Each stage of the sales funnel—from awareness to consideration to purchase—requires a unique strategy. For example, in the awareness stage, marketing teams might focus on brand awareness through social media campaigns or influencer partnerships. As customers progress to the final stage, the focus shifts to enhancing the buying experience with targeted promotions and personalized messaging.
With every interaction playing a crucial role in guiding potential customers, how can you, as a marketer, determine which touchpoints provide the most value? For that, you will need to analyze data to find out which interactions most influence conversion rates and customer retention.
By implementing marketing attribution tools, you can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of different marketing initiatives. These insights will enable you to optimize successful touchpoints and enhance other stages of the sales funnel.
What is marketing attribution?
Marketing attribution is the process of identifying and assigning value to customer actions throughout the buyer's journey that are influenced by marketing efforts.
Read on to discover how implementing marketing attribution tools can provide you with valuable insights into customer interactions and drive conversions. You’ll also learn how to effectively measure the impact of your marketing strategies at every stage of the sales funnel, which will ultimately help you take your marketing efforts to the next level!
Why is marketing attribution important?
Attribution allows you to pinpoint which programs drive value. This allows you to adjust your marketing budget to spend more money on marketing that supports your revenue. It also allows you to give credit to the members of your team for their hard work.
As a marketer, nothing is more important than having the data to back your projects. A marketing attribution model allows you to tie exact numbers to how much influenced revenue your team generates.
Marketing attribution helps you prove the value of your marketing to your C-suite and sales team, which leads to more trust and opportunities. If you haven’t already built your own marketing attribution process, it’s time to get going.
Not only that, but it’s getting harder than ever to track marketing success. Our multi-device world makes the buyer's journey more complicated than ever. Leads will often research your business on multiple devices (smartphones, work computers, tablets, etc.). If you’re not tracking these potential customers with marketing analytics software, these interactions might seem unrelated when, in reality, they’re the same potential customer.
Multiple devices, numerous touchpoints, and growing regulations on data privacy and tracking make marketing attribution more important than ever. If you want to build a data-compliant way to understand your customers, building a marketing attribution process is your best bet.
Want to learn more about Marketing Automation Software? Explore Marketing Automation products.
Benefits of marketing attribution
Understanding which marketing efforts drive revenue is your most important job as a marketer. Everything marketing builds is designed to increase profitability and sales. Blindly investing in marketing programs with no proof of value is a losing game.
Marketing attribution helps the marketing team:
- Optimize marketing budget spend
- Invest in projects and functions that drive results
- Prove the ROI and value of marketing efforts to leaders and other teams
- Provide valuable customer insights for long-term strategy
- Decrease the length of time prospects spend in the sales cycle
If your marketing team relies on multiple marketing functions like direct mail marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), content creation, etc., investing in marketing attribution will help move all your marketing efforts in the same direction. It helps eliminate communication silos and helps you get the most bang for your buck.
Challenges of marketing attribution
There are a few drawbacks to building an attribution model for your marketing team. The only way you can mess up is by not giving your attribution process the necessary resources and priority. A half-baked attribution model will only deliver half-baked results. In order to avoid making more of a mess for yourself, look out for these common attribution mistakes.
Trusting the data too much
While marketing attribution provides an incredible wealth of information, it will never be a complete snapshot. It can’t account for influences outside of your own marketing funnel. Every time a customer talks to a peer about your product or reads reviews, those interactions are not tracked.
That’s why many companies employ survey software to poll customers once they make a purchase decision. Post-purchase surveys allow marketing teams to collect information that might’ve been missed by attribution, allowing marketers to get the complete picture of why a lead decided to convert.
Ignoring the impact of creative elements
Tracking the effectiveness of your branding elements is crucial to deciding which marketing touchpoints convert successfully. Ad design is just as important as choosing the right channels to promote them. Some attribution software solutions include creative asset testing that allows A/B testing and tracking.
If you’re a business that frequently tests creative elements and you’re in the market for attribution software, don’t forget this important piece!
Not accounting for in-market bias
In some cases, your ad happens upon someone who was already in the market to buy your product. A sloppily built attribution model might credit that touchpoint to closing the deal when the consumer was already planning on making a purchase.
