At Net Conversion, our approach is rooted in our MORE methodology, a commitment to relentlessly pursue better business outcomes for our partners. A critical pillar of this framework is being Experiment-Driven, helping us stay ahead of the constant flux of modern marketing. Today’s consumer engages across 6-8 touchpoints every day to inform purchase decisions, and media consumption habits shift every six months. Within this environment, continuous testing is critical to maintaining efficiency and profitable growth. However, "Experimentation" is a broad term, and too often, it's a check-the-box exercise lacking clear strategy and discipline. In reality, effective experimentation spans a wide spectrum. In our work, we champion a critical perspective: the distinction between "boring" and "bold" experimentation.

‍

"Boring" experimentation refers to the continuous micro-optimizations and ongoing adjustments geared towards driving incremental efficiency improvements within existing strategies. Conversely, "bold" experimentation encompasses larger-scale tests of entirely new channels, strategies, or audiences designed to unlock significant growth. This crucial distinction shapes how we approach innovation and investment.

‍

“Boring” is Essential for “Bold”

‍

Most marketers dream of running groundbreaking campaigns, but we've learned that the disciplined, often unglamorous work of "boring" experimentation is the prerequisite for earning the right to execute truly bold, high-impact initiatives.

‍

The goal of boring experimentation is to continuously optimize your existing, high-performing media channels. By squeezing out every ounce of efficiency, you free up budget and demonstrate a clear ROI that justifies greater investment in more ambitious projects. Think of it as refining your foundation before building a skyscraper.

‍

Mastering the Boring: Paving the Way for Bold Impact

‍

So, how do you earn your way to bold experimentation? Through consistent, data-driven optimization of your core marketing efforts. This involves:

• Relentless A/B Testing: Even minor tweaks to ad copy, visuals, calls to action, or landing page layouts can yield significant improvements over time.
• Bidding Strategy Refinements: Ensure you are using the most efficient bidding strategies for your goals. Experiment with different approaches like ROI bidding, target CPA, or maximizing conversion value to see what drives the best results.
• Channel Optimization: Continuously analyzing channel performance is essential for strategically re-allocating budget towards the highest-performing opportunities. With AI-driven campaigns like PMax, this extends to optimizing the entire conversion path. For instance, beyond just measuring media performance, we recently worked with a client to meticulously analyze their post-conversion data to ensure that campaign-reported conversions directly correlated with actual business impact.
• Consolidation and Efficiency: Consider consolidating search campaigns where budgets are constrained. We've seen significant declines in CPC and CPA by strategically consolidating campaigns to achieve greater efficiency.

‍

The key here is discipline. You must be extremely disciplined with boring tests, meticulously tracking every change, and analyzing the data to understand its impact.

‍

Knowing When to Go Bold

‍

If you've established strong analytics and measurement, you'll eventually see your existing, efficient campaigns hit a plateau. A strong indicator for shifting to bold experimentation is when your data clearly shows that further investment in your current workhorse media will no longer yield proportional returns. This is when it’s time to create new opportunities and “grow the pie” by testing new strategies.

‍

Bold experimentation is about strategic leaps to unlock new growth. It can take many forms:

• Pioneering New Performance Channels: Exploring emerging platforms or ad formats that haven't been fully tapped for direct response, like new CTV inventory types or interactive social ad units.
• Revolutionizing Creative Concepts: Launching completely fresh, high-impact creative campaigns that break category norms and aim for viral reach or significant shifts in perception.
• Rethinking Measurement Frameworks: Implementing advanced attribution models (e.g., incrementality testing across channels) to gain a deeper, more accurate understanding of true business impact.
• Targeting Untapped Audiences: Launching significant efforts to engage entirely new demographic, psychographic, or geographic segments not previously reached efficiently.
• Strategic Brand Awareness Initiatives: Investing in broad reach campaigns designed to build top-of-funnel demand and create future intent.

‍

The key here is that bold moves are strategic investments designed to generate incremental growth where your current efforts have peaked.

‍

Crafting Impactful, Bold Experiments

‍

Once you're ready to go bold, it's critical to put the time, resources, and investment toward these new strategies to maximize the opportunities for success and learning. Too often, testing new strategies falls short. This is usually due to a poor approach that fails to provide experiments with the foundational elements for success:

• Inadequate budget: Resources are spread too thin across too many initiatives.
• Insufficient time: Tests are pulled prematurely, not given enough runway to produce meaningful results.
• Lack of robust measurement: An inability to track accurately and truly understand impact.
• Absence of a clear strategy: The approach doesn't align with the specific channel or objective.

‍

For instance, launching a new social media platform campaign without dedicated content, a robust tracking plan, or defined objectives—simply because it's "new" or "exciting"—will likely yield inconclusive results and wasted resources. Such underfunded tests are typically pulled prematurely, making genuine learning or future scaling impossible.

‍

Conversely, a successful, bold experiment is thoughtfully funded, given ample time to mature, and clearly defined with specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives. The strategy here is deliberate: select one or two truly impactful, bold experiments and commit fully, allowing for deeper learning and more actionable insights.

‍

A common example of a bold experiment is when brands, seeing diminishing returns on bottom-of-funnel campaigns, need to create new demand through a brand awareness campaign. For this type of test to be successful, the campaign must have an adequate budget and a thoughtful strategy to reach a meaningful threshold of audience saturation. While it varies by industry and market, a common benchmark for a successful brand campaign is to get 10-20% of a target audience or market to start seeing a significant impact on awareness and, subsequently, intent.

‍

Boring & Bold Experimentation In Action: The Portillo’s Success Story

‍

Our philosophy, rooted in the strategic interplay of "boring" and "bold" experimentation, was a significant catalyst in propelling Portillo's to impressive growth. For two and a half years, consistent "boring" experimentation and micro-optimizations diligently yielded incremental monthly improvements, steadily building momentum and robust ROI. 

‍

This disciplined, incremental progress directly paved the way for larger, bolder investments. Between 2024 and 2025, our collaboration with Portillo's culminated in the launch of two impactful brand campaigns, each representing an investment over five times their initial monthly media spend. This wasn't a sudden leap; it was earned through dedicated, collaborative progress.

‍

The "Be Chicago" brand campaign perfectly illustrates this in action, designed to elevate Portillo's as the quintessential Chicago experience. A direct result of our meticulously optimized "boring" foundation, this bold experiment delivered exceptional results:

• It propelled 8% YoY growth in brand demand for Portillo's, even as overall QSR interest saw a decline.
• Illinois restaurants near the city center reported YoY sales increases of 7% and 8%.
• The Chicago market experienced a remarkable 41% YoY growth in new user acquisition.

‍

These impressive outcomes demonstrate how diligent, incremental progress ultimately earns the right to execute bold, highly impactful campaigns. You can explore the full "Be Chicago" success story in our detailed case study here.

‍

In conclusion, while the allure of bold marketing experiments is strong, true marketing prowess lies in understanding that boring experimentation is not merely a stepping stone, but the very foundation upon which bold, impactful initiatives are built. By diligently optimizing your workhorse media and consistently demonstrating incremental improvements, you earn the right to innovate, grow, and truly stand out in a crowded market. 

‍

The path is clear: continually optimize your workhorse media to secure efficiency gains—for instance, improving performance by 10%. Then, responsibly reinvest those efficiency gains into strategic bold initiatives. This approach allows you to scale your efforts effectively, transitioning from mere efficiency to genuine, transformative growth.

‍