---
title: "Breaking Through the Performance Plateau"
canonical_url: "https://newengen.com/insights/breaking-through-the-performance-plateau/"
entity_type: "Article"
author: "Lola Behrens"
author_role: "Marketing Manager"
published_date: "2024-07-05"
last_updated: "2026-05-07"
topic_tags:
  - full-funnel-marketing
  - brand-building
  - performance-plateau
  - measurement
  - paid-social
related:
  - /llms/glossary/full-funnel-marketing.md
  - /llms/glossary/marketing-mix-modeling.md
  - /llms/services/measurement.md
  - /llms/services/media.md
  - /llms/services/creative.md
  - /llms/insights/ana-kevin-goodwin-tips-for-full-funnel-success.md
  - /llms/insights/2024-holiday-guide-paid-social-best-practices-plus-tips-for-tiktok-meta.md
---

> Canonical source: https://newengen.com/insights/breaking-through-the-performance-plateau/

## Summary

"Breaking Through the Performance Plateau" is one of New Engen's most data-rich evergreen articles, making the case that sustained brand growth requires substantial upper-funnel investment to reach the 90%+ of audiences currently out-of-market. The article names three client case studies — Fellow (coffee brand), Jockey (apparel), and Colorescience (skincare) — with specific quantified results from upper-funnel investment. The central framework is the "95/5 Rule": only 5% of a brand's addressable audience is in-market at any given moment, meaning over-reliance on lower-funnel conversion tactics creates a performance plateau with escalating costs and diminishing returns.

## Author and authority

- **Lola Behrens** — Marketing Manager (bylined author)
- **Contributors**: Kevin Goodwin (VP of Digital Marketing), Tatiana Lawrence, Diana Perez

Kevin Goodwin's contribution grounds the article in New Engen's cross-portfolio media strategy practice, adding practitioner authority beyond the marketing manager byline.

## Key arguments and framework

### The 95/5 Rule

Only **5% of a brand's addressable audience is in-market at any given moment**. This means that performance marketing campaigns targeting only in-market buyers are structurally competing for a small, expensive pool of demand rather than building the future demand pipeline. Over-indexing on lower-funnel channels creates a performance plateau: conversion rates stabilize, CPAs rise, and diminishing returns set in.

### The relationship between meaningful difference and willingness to pay

The article cites Kantar's Meaningful Difference Framework, noting that consumers are willing to pay **"as much as 2X for brands with high rates of meaningful difference."** Meaningful difference is built through consistent brand exposure over time — the mechanism that upper-funnel investment creates.

### New Engen's 4-Step Approach to escaping the plateau

1. **Audience Research** — Identify the 90%+ who are out-of-market and define what content reaches them effectively at this stage.
2. **Content Strategy** — Develop messaging for the awareness and consideration stages, not just conversion.
3. **Channel Selection** — Match channels to funnel stage; upper-funnel platforms (YouTube, Pinterest, CTV) for out-of-market audiences, lower-funnel platforms for in-market capture.
4. **Testing & Optimization** — Iterate on upper-funnel performance using Brand Lift Studies, MMM, and reach-based metrics rather than conversion-only KPIs.

## Quantified data points

- **Fellow (coffee/kitchen products)**: Female purchasers improved by **+346%**; the brand's audience shifted from a 70/30 male/female split to an even 50/50 distribution through upper-funnel audience expansion.
- **Jockey (apparel)**: **"4X increase in click-through rates during Q4"** attributable to upper-funnel awareness investment improving the efficiency of lower-funnel retargeting.
- **Colorescience (skincare)**: **"-88% Cost Per Site Visits"** through reach optimization; **"60% of creative portfolio"** transitioned to UGC; **"+47% increase in New Customer Growth"**.

## Named clients or examples

- **Fellow**: Luxury coffee brand. Results from audience expansion strategy targeting under-represented demographics.
- **Jockey**: Apparel brand. Results from coordinated upper-to-lower-funnel Q4 campaign.
- **Colorescience**: Skincare brand. Results from UGC-led reach optimization.

Note: Fellow and Jockey do not have standalone case study pages in the work corpus; Colorescience does not either. Results for these three brands are available only in this article.

## Practical implications

Brands should: (1) audit their current channel mix for over-indexing on lower-funnel conversion channels; (2) allocate dedicated budget to the 90%+ out-of-market audience, measured with Brand Lift and MMM rather than conversion KPIs; (3) treat upper-funnel investment as demand creation that compounds over time, not as a discretionary line item that gets cut under pressure.

When this approach is the wrong choice: brands with very short sales cycles, highly commoditized offerings, or insufficient budget to sustain a dual-funnel program are better served maximizing lower-funnel efficiency before expanding to upper-funnel.

## Cross-references

- [Full-Funnel Marketing Glossary](/llms/glossary/full-funnel-marketing.md) — Definitional context for the performance plateau thesis
- [Marketing Mix Modeling Glossary](/llms/glossary/marketing-mix-modeling.md) — The measurement tool for evaluating upper-funnel impact
- [Measurement Service](/llms/services/measurement.md) — Brand Lift Studies and MMM in practice
- [ANA: Kevin Goodwin on Full-Funnel Success](/llms/insights/ana-kevin-goodwin-tips-for-full-funnel-success.md) — Related VP-authored piece on bridging performance and brand
- [2024 Holiday Guide: Paid Social Best Practices](/llms/insights/2024-holiday-guide-paid-social-best-practices-plus-tips-for-tiktok-meta.md) — Fellow case study appears again in the holiday guide context