Marketing attribution is the process of assigning credit to the different channels and touchpoints that influence a customer's journey and decision to buy. It helps you measure the impact and return on investment (ROI) of your marketing campaigns and optimize your budget and strategy accordingly. But how do you do it well? Here are some tips to help you get started.
An attribution model is a set of rules that determines how much weight each touchpoint gets in the attribution process. There are different types of models, such as first-touch, last-touch, linear, time-decay, position-based, and custom. Each model has its pros and cons, depending on your goals, data, and resources. You should choose a model that aligns with your marketing objectives, reflects your customer journey, and accounts for your data quality and availability.
Marketing attribution is the process of identifying and evaluating the touchpoints that contribute to a conversion or sale. It helps marketers understand which marketing channels and tactics are driving the most value and allows them to allocate their resources more effectively. To do marketing attribution well, there are a few key steps to follow: Define your goals: Clearly outline what you want to achieve with your marketing efforts and what actions you want your audience to take. Identify your touchpoints: Track and analyze the various touchpoints that contribute to a conversion, such as website visits, email opens, social media interactions, and more. Use the right tools Assign credit Optimize your strategy
Marketing attribution is the process of assigning value to customer interactions before a purchase. To do it well, set clear goals, map the customer journey, choose an attribution model, and implement tracking tools.
Marketing attribution assigns credit to touchpoints in a customer's journey. To do it well: Define Clear Goals: Specify desired outcomes and KPIs. Use Multi-Touch Models: Implement various attribution models. Integrated Data Sources: Integrate online and offline data. Customer Segmentation: Understand different segments. Cross-Channel Tracking: Follow journeys across platforms. Attribution Weighting: Assign weights to touchpoints. Conversion Path Analysis: Identify influential touchpoints. Continuous Optimization: Adapt based on insights and changes. Data Quality: Regularly audit and validate data sources. Align with Objectives: Ensure alignment with business goals.
Marketing attribution is a reporting strategy that allows marketers to see the impact and influence of a particular marketing channel, or campaign, on pipeline and revenue. There may be many marketing touchpoints along a buyer journey, both marketing & sales touchpoints. There are many different types of attribution models, used to answer different questions. No single attribution model can answer all questions, and each has it's pros and cons. Use attribution to measure impact and influence, not so marketing can take "credit".
A critical strategic decision needs to be made prior to choosing your attribution model, which is answering the question: "What is the purpose of attribution for our organization?" The answer to this question will determine how you select your model and collect/analyze data. The two main purposes for attribution are: - Enabling marketing to effectively allocate spend and maximize ROI - Contribute to marketing's business case to the CFO for marketing budget. Each of these rationales are important but will require different attribution approaches and justifications.
To do marketing attribution well, you need to track and collect data on your marketing channels and touchpoints, as well as your customer behavior and conversions. You can use tools like Google Analytics, UTM parameters, pixels, cookies, CRM systems, and marketing automation platforms to capture and store this data. You should also make sure that your data is accurate, consistent, and complete, and that you have a clear definition of what constitutes a conversion for your business.
Referrer information and UTM-style campaign data run in parallel lines. Many marketers may not realize this. referrer is a server-side value, and UTM-style campaign values are URL-parameter-based, front-end values. Browsers that use privacy settings or extensions generally hide referrer information. Links with "noreferrer" attributes will also omit referrer information. As such, when you see a "direct" referrer value and campaign-based parameter data, treat the latter as authoritative. Once you've taken control of pageviews, acquisition intel, and other "atomic-level" digital marketing data, you'll miss far less parameter data. This will give you a much larger attribution dataset, which will aid in channel analysis and decision making.
As you implement systems to collect attribution data, keep in mind that some data is just not trackable. For example, your customers might have been heavily influenced by discussions in a community slack channel, or by word of mouth. To have an idea of how much such interactions influence their buying journey, implement a simple form that openly asks them on how they heard about you. Don't restrict values by a pick list. Allow them to type freely and you'll be surprised at the kind of insights you can get.
Once you have your data and your attribution model, you can analyze and optimize your marketing performance and ROI. You can use tools like dashboards, reports, and visualizations to see how each channel and touchpoint contributes to your conversions, revenue, and customer lifetime value. You can also compare different models and scenarios to see how they affect your attribution results and insights. Based on your analysis, you can optimize your marketing budget, strategy, and tactics to focus on the most effective and efficient channels and touchpoints.
You must understand “good” or a baseline here. Baselines should come from past performance, industry norms and channel benchmarks. Typical examples of this: Past performance: website traffic = X during Q1 Industry norms: Q4 is the best performing quarter in retail Channel benchmarks: under a 0.1% optout in email is good You can only know what’s truly working or not when comparing results to baselines like above
Select actionable metrics that reflect the overall performance and provide meaningful insights for strategic decision-making. When choosing these metrics for your dashboards and reports, consider those that directly align with your business objectives and have the power to inform tactical adjustments. Metrics that track customer engagement, conversion rates, and cost efficiency across various channels are particularly valuable. Using a mix of short-term and long-term metrics can give a more comprehensive view of both immediate impacts and sustained growth.
Marketing attribution is not a one-time project, but an ongoing process that requires testing and updating. You should regularly monitor and evaluate your attribution results and assumptions, and test different models and hypotheses to see if they improve your accuracy and insights. You should also update your attribution model and data as your marketing goals, channels, and customer journey change over time.
Marketing attribution is a complex and challenging task that many marketers struggle with. You can learn from others who have done it well or faced similar problems. You can read case studies, blogs, books, and podcasts on marketing attribution best practices and examples. You can also join online communities, forums, webinars, and events where you can ask questions, share experiences, and get feedback from experts and peers.
If you feel overwhelmed or stuck with marketing attribution, you can seek help from external sources. You can hire consultants, agencies, or freelancers who specialize in marketing attribution and can help you set up, implement, and improve your attribution process. You can also use software tools or platforms that offer advanced features and functionalities for marketing attribution, such as multi-touch attribution, algorithmic attribution, cross-device attribution, and offline attribution.
Determining your strategy and purpose for attribution is more important than the analytical exercise itself. Spend time with your stakeholders and with your marketing team to determine this approach before making significant investments. This process will help you better align but also ensure that your efforts successfully enable your company to meet it's goals for marketing.
Adobe Certified Master - Marketo Engage Architect | Marketing Automation Consultant
Marketing attribution isn't an overnight success, in fact it's an iterative process, a lifecycle if you will. Most marketers must start with first touch (where did I get the contact), then expand to last touch (which campaign started the conversation), and then eventually when you're getting Marketing Return on Investment (MROI) you can potentially invest in a marketing attribution technology that will give you all the models you may need: Linear, U-Shape, W-Shape... etc. Just remember not to waste valuable time trying to learn how to do it, and seek expert advice.