At Empower, we run a lot of models across clients, categories, and verticals. With that extensive model catalog, we’re able to determine key performance drivers that apply broadly across clients and categories.
One of the key drivers that we’ve identified through our research is continuity, or continuous media execution.
Overall, we see a 5.4% increase in media performance at equal spend with a continuous media flight when compared to a pulsed flight. That equates to free performance from simply shifting execution strategy.
Additionally, continuity outperforms pulsed execution for 80% of the models tested and offers equal performance for the remaining 20%. This is true across national and local models and regardless of spend or marketing contribution level. So as a general strategy, we never observed a downside to shifting to a continuous strategy.
Higher investment levels in traditional media channels result in even stronger results from a continuous media strategy. Clients with high levels of investment in traditional media see as high as 14% incremental lift from a continuity strategy.
In addition to the performance uplift, continuity can have secondary benefits compared to heavy, pulsed execution. Continuity is generally more efficient at maximizing reach and keeping frequency in check. Heavy, pulsed campaigns often incur additional costs as they often target expensive seasonal periods and tie up significant inventory.
