Attribution models help business owners and marketers better understand the strategies that catalyze viewer engagement, retention, and sales. These models empower advertisers to gauge the sources of customer traffic to identify those with the most value. Once the optimal marketing strategies and channels are identified, advertisers and business owners have the information necessary to enhance ongoing marketing efforts.
The Truth is in the Data
Attribution models assign credits to the touchpoints or channels that played a part in user conversion or another action on a platform. The models highlight pertinent data about viewers and buyers to help companies better understand their audience.
If you closely analyze attribution models, you’ll have all the information you need to determine which marketing efforts generated the targeted conversion rate. This is your opportunity to identify the specific marketing channel that ramped up conversions.
When analyzing attribution models, be sure to analyze the entirety of the data. Review all available data, and you’ll be perfectly positioned to use facts and figures to acquire new customers. Such an exhaustive review requires expanding one’s analysis beyond a single attribution model. Using all available information guarantees the entirety of the sales funnel is accounted for. A reliance on one or two attribution models has the potential to overemphasize the impact of a single event.
Attribution Models Are What You Make of Them
At first glance, attribution models are understandably intimidating. The right attribution models will provide helpful information for decision-making in the weeks, months, and quarters ahead.
As an example, the first interaction attribution model assigns conversion credit to the initial marketing channel that someone engages with. As an example, credit is provided for sales stemming from the discovery of the business on a social forum. This straightforward approach is optimal for companies with brief buying cycles, yet it overlooks the potential impact of auxiliary marketing channels. In general, this attribution model is typically used by businesses with clients that typically convert in a brief period of time.
Alternatively, the last interaction attribution model provides the entirety of the credit to the last interaction the customer had with the enterprise prior to the point of conversion. As an example, consider a customer who finds a business’s page on X (formerly known as Twitter) and then clicks one of the company’s ads on Instagram a few days later. Finally, this person makes their way to the company website. Though the customer has not yet converted, they are aware the brand exists. A week of consideration occurs followed by the placement of an online order. In such an instance, the search terms the customer enters to eventually reach the website receive the full conversion credit. Industry insiders often refer to the use of search terms on a site to be branded search touchpoints. Take a close look at Google Analytics and similar platforms, and you’ll often find the last interaction attribution model is set to default.
Finally, linear attribution models split conversion credits with equal distribution going to the entirety of the brand’s touchpoints. As an example, consider a scenario in which a customer finds the business on a social media platform and spots an opportunity to sign up for a newsletter. The customer enters their name into the company mailing list. Fast forward a few days, and the customer surfs the web to the company website and buys $300 worth of product. In such a situation, the three touchpoints are provided with equal conversion credits of $50 each. The linear attribution model is sometimes favored as it provides more of a balanced look at the advertising strategy from a macro perspective as opposed to an attribution model that is centered on a single event.
Attribution Model Analysis Must Align With Company Goals
Be cautious when deciding on which specific attribution models to hone in on. The analysis of collected data has the potential to be in vain unless the attribution model aligns with the business’s overarching goals. So, before you get started, be sure to examine which attribution models are right for your business, align with your goals, and help you reach your overall targets.
