Wicked Reports vs Northbeam: Measure → Signal → Action vs Black-Box Direction
Northbeam is built for enterprise brands using MMM and incrementality. Wicked Reports is built for ecommerce teams who need clear measurement, clean signals, and confident action — every week.
Attribution Only Matters If It Leads to Action
Most attribution tools stop at reporting. Wicked Reports is built as a decision system:
-2.svg)
Measure (Truth)
Capture what actually happened
-2.svg)
Signal (Training)
Send the right feedback to ad platforms
-2.svg)
Action (AI)
Confidently scale, pause, or kill spend
Northbeam focuses almost entirely on Measure — using MMM and incrementality to provide directional insight.
That distinction matters depending on the kind of decisions your team needs to make.
That distinction matters depending on the kind of decisions your team needs to make.
MEASURE:
What Data Are You Actually Looking At?
Northbeam
Enterprise Measurement
MMM and incrementality models-
Aggregated, probabilistic outputs
-
Designed for blended online + offline spend
-
Excellent for TV, retail, and macro planning
-
Directional by design
Northbeam estimates impact.
Wicked Reports
Ecommerce Measurement
First-party data only-
No cookies required
-
Tracking scripts load from your brand’s domain
-
Deterministic customer journeys
-
Infinite lookback windows
Wicked Reports measures customer creation.
SIGNAL:
Measurement Without Feedback Loops Breaks Optimization
MMM and incrementality models are read-only systems.
They explain what might be happening, but they don’t feed optimization engines in real time. Wicked Reports goes further.
By using clean, first-party measurement, Wicked Reports generates high-fidelity signals that can be used to:
Without signal integrity, platforms optimize toward noise.
ACTION:
Weekly Decisions vs Quarterly Direction
Northbeam’s outputs are excellent for:
Board-level conversations
Budget allocation across channels
Long-cycle planning
But ecommerce teams in the $5M–$50M range face a different reality:
Budgets move weekly
Creative fatigues quickly
Prospecting must be defended constantly
Decisions are irreversible once spend is deployed
Wicked Reports is built for operators, not committees. It answers:
What do we scale this week?
What do we pause now?
What’s quietly wasting money?
Northbeam Is Best For:
-
$150M+ annual revenue brands
-
Heavy TV, offline, or retail presence
-
Long planning cycles
-
Comfort with black-box outputs
-
Directional decision-making
Wicked Reports Is Built For:
-
$5M–$50M ecommerce brands
-
Meta, Google, lifecycle-driven growth
-
Weekly execution and iteration
-
Clear accountability
-
Explainable decisions
Wicked Reports scales cleanly up to $150M+, but it is intentionally optimized
for ecommerce teams who need clarity before complexity.
for ecommerce teams who need clarity before complexity.
Why Tier 11’s John Moran Moved Clients from Northbeam to Wicked Reports
Compare Capability
Where Wicked Reports Goes Beyond Measurement: Signal + Action
Conversion API & Signal Quality
Advanced Signal: MMM Can’t Train Ad Algorithms — Signals Can
Northbeam is focused on measurement and insight — not optimization feedback loops. MMM and incrementality models are read-only, directional, and designed for human interpretation. They do not send learning signals back to ad platforms. Wicked Reports does.
WITH ADVANCED SIGNAL, WICKED REPORTS:
- Sends new-customer-only events to Meta via Conversion API
- Groups signals by SKU
- Reinforces what actually creates net-new buyers
- Improves Meta’s optimization over time
Northbeam measures. Advanced Signal trains.
AI & Decision-Making
5 Forces AI vs Black-Box Directional Insight
Northbeam excels at macro-level insight, incrementality analysis and boardroom-ready direction. But for ecommerce operators, that creates a gap: insights arrive slowly, outputs are abstract, and decisions still require interpretation.
WICKED REPORTS’ 5 FORCES AI IS BUILT FOR EXECUTION SPEED. IT:
- Evaluates campaigns through Scale / Chill / Kill
- Ties performance directly to budget movement
- Highlights both opportunity and waste
- Replaces hours of spreadsheet analysis with ranked decisions
This is AI designed for operators, not analysts.
Common Questions About Switching
Measure Clearly. Signal Correctly. Act Confidently.
Attribution isn’t about dashboards.
It’s about making the right decisions at the speed ecommerce demands.