Again, this is why talking to your customers after purchases about what influenced their buying decisions is crucial. It allows you to pinpoint and eliminate outlier data.
How to measure marketing attribution
Choosing which marketing attribution model suits your business needs is just the start. Once you figure out what you want to track, you need a process for actually tracking things. Even small marketing teams should think twice before thinking these things can be tracked manually.
Many customer touchpoints happen online, and a lead will often revisit multiple touchpoints during different phases of the buyer's journey. The best way to get a complete picture of marketing attribution is to use technology.
Attribution software
The easiest way to track marketing attribution is to invest in software. Attribution software is designed solely to track your digital and non-digital attribution channels and their impact on revenue. Hours of spreadsheet tracking and data collecting are easily replaced by a fully automated, fully compatible piece of software.
Marketing attribution software is usually hub software that pulls data from other marketing and software tools. This makes it popular with teams that use a variety of SaaS products for CRM, marketing automation, email marketing, and more. Attribution software pulls data from these sources and makes sense of the entanglements.
Of course, attribution software isn’t cheap. If your marketing strategy is still a bit too green, it might not be the right time for such a big investment. In that case, you can try using a free marketing attribution tool to start.
That said, even if budget isn't an issue, it's important to do your research before making a purchase. Be sure you're asking the right questions as you venture into your own buyer's journey.
Questions to ask the marketing attribution software vendor:
- Can offline efforts, such as cold-calling, be included in the insights and tracking?
- Does this software allow you to see the impact of branding and creative elements on the buyer's journey?
- Does this software deliver optimization insights during the campaign, or only at the end once the deal has closed?
Google Analytics
If you use a Google Analytics business account, you also have access to their built-in attribution tracking model. Google Analytics allows you to pull data from your existing account and report on conversion totals, build reports, and see a singular view of your company’s digital marketing footprint.
One thing to note is that Google Analytics uses a last, non-direct click attribution model and only pulls data back for the last six months. This means their model assigns 100% of credit to the last known source, looking back over the last six months. Even the multi-channel function limits your data to the last 90 days. If you have an extended buying cycle longer than three months, Google Analytics cannot provide you with full, accurate data.
UTM codes
Another popular way to track marketing attribution is utilizing UTM codes. By attaching a UTM code to the end of a custom URL, marketers can track allows marketers to track the success of campaigns. Creating a UTM code requires three tags that are mandatory and two that are optional, but good to have for tracking.
Here’s a quick overview of the five different tags you should include in your UTM code:
1. Campaign source (utm_source)
The campaign source describes the channel on which the action is taking place. Channels include things like social media channels, websites, email newsletters, and more. For example, if you were to track something from Instagram, your campaign source would look something like this:
&utm_source=instagram
2. Campaign medium
The campaign medium describes the action that took place. Again using the Instagram example. If you were tracking your paid social efforts, your campaign medium would look something like this:
&utm_medium=paidsocial
3. Campaign name
The campaign name allows you to link certain marketing actions to specific campaigns you’re running. If you were running a campaign on Instagram to give customers 30% off their next order, your campaign name would look something like this:
&utm_medium=branded%30social
4. Campaign term
Campaign term tags are great for campaigns where you’re running Google Ads to target specific keywords. This tag is optional because not all campaigns involve keyword targeting. If you decide to use campaign term tags, your tag would look something like this:
&utm_term=marketing-targetkeyword.
5. Campaign content
Campaign content tags work best for split-testing ads. This allows you to track which marketing function is converting the most leads. This tag can be used for tracking different CTAs, A/B testing, or buttons. If you decide to use campaign content tags, you’ll want to build two separate UTM codes. Be sure they have very similar names for tracking purposes.
Your duo of campaign tags would look something like this: &utm_content=copy-v1 and &utm_content=copy-v2.
Marketing attribution models
Marketing attribution will look different depending on your organization. The larger your marketing team and organization overall, the more complex your attribution model will need to be. Smaller businesses, on the other hand, can get away with smaller, less complex attribution models.
Below is an overview of the different marketing attribution models and examples of when you would want to use each one. The models have been split between single-channel attribution and multi-channel attribution.
Single-channel attribution models
The single-channel attribution model works by assigning 100% of credit for a sales conversion to a single marketing touchpoint. This attribution model is ideal for teams with simplistic marketing funnels and only a few marketing programs.
