Lift testing is a foundational methodology for marketers seeking to prove the true impact of their media investments. This article provides a comprehensive overview of how lift testing works, how WorkMagic supports it, and how you can successfully run and interpret lift tests using our platform.
1. Introduction to Lift Testing
What is a Lift Test?
A lift test is a controlled experiment that measures the incremental impact of your advertising. It works by comparing a Test group (exposed to ads) to a Control group (not exposed) and quantifying the difference in outcomes (e.g., orders, sales, new customers).
Why Lift Tests Matter in Marketing Analytics
Lift tests answer the question:
“What would have happened if we hadn’t run this channel/campaign?”
Unlike attribution models, lift tests isolate the causal effect of your advertising, helping you make smarter investment decisions based on actual performance rather than correlations.
Use Cases for Lift Testing
Lift testing is a powerful framework for answering a range of strategic marketing questions. Below are common use cases that WorkMagic can help you address:
Incrementality Determine whether your media spend is truly driving additional conversions that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise.
Halo Effect Measure the broader impact of a campaign across other sales channels apart from DTC—for example, how a TikTok campaign influences Amazon and offline store sales.
New Channel Launch Evaluate the effectiveness of introducing a new advertising platform to your media mix and its contribution to overall lift.
Media Mix Optimization Quantify the combined incrementality of channel mix, compare the incrementality of a channel mix or standalone channels (e.g. Google Pmax VS Meta + Google Pmax as a channel mix)
Optimal Spend Level (Coming soon) Identify the point at which additional spend begins to yield diminishing returns, helping you allocate budget more efficiently.
Promotions (Coming soon) Understand whether a promotion (e.g., limited-time offer, discount) is driving incremental lift or simply shifting existing demand.
2. How WorkMagic Supports Lift Testing
Overview of WorkMagic’s Lift Test Capabilities
WorkMagic is a managed experimentation platform that handles:
Test design and statistical modeling
Geo/audience segmentation / selection
Automatic Geo holdout implementation
Real-time monitoring
Final result analysis
Integration with Ad Platforms
WorkMagic supports automatic holdout setup and teardown via API for:
Meta Ads
Google Ads
TikTok Ads
Snapchat Ads ( Coming Soon)
For non-integrated platforms (e.g. AppLovin, MNTN, etc), we provide step-by-step instructions and DMA files to guide your team through manual setup.
Data Sources Used in Lift Testing
We ingest order and sales data at geo-level via:
Direct API integrations with ad platforms (e.g., Google Ads, Meta Ads, TikTok Ads)
First-party order data from your platform (e.g., Shopify)
Geo-level metrics for both Control and Test groups
3. How to Run a Lift Test on WorkMagic
Lift testing helps you evaluate the true effectiveness of your marketing efforts by measuring incrementality—the impact your ads had compared to a scenario where they were not shown. WorkMagic provides a step-by-step interface to configure and schedule a lift test.
Step 1 - Test Design
1. Choose the Test Type
You can run two types of lift tests on WorkMagic:
Test incrementality: Measure the additional value generated by your ads.
Launch new marketing channel: Evaluate the effect of introducing a new channel to your media mix.
2. Select the Primary Metric
Choose the key outcome you want to measure:
Orders
New customers
Sales (WIP)
3. Select Test Channels
Available platforms and their holdout capabilities include:
Platform | Holdout Type |
Meta Ads | Automatic / Manual Holdout |
Google Ads | Automatic / Manual Holdout |
TikTok Ads | Automatic / Manual Holdout |
Snapchat Ads | Manual Holdout Only |
MNTN | Manual Holdout Only |
AppLovin | Manual Holdout Only |
Other Platform | Manual Holdout Only |
For Google Ads, you also need to specify the ad type:
Search
Performance Max
Display
Video
Shopping
Demand Gen
You can run 2-cell or 3-cell test. In each test cell/group, you can holdout multiple ad platforms (no limitations on the number).
Learn More about: All you need to know about WorkMagic 3-cell lift test
Step 2 - Review Geo-Pairing Recommendations
WorkMagic will provide recommended Geo-Pairing combinations (Control vs. Test) to maximize statistical significance. You will see regional breakdowns including the share of total orders and sales, helping you select a balanced pairing.
Note: You may encounter a warning if your ad spend is insufficient to generate statistically significant results. In this case, you can proceed with warning, or contact WorkMagic team.
Step 3 - Configure Holdout Setup
You can apply the holdout in two ways:
Automatic setup on WorkMagic
Dynamically apply holdout to all campaigns (including newly-created campaigns) during the test period
Or manually select specific campaigns to include (newly-created campaigns won't be applied)
Manual setup on ad platform
Set up the holdout directly in your advertising platform if preferred.
Holdout API Limitations:
For Meta Ads:
WorkMagic will alert you if any ad creatives use deprecated sizes (e.g., 191x100), which may cause delivery issues during the holdout. You must correct these on Meta Ads before proceeding.
WorkMagic can't implement holdout to Advantage+ Shopping Campaign due to API limitation of Meta Ads.
For TikTok Ads:
WorkMagic can't implement holdout to Reach & Frequency Campaign due to API limitation of TikTok Ads.
Step 4 - Schedule the Test
Choose your start date and time, the testing and cooling period will be automatically selected.
Testing period (e.g., 21 days)
Cooling period (e.g., 7 days after testing ends)
Step 5 - Review and Schedule
Before launching, confirm all details:
Test name
Purpose and primary metric
Selected ad platforms and geo-pairs
Holdout setup method
Test dates and duration
Once reviewed, click Schedule now to launch your lift test.
If you need further assistance at any step, please contact your WorkMagic data scientist or use the “Contact WorkMagic data scientist” link available in the interface.