Marketing attribution analysis is a data-driven approach that helps businesses understand the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. It’s a method of measuring the impact of each marketing touchpoint on customer conversions, allowing marketers to identify which tactics are most effective in driving sales and revenue.
Imagine a customer named John who is looking to buy a new laptop. He starts his search by typing “best laptops for students” into a search engine, and clicks on a link that takes him to a blog post about laptops. This is his first touchpoint.
After reading the blog post, John navigates away from the website and scrolls through Facebook. He sees an ad for a laptop that catches his attention and clicks on it, taking him to the company’s website. This is his second touchpoint.
John doesn’t buy the laptop right away, but he does sign up for the company’s email newsletter. He receives a few emails over the next week that include more information about the laptop he clicked on in the Facebook ad. One of the emails includes a discount code, which John uses to purchase the laptop. This is his final touchpoint.
In this scenario, John’s journey to purchase involved three touchpoints: the SEO blog post, the Facebook ad, and the email campaign. A marketing attribution analysis would assign a percentage of the credit for the purchase to each of these touchpoints, based on the attribution model used.
Different models of Marketing Attribution
There are several types of attribution models that can be used to analyze marketing data. Each model has its own unique way of assigning credit to different touchpoints in the customer journey.
One common type of attribution model is the first-touch attribution model. This model assigns all credit for a conversion to the first touchpoint that the customer encountered. For example, if a customer clicked on a Facebook ad and then later made a purchase, the first-touch attribution model would assign all credit to the Facebook ad.
Another common type of attribution model is the last-touch attribution model. This model assigns all credit for a conversion to the final touchpoint that the customer encountered before making a purchase. For example, if a customer visited a product page and then made a purchase, the last-touch attribution model would assign all credit to the product page.
There are also more complex attribution models that take into account all touchpoints that a customer encounters along their journey. These models assign credit based on a variety of factors, such as the order in which touchpoints were encountered or the amount of time spent on each touchpoint.
Let’s take a closer look at how three different attribution models would assign credit in this scenario:
First-Touch Attribution: In this model, all of the credit for the sale would go to the first touchpoint, which was the SEO blog post. This model gives 100% of the credit to the first interaction a customer has with a brand.
Last-Touch Attribution: In this model, all of the credit for the sale would go to the last touchpoint, which was the email campaign. This model gives 100% of the credit to the final interaction a customer has with a brand.
Uniform Attribution: In this model, credit is assigned evenly across all touchpoints. In this case, each touchpoint would receive 33% of the credit for the sale.
By using different attribution models, marketers can gain a deeper understanding of how their marketing efforts are driving conversions and make informed decisions about how to allocate their resources in the future.
If you want to dive deeper into these models and understand what’s the best option for your business, read this article.
Applying attribution analysis to your day-to-day
Marketing attribution analysis can be used to measure a variety of conversions, such as lead generation, website visits, and sales.
To collect the necessary data, businesses may use a variety of tracking tools like Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud. These tools allow marketers to track customer interactions across multiple channels and devices, enabling a complete understanding of each customer’s journey.
Marketing attribution analysis is an essential tool for any business looking to maximize the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. By tracking customer interactions and assigning credit to different touchpoints, businesses can gain valuable insights into which channels and campaigns are most effective at driving conversions. With the right tools and strategies in place, businesses can use marketing attribution analysis to optimize their campaigns and drive revenue growth.
