The Dawn of a New Attribution Age

This week’s big Google news is their work on AI chat-based search under the Magi code name. We’ll cover that when it comes out, but in the meantime, a less heralded change is the end of an era. Google is ending anything other than a data-driven attribution model for ads .?

That means previously popular attribution methods like first click, linear, and time-based attribution go away. Google also noted that this will affect very few people, saying less than three percent of digital marketers use these outmoded techniques.?

Are you??

Not with Google – data-driven attribution has been the default for three years now because of the improvements in understanding your data flow.?

Rather, are you using outmoded attribution across channels??

We’ve talked about how using last-click attribution modeling is like watching kids’ soccer , where everyone runs to the ball. If you are attributing by last touch, every tactic is going to want to be that last touch; no one wants to play defense or do top-of-funnel marketing if they don’t get credit.?

And we’ve talked about data systems making attribution tough. ?It’s easy to get reporting on how well a direct mail piece generates replies. You could look at a dashboard, check your caging receipts, get a weekly report, and talk to your mail agency or caging vendor. But it’s hard to find out how that mail piece generated donations online, where mail was the channel of influence and online was the transaction channel. And it’s hard to see how your DRTV ad or digital co-targeting increased the success of the mail piece.?

In short, we’re used to attributing mail based on what people mail back. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg.??

In other areas, we are used to doing data-based attribution. For example, in our So you think you want to do DRTV white paper , fewer than half of all donations will come through your call center. Fewer than half will come in through your direct marketing microsite. Then about 10-20% will be through increased traffic to your main site and will scale with your spend. You’ll also see increases in organic digital revenue, mail responses, monthly giving upgrades, event participants, bequests, etc.?

In summary, if you aren’t doing data-driven attribution across channels, you can underinvest in promising donors and channels. The last thing Google wants you to do is underinvest in advertising; that’s why it’s getting rid of less productive attribution. And the last thing you want is to put your donor dollars to work in less effective areas.