Marketing Attribution
Understanding which marketing touchpoints contribute to conversions and how to assign credit across the customer journey.
Marketing attribution is the process of identifying which marketing channels, campaigns, and touchpoints contribute to a conversion or sale. It helps marketers understand the customer journey and allocate budget to the most effective channels.
Key Questions Attribution Answers
- Which channels drive the most conversions?
- How do touchpoints work together in the customer journey?
- Where should I allocate my marketing budget?
- What is the true ROI of each marketing channel?
Gaming Player Journey Example
First-Touch
100% credit to first interaction
Last-Touch
100% credit to final interaction
Linear
Equal credit to all touchpoints
Time-Decay
More credit to recent touchpoints
Position-Based (U-Shaped)
40% first, 40% last, 20% middle
Key Insights
- First-Touch values awareness channels that introduce players to your brand
- Last-Touch credits the final push that drove the deposit decision
- Linear recognises all touchpoints equally in the player journey
- Time-Decay assumes recent interactions have more influence on conversion
- Position-Based emphasises both discovery and conversion whilst acknowledging middle touchpoints
Single-Touch Attribution
Assigns 100% credit to one touchpoint.
- First-Touch: Credits the first interaction
- Last-Touch: Credits the final interaction
Multi-Touch Attribution
Distributes credit across multiple touchpoints.
- Linear: Equal credit to all touchpoints
- Time Decay: More credit to recent touchpoints
- Position-Based: 40/20/40 to first, middle, last
- Data-Driven: ML-based credit assignment
Cross-Device Tracking
Users interact across multiple devices, making it difficult to connect touchpoints to a single customer journey.
Privacy Regulations
GDPR, CCPA, and cookie deprecation limit tracking capabilities and require consent-based approaches.
Walled Gardens
Platforms like Google, Meta, and Amazon have limited data sharing, creating attribution blind spots.
Offline Touchpoints
TV, radio, and in-store interactions are difficult to connect to digital conversion paths.
| Business Scenario | Recommended Model | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Short sales cycle, impulse purchases | Last-Touch | Final touchpoint likely drove the decision |
| Brand awareness focus | First-Touch | Values discovery and awareness channels |
| Long, complex B2B sales cycles | Position-Based or Linear | Recognises multiple touchpoints' contributions |
| High-volume e-commerce | Data-Driven | Sufficient data for ML-based optimisation |
| Time-sensitive promotions | Time Decay | Recent touchpoints more relevant |