Ad tech glossary

Base vs. Incremental Sales

Technical definition

The distinction between sales that would occur without marketing support (base) and additional sales generated specifically by marketing activities (incremental).

The ADLINGO translation

Base sales are what happens without you. Incremental sales are what your marketing actually caused. The difference between the two is the number you should be defending in every budget conversation. Most performance reporting does not make this distinction clearly, which is how teams get credit for sales that were going to happen regardless.

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