Entrepreneurs and small businesses often see success with single-channel attribution as they scale their businesses. Credit for single-channel attribution can be assigned in one of two ways: first-touch attribution or last-touch attribution.
1. First-touch attribution
First-touch attribution assigns full credit for a conversion to the first touchpoint a customer encountered during the buyer's journey.
This model assumes that the customer decided to do business with your company after the first touchpoint they encountered. For example, if the first thing your customer did was sign up for your newsletter, your email marketing efforts would get all the credit for the conversion.
Use the first-touch attribution model to discover which channels bring in the most new leads or if you’re just beginning to build your marketing funnel. This model works best for simple marketing funnels with few touchpoints.
Avoid the first-touch attribution model if your customer journey takes longer than 90 days. A sale cycle of this length means there are likely multiple touchpoints that factor into the buying decision. You’re better off using last-touch attribution or multi-channel attribution.
2. Last-touch attribution
Last-touch attribution gives full credit to the last touchpoint the consumer interacts with before finalizing their purchasing decision. This model does not give credit to any previous touchpoints, no matter how long the buyer's journey takes. Sole credit is awarded to the person who closed the deal.
Use the last touch attribution mode: to understand high-impact touchpoints at the bottom of your funnel. It helps you find channels that are driving the most conversions.
Avoid the last-click attribution model if your customer journey is complicated and involves extensive research before purchasing. Instead, use an attribution model that covers all relevant touchpoints.
Single-channel attribution is for simplistic marketing funnels. There’s nothing wrong with having a simplistic marketing strategy. Many small businesses and startups begin with single-channel attribution before moving on to a more complex multi-channel approach.
Multi-channel attribution models
The multi-channel attribution model works by assigning credit based on a weighted scale. Using one of the many multi-channel attribution models, every touchpoint the customer interacts with during the buyer's journey is assigned a percent of the credit. This gives your team a more robust look at which programs drive conversions.
Most teams choose to use multi-channel attribution models because it allows for a more detailed way to assign credit. Larger marketing teams with many programs or companies with long buying cycles should use multi-channel attribution to get the most accurate information.
1. Linear attribution model
The linear attribution model assigns credit to any touchpoint the customer engages with before converting. This model weighs each touchpoint equally and assigns credit evenly across the board. Some companies choose to add a weighted touchpoint model to the linear model to allow them to give extra credit to programs that did heavy lifting.
Use the linear attribution model to understand which channels are consistent across the buyer's journey and to determine which channels drive direct conversions.
Avoid the linear attribution model if you already understand the buyer's journey and you’re instead looking to determine which of your marketing touchpoints are the most critical.
2. U-shaped attribution model
If you’re looking for an attribution model that scores touchpoints separately, the U-shaped model might work for you. This model scores engagements on a weighted scale, with the first touch and lead conversion touch both, getting 40% of credit for the lead. The remaining 20% is divided between all the remaining touchpoints between the first and lead conversion touch.
Use the U-shaped attribution model to discover which channel is best for acquiring an audience or if you rely heavily on nurturing campaigns in your marketing strategy.
Avoid the U-shaped attribution model if you use Google Analytics to track conversions. A longer decision-making cycle outside of the Google Analytics tagging window (30-90 days) means your data could get lost or corrupted.
3. W-shaped attribution model
The W-shaped attribution model uses the same methodology as the U-shaped model but adds one additional touchpoint—the opportunity stage. This model divides 90% of the credit equally between the first touch, lead conversion, and opportunity stage. The remaining 10% is divided between any other engagements.
Use the W-shaped attribution model if you’re looking to identify which touchpoints directly link to audience building, lead generator, and conversion channels.
Avoid the W-shaped attribution model if you use Google Analytics to track conversions. A longer decision-making cycle outside of the Google Analytics tagging window (30-90 days) means your data could get lost or corrupted.
4. Full path
Taking the W-shaped model one step further, the full path model splits the credit between all the major touchpoints, as well as a lower-weighted credit to any engagements in between. This model allows for any touchpoints coming from your sales team to receive credit for their help closing deals.
Use the full-path attribution model to figure out which marketing channels drive direct action to closed/won deals. This is also a great model if your team is measured on influenced revenue.
