The lagging effects of media spend in seasonal markets
It became obvious: software for incrementality testing wasn’t just useful—it was essential for making efficient, high-impact decisions.
Seasonality: A Real-Time Test Case
Ridestore’s products are tightly linked to snow season, with a narrow sales window from September through April. Initially, the team assumed front-loading spend in September would build long-term momentum.
But when they put this hypothesis to the test, the results surprised them.
Incrementality tests showed that early-season campaigns delivered minimal lift—even when considered over a longer buying cycle. Instead, spend during peak months (when consumer intent was highest) delivered stronger incremental gains.
With support from their incrementality software, the team restructured budget allocations—cutting early-season spend by 20–30% in some regions and reinvesting in peak moments.
It was a practical example of how data-informed experimentation trumps instinct.
Always-On Testing vs. One-Off Campaigns
One of the biggest lessons? Incrementality testing isn’t a one-time event.
Consumer behaviour shifts. Platform performance changes. Even identical strategies can yield different incremental lift across markets.
Ridestore and Vervaunt adopted an always-on incrementality testing strategy, powered by software that could automate experimentation and quickly feed learnings into the decision-making loop.
One-off tests provide helpful snapshots. But incrementality software enables ongoing measurement, keeping teams agile and budgets sharp.
How It Transformed Decision-Making
Incrementality testing has reshaped Ridestore’s marketing strategy from the ground up:
- Budgeting moved from guesswork to precision. Spend is now directed toward genuinely impactful channels and markets.
- Channel performance is assessed by contribution, not correlation. If a campaign looks good in GA4 but fails to show incremental lift, it's deprioritised.
- Marketing and finance are now aligned on outcomes. With EPOAS and incrementality results feeding into forecasting models, there's a unified view of what’s driving profitable growth.
As Dan put it, “We're no longer just data-driven—we're data-informed.”
Vervaunt’s View: Testing for Scale
Declan from Vervaunt echoed this sentiment. Across major clients like Paul Smith, Osprey, and APC, the agency runs structured lift experiments—starting with turning off brand search, analysing the organic uplift, and reallocating budget based on results.
For brands earlier in their journey, Vervaunt recommends:
- Start with small-scale lift tests on Meta and Google
- Use granular campaign segmentation to isolate funnel stages
- Invest in incrementality testing software when you’re ready to scale
As Declan shared, “You might take a hit short-term. But that’s the cost of finding out what really drives performance—and what doesn’t.”
The Future Is Incremental
As privacy pressures rise and platform data becomes less reliable, incrementality testing is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. And for brands serious about growth, software for incrementality testing is the most scalable way to do it.
Whether you’re a seasonal DTC brand like Ridestore or a multi-channel powerhouse supported by Vervaunt, the message is clear:
Stop asking “Is it working?” Start asking “Is it moving the needle?”
And let the software show you the difference. Request a demo or reach out to our team to explore how we support your growth.