More Than Data

5 Real Reasons Marketers Avoid Marketing Mix Modeling - Why They're Wrong

More Than Data
Apr 09, 2025By More Than Data

Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM) has been around for decades. It’s the OG of marketing measurement—older than Facebook, older than Google Ads, older than that one Excel formula you keep forgetting.

Yet, despite its proven ability to answer critical questions like "Is my TV ad actually working?" or "Why am I spending so much on LinkedIn ads that only my ex-colleagues see?", many marketers still treat MMM like a mysterious black box.

So why aren’t strategists, media planners, account managers, and brand managers using MMM more? Let’s break it down—with a side of brutal honesty and a dash of humor.

Reason 1: “We Don’t Have the Data… Or Do We?”

The Problem:

Many marketers believe they need perfect data to run MMM. Newsflash: No one has perfect data.

  • Media Planners: "Our agency reports are a mess—some are in PDFs, some in Excel, and some are just scribbled on a napkin from last year’s media lunch."
  • Brand Managers: "We don’t track in-store sales properly, so MMM won’t work for us."
  • Media Investment Managers: "Half our digital spend is dark social—how do we even measure that?"

The Reality:

MMM doesn’t need perfect data—it just needs enough data. More Than Data has worked with:

  • Brands that thought their data was unusable (spoiler: it wasn’t).
  • Companies still using spreadsheets from 2015 (yes, really).
  • Teams who didn’t even know where their media spend reports were stored (we found them).

Lesson: 

If you’re waiting for "perfect" data, you’ll be waiting forever. Start messy, refine later.

Reason 2: “MMM Sounds Complicated… Like, ‘Call-IT-Support’ Complicated”

The Problem:

Somewhere along the way, MMM got a reputation for being:

  • Too technical (What’s a Bayesian model? Is that like a Star Wars thing?)
  • Too slow (We need answers now, not in six weeks!)
  • Too academic (If I see one more regression analysis, I’m switching careers.)

The Reality:

Modern MMM isn’t your grandpa’s econometrics project. At More Than Data, we:

  • Explain results in plain English (No jargon, just "This is what’s working, this is what’s not.")
  • Deliver insights fast (Weekly updates, not quarterly post-mortems.)
  • Make it visual (Dashboards > 100-page PDFs.)

Lesson: 

If your MMM provider makes you feel like you’re back in stats class, fire them.

Reason 3: “But Last Time We Did MMM, Nothing Changed!”

The Problem:

Some marketers have tried MMM before… and then promptly ignored the findings.

  • Account Managers: "The model said to cut radio spend, but the client loves radio!"
  • Marketing Managers: "The report said influencers don’t work, but our CEO’s daughter is an influencer!"
  • Strategists: "The data says we should shift budget, but we’ve always done it this way!"

The Reality:

MMM isn’t a magic wand—it’s a flashlight. It shows you where the money’s working (and where it’s disappearing into a black hole). But if you don’t act on it, nothing changes.

Lesson: 

MMM only works if you actually use it. Shocking, we know.

Reason 4: “We’re Too Busy Fighting Fires to Think Long-Term”

The Problem:

Most marketers are stuck in:

  • Last-minute campaign tweaks ("The creatives aren’t performing—panic!")
  • Endless meetings ("Let’s discuss the meeting about the meeting.")
  • ROI justification ("The CFO wants to know why we spent $500K on TikTok.")

Who has time for strategic measurement when you’re putting out daily fires?

The Reality:

MMM actually saves you time. Instead of guessing:

  • You’ll know exactly which channels drive sales.
  • You’ll stop wasting money on underperforming tactics.
  • You’ll have data to shut down pointless budget debates.

Lesson: 

You’re not too busy for MMM—you’re too busy NOT using it.

Reason 5: “We’re Addicted to Last-Click Attribution - Help Us!”

The Problem:

Many marketers are hooked on:

  • Digital attribution ("Look, this Google Ad led to a sale!")
  • Vanity metrics ("Our Instagram post got 10K likes!")
  • Short-term thinking ("Sales dipped this week—ABORT THE STRATEGY!")

The Reality:

Last-click attribution is like judging a movie by its last scene. MMM looks at the whole story, including:

  • How TV builds brand awareness that later converts via search.
  • Why radio drives in-store purchases that never get tracked online.
  • When social media buzz leads to sales three months later.

Lesson: 

If you’re only measuring what happens right before a sale, you’re missing 90% of the picture.

The Bottom Line: Stop Making Excuses, Start Using MMM

For Media Planners:

Stop guessing which channels work best. Use MMM to allocate budgets with confidence.

For Brand Managers:

Stop relying on gut feel. Use MMM to prove your campaigns actually drive brand awareness.

For Marketing Managers:

Stop wasting time on pointless debates. Use MMM to shut down budget arguments with data.

For Everyone Else:

Stop pretending you don’t need MMM. You do.

What’s Your Excuse?

✅ "Our data is messy." → We’ve seen worse.

✅ "It’s too complicated." → Not the way we do it.

✅ "We tried it once and nothing changed." → Then you did it wrong.

✅ "We don’t have time." → You don’t have time NOT to.

Final Thought

The brands winning right now aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets—they’re the ones using MMM to spend smarter.

So… when are you starting?

Key Takeaways - For Those Who Skipped to the End

  • No one has perfect data. Start with what you’ve got.
  • MMM shouldn’t feel like a math exam. If it does, get a better provider.
  • Insights are useless if you ignore them. Actually use the findings.
  • Last-click attribution is lying to you. MMM tells the full story.
  • The best time to start MMM was last year. The second-best time is now.

Ready to stop guessing and start measuring? Let’s talk.