Avoid the full-path attribution model if you do not have a close relationship with your sales team. If that’s the case, the W-shaped attribution model will work better.
5. Time decay
Like many of the models above, the time decay attribution model weighs each touchpoint differently. Time decay prioritizes touchpoints closer to the conversion and assigns them more weight, assuming they have a greater impact on the sale. The further away a touchpoint is from the close of a deal, the less significance it’s given.
Use the time decay attribution model if you have a short customer journey (fewer than 90 days) and you want to determine which touchpoints drive conversions.
Avoid the time decay attribution model if you have a long B2B sales cycle. Oftentimes, the customer has made a decision long before the final touchpoint or before signing any paperwork.
6. Custom model
The custom marketing attribution model is used when components of the models listed above are used to create a totally unique attribution model tailored to your business needs. This is the ideal scenario for any marketing team that needs to dig into the numbers.
Use the custom attribution model if you are looking for hyper-personalized data to fine-tune your marketing strategy.
Avoid the custom attribution model if you don’t have the time, resources, or personnel to build and closely monitor this process. Ideally, your team would have a full-time employee on your marketing operations team working on this.
Best marketing attribution software
With various tools available, selecting the right marketing attribution software can significantly enhance your ability to measure performance, optimize strategies, and allocate budgets more effectively.
To qualify as the best attribution software, a product must:
- Track various marketing channels (e.g., TV, social media, email) to capture customer interactions.
- Support multiple attribution models, including single-touch, fractional, and algorithmic attribution.
- Offer dashboards and visualizations based on historical data and user-defined KPIs to assess performance.
- Integrate with sales, marketing, and public relations software solutions.
*Below are the top 5 leading attribution software solutions from G2’s Fall 2024 Grid® Report. Some reviews may be edited for clarity.
1. HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot Marketing Hub is a leading inbound marketing platform that provides businesses with tools to attract, engage, and delight customers. It offers a comprehensive suite of features, including content management, email marketing, social media management, SEO tools, lead generation, and marketing automation.
What users like best:
"The HubSpot marketing platform offers excellent campaign analytics and ads integration, making it easy to identify high-performing ad campaigns with detailed statistics. Additionally, its list management feature is beneficial, as it maintains a complete history of user interactions, which helps analyze the impact of personalized marketing efforts."
- HubSpot Marketing Hub Review, Aman G.
What users dislike:
"One helpful improvement would be better integration with the sales functionality. We want to share marketing email data and form submission data with our sales team, but sometimes this information is difficult for them to find and access."
- HubSpot Marketing Hub Review, Vanessa C.
2. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a comprehensive marketing automation and customer relationship management (CRM) platform designed to help businesses create meaningful customer experiences. It combines email marketing, automation, sales CRM, and customer service tools in one easy-to-use platform and provides insights into customer interactions and campaign performance.
What users like best:
"ActiveCampaign is perfect for small teams like ours, where three sales users manage contacts and deals effortlessly. We rely on it daily for campaigns, automations, and forms. Although the initial setup requires some time, it becomes user-friendly afterward. The excellent customer support is fast and helpful. The platform’s analytics provide valuable insights into campaign performance, helping us make data-driven decisions. With customizable templates and an intuitive interface, creating professional emails and landing pages is easy. Overall, ActiveCampaign has greatly streamlined our processes and improved efficiency."
- ActiveCampaign Review, Marina F.
What users dislike:
"Some features in ActiveCampaign can be complicated to manage because they aren’t directly connected. For example, fields in forms are found under the Contacts section rather than the Website section, which isn't very intuitive. Additionally, modules do not update automatically across all integrated forms, leading to management challenges. I’ve also encountered issues where certain actions weren’t working, but I only discovered this by checking automation, as I would expect alerts for any malfunctions. While customer support is good, it isn't always immediate."
- ActiveCampaign Review, M B.
3. CallRail
CallRail is a powerful call-tracking and analytics tool designed to help businesses measure and optimize their marketing efforts. It plays a crucial role in marketing attribution by linking phone calls to specific marketing sources, campaigns, and keywords.
