June 30, 2016 •Brennan Walker
Last week, Shawn went through the importance of creating custom channels and remarketing lists.
In our final installment of this series Shawn talks about the importance of attribution modeling, and some different options for attribution.
Attribution is very important for anyone selling a product or service, because it tracks where customers have had contact with the product or service you’re selling. In a 2014 study, AdRoll found that 58% of marketers use a first or last touch model. This approach completely ignores all other touch points. In AdRoll’s most recent study they found that those using multi-touch points has increased to 40%.
In a LunaMetrics blog on Google Analytics Attribution they point out that attribution is still too reliant on first and last touch attribution and on gut instinct. They illustrate the issue this creates by comparing it to getting 10 restaurants recommendations. In their example they say that some people give horrible advice, other may just steer you away from a restaurant, and you may get a recommendation after your decision is made.
The same is true for attribution some sources may be hurting traffic, others may hold less value than you assume, and others may not be necessary. LunaMetrics also points out that even when using multi-touch point models marketers may be creating them on assumptions alone.
Ultimately, the best way to do attribution is to use an algorithm that analyzes your data, and attributes value to all the different sources. However, the percent of marketers using this methodology is in the single digits.
If you’re interested in learning more about data driven attribution you can find Google Analytics’ in depth guide here.
If you want to watch any of our video you can check out our YouTube channel, and you can find the complete Google Analytics Tips and Tricks video here.
