What is Attribution Tracking?

Attribution tracking is often talked about in intricate terms using marketing jargon. And then there's technical jargon, which is more complex than the just marketing language. While there is a lot to know about attribution tracking in order to find insights to improve your efforts, it is also far more commonsensical than it might first appear.

Attribution tracking is really just about mapping your customer's journey. You track their progress through the funnel by attributing weight (or giving a value) to touchpoints. For instance, if the customer first made contact with your brand through social media, you would track that touchpoint to gain more information.

The customer's journey through your channels can be very unique. But when you look at the overall data, a picture starts to emerge that can help you determine where to put focus and additional spend in future campaigns. It can also show you which messaging is more engaging and with which customer persona.

Choosing Your Attribution Model

There are many different attribution models to choose from, but there is no wrong answer. Marketers choose different types of models based on individual preferences, past experiences, and the needs of the brand or company. Your goals will play a large part in why you choose a specific attribution formula. You may be working solely with web attribution or you may need to account for offline marketing in your attribution models.

Two types of attribution models include: single touch and multi touch attribution. But there are a few different possible ways to plan your attribution formula without these larger types.

Single touch simply means that you're only tracking one touchpoint. For instance, if you're using last click attribution, you're giving all of the credit for the conversion to the last point in the buyer's journey, or the place they came from before conversion. First touch is another example of single touch attribution. This is where you give 100% of the credit to the first contact point between the customer and the brand.

Multi touch attribution means that you are tracking more than just one of the audience's contact points through the sales funnel. A linear model, for example, tracks every contact point that the customer has made with equal weight. A time decay attribution formula would track several points but it gives more credit to the last point of contact, and incrementally gives a smaller percentage to each contact point further away from conversion.

Which Attribution Model to Use

Deciding which attribution model to use can be a challenge. Many marketers use more than one method and the data attribution model you use is tied to a specific goal. For instance, multi touch attribution solutions give you more insight into the full buyer's journey. This is why they are often recommended over single touch attribution models.

But there are some good reasons to use last touch attribution. For instance, if you're working with a short term event or short sales cycle. It's an older model that people are very familiar with and the analytics are easy to decipher. But it doesn't give you the largest amount of data and using it as your sole attribution model may not give you enough depth for actionable insights.

Brand Attribution Solutions

We devote a lot of time to understanding multi channel attribution. We look at individual channels and touchpoints, such as paying special attention to mobile attribution or social media attribution. What marketers may not be doing is looking at is brand attribution. The idea here is to bring together the marketing process and your e-commerce because the entire funnel is really a part of your branding.

With brand attribution, you want to look at all of the contact points with the view that every channel works to help cultivate relationships with your target audience. This philosophy of attribution wants to do away with segmenting to weigh certain parts or touchpoints. Instead, it wants all of the contact points to reinforce the best characteristics of your brand for long-term improved performance.

How to Measure Marketing Attribution

There are many attribution tools that you can use to measure your lead attribution. These include platforms and other solutions, to help you track your spending, understand your advertising budget and ROI, and help you gather and use your analytics productively. The best tools for your company will be ones that work with your budget and current technology. You need to be able to integrate your software so that you're not leaving channels or touchpoints out of the mix.

You should also make sure that training and support fit your needs and your employee's needs. Having the highest tech platform with the largest arsenal of features only works in your favor if you're using them all to capacity. If you make the solutions too complex, your staff may not be able to get them most out of them.

DemandJump offers simple and user friendly solutions for all of your attribution pain points. You can see for yourself - try it for free! See just how simple it can be.