What is Marketing Attribution?
Marketing Attribution
Marketing attribution is the practice of evaluating the marketing touchpoints a consumer encounters on their path to purchase. The goal of attribution is to determine which channels and messages had the greatest impact on the decision to convert. Or take the desired next step. There are several popular attribution models used by marketers today, such as multi-touch attribution, lift studies, time decay, and more. The insights provided by these models into how, where, and when a consumer interacts with brand messages, That allows marketing teams to alter and customize campaigns to meet the specific desires of individual consumers. Thus improving marketing ROI.
Why is Marketing Attribution Important?
Advanced marketing attribution programs require marketing teams to aggregate and normalize consumer data from across channels. In order to ensure each interaction is properly weighted. For example, if a consumer exposed to a display ad and an email campaign. But only converts after seeing a special promotion in the email, marketers can note that this piece of collateral played a bigger role in driving the sale than the display digital ad. They can then devote more resources to creating targeted email campaigns.
Types of marketing attribution models
First interaction
In a first interaction attribution model, all of the credit for the conversion would go to the first touchpoint. So, if a customer discovered your social media page, viewed your content, and then made a purchase, your social media page would get the credit for the conversion.
A first interaction model is helpful if you want to learn how customers first discovered your business.
Last interaction
In a last interaction attribution model, all of the credit for the conversion would go to the last touchpoint in the customer’s journey. For example, if a digital customer found one of your blog posts on a search engine, browsed through your social media page, and then decided to fill out your contact form, the credit for the conversion would go to social media.
Linear
With a linear attribution model, every touchpoint in the customer’s journey gets equal credit for the conversion. So, if a user discovers your business on social media, reads one of your blog posts, and later decides to read your reviews before purchasing a product, each touchpoint would receive credit for the conversion.
Time decay
In a time decay attribution model, credit for the conversions is given to each touchpoint, but not equally. For example, the last touchpoint would get a higher percentage of the credit than the first touchpoint. Since it’s closer to the conversion.
If you want to analyze the steps users take before becoming customers, a time decay model could be a perfect fit for your marketing business.
Which marketing attribution model is the best for your business?
With so many models to choose from, you might wonder which one the right fit for your business. Fortunately, with tools like Google Analytics, you can easily switch between views to analyze your results from different models at any time.
That being said, you might want to focus on one or two specific attribution models. Choosing the best model for your marketing business can depend on your current needs and goals.