Attribution marketing is the process of attributing marketing campaigns to specific conversions or sales. This allows businesses to see which campaigns result in their overall success and make more informed decisions about where to allocate their budget.
So many business owners think that simply posting an ad is enough to make a customer purchase with them. However, this is not usually the case as consumers visit your website, get out, click an ad again about your brand the next day, or receive newsletters from you, then they finally make a purchase.
The goal is to find out which ads are performing and how you can improve the others. You might have ads on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, or other social media platforms that get you organic visitors that can become repeat buyers. Others might have posted advertisements on Google or uploaded videos on YouTube about their products and services. Finding out which one is becoming more effective will help you target the right customers and improve the others that are not performing so well.
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Different Types of Models to Know About
1. First Touch
The first touch or interaction is giving a hundred percent credit to that one single click that a lead does before becoming a customer. This is where they first know about your business and your services. For example, they might have found you through a social media platform like YouTube and see an ad afterwards on Google. The example above gives full credit to YouTube.
This is very appealing to many business owners because it’s pretty straightforward. However, this ignores all the other essential channels that customers might see later, such as retargeting advertising.
It’s helpful when a consumer converts immediately and when you’re focused on the short buying cycle. The primary goal is to bring in new leads at the top of the funnel.
2. Last Touch Attribution
This last touch or last interaction is a model that gives a hundred percent credit to the previous interaction that a specific lead has experienced with your business before they convert. An example is when an internet user finds you through the search engine’s organic results. Two weeks later, they find an advertisement about your brand on a social media platform and go directly to your page to buy a product or service.
In this scenario, the direct traffic gets all the credit, which is usually found in Google Analytics. This marketing attribution is one of the easiest to assess and implement and one of the most accurate. Nowadays, people use various browsers, clear their cookies, and access the web from different devices, making it challenging to track how they arrived at a point where they are purchasing from you.
On the other hand, the disadvantage is that this model typically disregards all the different avenues before that specific last touch. Many ads before that last click are as important as this model, but this can be an excellent fit for your business if you focus on a short-buying cycle. The sales funnels on this model are wide at the top but significantly narrow down towards the bottom.
3. Last Non-Direct Click
The last non-direct click is more useful than the other models. This value is assigned to 100% of a single interaction. However, it will eliminate the direct interaction that can possibly occur before a purchase is made.
An example of direct traffic is when people visit your website and manually enter your address on their search engines. This means they are already aware of your business, but you might not know how they learned about it and what prompted them to visit your landing page. When you eliminate these questions, this makes it a more insightful model compared to others.
4. Linear Type
The linear model splits the credits to all the interactions that a consumer has had with a brand. This is where they might first find out about you through Instagram reels. They visit your website, sign up for the emails and newsletters, and later click on the discounts they have received in their inbox. Next, they are redirected to a website where they make a purchase.
The three touchpoints on the example get about a $100 conversion value for a $300 purchase. This will give you a more balanced view of your strategy than the single-click models. However, this will mean that you have to assign equal importance to your ads, and you will not know more about which strategy is the most effective.
This is the easiest to explain to business owners, and the linear attribution will generally show the value of each channel. See more about the different models on this page.
5. Position-Based
This model is sometimes known to be the U-shaped attribution, and they will split the credit between the moment a lead converts and their first interaction with your brand. About 20% will be spread out to other interactions, and 40% is given to each point that exists in your business.
It’s common with prospects who might have found out about your brand from organic search results. They will then go to your social media pages, sign up on the email list, and make a purchase. This is where Google and other search engines get the 40% credit, and the remaining 20% is attributed to the social media platforms.
This is a very strong model when you want to focus more on multiple interactions and touchpoints before a conversion occurs. This will give at least a type of credit to every interaction that’s occurring. However, this will always give weight to the time the customer has found out about you and the
6. Time Decay
The time decay will spread out the attributions to various events, but they are not like the linear model. This will analyze the date of the touchpoints, which will contribute to the success of a business for a while. However, this will minimize the effect of the marketing techniques at the top of the funnel, which is common in many long sales cycles. These are done in many B2B transactions that are costly and time-consuming.
Where to Find these Reports?
The default attribution used by Google Analytics is the last interaction type. You can always make a comparison on various models in your account, and this tool can usually be found on the left side of the screen.
By comparing each of these models, you’ll see the ads’ overall value and how they perform. Default channel groupings are also available, and some experts can guide you in evaluating and assessing the figures and graphs according to your business.
Why is this Important?
The advanced models are generally resource-intensive and time-consuming. The complexities involve analyzing data from offline and online campaigns, but you can optimize your marketing spend when you do things right. See more about optimizing your digital ad campaigns when you click here: https://www.sparcmedia.com/blog-5-steps-on-how-to-optimise-your-digital-advertising-campaigns/.
This allows you to see which of your marketing efforts are actually driving results. This information is essential for ensuring that you allocate your resources effectively.
Another thing is that these data can help you identify which touchpoints in the customer journey are most important. This information can be used to create more effective campaigns and improve the overall customer experience so they keep coming back to you. The models will also provide valuable insights into how different channels work together to drive conversions. This information can help you create more holistic and effective marketing strategies that will result in more business growth.
Challenges to Know About
As a marketer, you are always looking for ways to improve your campaigns and get better results. One area that is often challenging is attribution marketing. This is the process of determining which campaigns are most effective in driving conversions. Several challenges can make this challenging, including:
1. Data sources. Many different data sources need to be considered, including web analytics, CRM data, and more. This can make it difficult to get a complete picture of what is happening.
2. Methodology. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to the models. You must experiment and find the best methodology for your business and data sources.
3. Timeframes. Attribution marketing requires looking at data over time, which can be difficult in real-time campaigns. You need to be able to look at data retrospectively to see the full picture, and you need to gather historical reports and charts to know more about which direction your business is going.
4. Budget constraints. Attribution marketing can be expensive, especially if you are using multiple data sources or complex methodologies. You need to be sure that you have the budget to support it.
How to Get Started?
If you’re looking to get started with attribution marketing, you can start using tools and plugins that will make the work easier for you. These will generally streamline the process and give you the full picture of customer pain points.
You can also start with the single-touch model, where you can get the needed data with less effort. This can be the last or first-touch campaign. This is where you might realize which channels are driving your sales funnels and provide insights about the content and posts that make customers convert to your business.
The attribution model you choose will depend on your business goals and objectives. Last-click attribution may be the best option if you’re looking to maximize conversions. However, if you want to understand which channels and tactics drive the most valuable customers, first-click or linear attribution may be a better fit.
Using the linear model can also help. This will help you determine the steps a lead has taken before converting. They might have opened your website, gotten phone calls from your sales representative, or purchased a product that resulted in three steps in total. Each can be assigned with 33% credit, and this is a fairly simple model to follow.
In conclusion, attribution marketing is a great way to improve your marketing campaigns and get better results. Understanding how customers interact with your brand can make more informed decisions about where to allocate your resources. And by tracking the results of your attribution marketing efforts, you can continue to refine your strategy and improve your ROI.