What users like best:
"Our agency uses CallRail to effectively track the success of our advertising campaigns. By assigning individual tracking numbers for each campaign—whether print, radio, or TV—we can better analyze attribution and ROI, allowing us to make informed decisions based not just on the number of calls received but also their quality. The ability to listen to recorded calls helps us determine if our creative messaging resonates with clients or if adjustments are needed for clarity. Our QA team can tag calls to track keywords and other important metrics. Additionally, the feature to filter calls based on call length helps us eliminate spam calls."
- CallRail Review, Katie D.
What users dislike:
"The call flow in CallRail could use improvement, as it isn't as modular as I'd like. Ideally, it could function as a true softphone system, allowing users to create extensions and customize the call flow further. Additionally, the app doesn’t sort calls in a way that meets my needs; I want the ability to sort by both source name and source type. It would also be helpful to have a clear distinction between source type and source name for better organization."
-CallRail Review, Micah W.
4. Triple Whale
Triple Whale is a powerful analytics and attribution tool designed specifically for e-commerce businesses. It provides a centralized platform that helps brands track, analyze, and optimize their marketing performance across multiple channels.
What users like best:
"The range of attribution models available is impressive, allowing for a more nuanced analysis of marketing performance. The creative cockpit feature provides valuable insights, enabling us to assess the true effectiveness of any creative asset when making decisions. Most importantly, the authenticity of the data stands out as a key takeaway, ensuring we can trust the insights we gather to guide our strategies."
- Triple Whale Review, Muhammad I.
What users dislike:
"Pricing for Triple Whale can become quite high, especially when purchasing add-ons. While it is expensive, it's definitely worth the investment, as premium products typically come with premium pricing. However, it may not be suitable for very small brands that won't fully utilize the data provided by Triple Whale."
- Triple Whale Review, Jacob G.
5. WhatConverts
WhatConverts is a marketing attribution tool designed to help businesses track and analyze their marketing performance across various channels. By capturing data on leads, calls, form submissions, and other conversions, WhatConverts provides marketers with a comprehensive view of their customer interactions.
What users like best:
"Multichannel lead tracking and attribution were once out of reach for small and medium-sized businesses, but WhatConverts makes it accessible and intuitive. It tracks forms, calls, and more all in one place, providing clear data on our ROI and acquisition channels. I particularly appreciate the visibility it offers, especially in the legal sector. Additionally, their tech support is excellent; Max, in particular, was incredibly knowledgeable and helpful during our setup with WhatConverts."
- WhatConverts Review, Ege A.
What users dislike:
"A downside of WhatConverts is that it doesn't integrate well with every booking system we use. This gap can make it challenging to track everything accurately, especially since some systems struggle to share data effectively. This is an area that could be improved to minimize the need for workarounds."
- WhatConverts Review, Josiah R.
Frequently asked questions on marketing attribution
Q: How do I choose the right attribution model for my business?
Choosing the right attribution model depends on your goals, marketing strategy, and customer journey. Start by defining your objectives—whether it’s brand awareness, lead generation, or sales. Analyze the typical customer journey to pinpoint key touchpoints influencing decisions. Assess the performance of your marketing channels, considering the data quality you have. Begin by testing simpler models, then gradually explore more complex options as needed.
Q: What is the difference between marketing attribution and marketing analytics?
Marketing attribution focuses specifically on understanding which marketing efforts contribute to conversions, while marketing analytics encompasses a broader range of data analysis related to all marketing activities, including performance metrics, customer behavior, and trends.
Q: How can I track offline marketing efforts?
To track offline marketing efforts, consider using unique tracking numbers, dedicated URLs, or promotional codes that allow you to link offline interactions to online behavior.
Meet your campaign’s GPS!
As we navigate an ever-evolving digital world, the importance of solid attribution models becomes even clearer. They empower teams to make smarter decisions and refine their approaches, ultimately enhancing customer experiences.
So, whether you're diving into data analytics or experimenting with new channels, remember: the clearer your attribution, the sharper your marketing strategy will be.
Discover the most popular marketing KPIs that your CMO secretly wishes you were tracking.
This article was originally published in 2020. It has been updated with new information
Lauren Pope
Lauren Pope is a former content marketer at G2. You can find her work featured on CNBC, Yahoo! Finance, the G2 Learning Hub, and other sites. In her free time, Lauren enjoys watching true crime shows and singing karaoke. (she/her/hers)
