Attribution: why you should choose Multi-Touch Attribution for your business

Attribution: why you should choose Multi-Touch Attribution for your business

Setting up campaigns is one job, but understanding which marketing investments are generating leads and sales is something else. “To measure is to know” is what it often rings true at BeBold. But how do you measure and compare the right data? That starts with choosing the right attribution model.  
 
An attribution model is a set of rules for collecting and analyzing information. One of the most important aspects of a marketing report is its ability to show the connection between revenue and the campaigns responsible for generating that revenue. By measuring and analyzing marketing investments’ results, marketers can decide how to spend future budgets. Attribution provides insight into which channels and campaigns are most effective in converting leads into customers. But with so many attribution models out there, it can be challenging to choose the right one for your business. We recommend the Multi-Touch Attribution model – and in this blog, we’ll tell you why. 

What is single-touch attribution 

Single-touch attribution is a traditional approach that assigns all credit for a conversion to a single touchpoint, which can be misleading. This means that if a customer interacts with multiple touchpoints before converting, single-touch attribution will only credit one of those touchpoints. 

This approach can limit the understanding of how different touchpoints contribute to the overall conversion process, which can lead to a lack of visibility and missed opportunities to optimize campaigns. Multi-touch attribution, on the other hand, provides a more comprehensive view of how different touchpoints work together to influence conversions. 

Two different types of single-touch attribution models 

First-touch attribution 

First-touch attribution models assign all the credit for a conversion to the very first marketing interaction a customer has with your brand. This can be super valuable information if your main goal is to attract new customers and figure out which channels are doing the best job of getting your brand out there. But, there’s a catch. First-touch attribution models don’t take into account any of the interactions that happen after that initial touchpoint. That means you’ll be missing out on crucial insights into how effective your down-funnel marketing efforts really are. 

Last-touch attribution 

With last-touch attribution, all the credit for a conversion goes to the last marketing interaction the customer had with your brand. We believe that relying solely on last-touch attribution to measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts is an incomplete approach. While it may be true that the last marketing interaction before a conversion is significant, it doesn’t paint a full picture of the customer journey. It’s important to take into account all the touchpoints a customer has with your brand leading up to a conversion to truly understand the impact of your marketing efforts. 

Downsides of a single-touch attribution model 

Relying on a single-touch attribution model to measure the impact of your marketing campaigns can be misleading and inaccurate. With the increasing number of touchpoints that customers have with your brand before making a purchase, it’s no longer sufficient to credit just one source campaign with the entire sale. This can lead to a lack of clarity and understanding about the true impact of your marketing efforts, which can make it difficult to make informed decisions about future campaigns.

Using a multi-touch attribution model can provide a more accurate and comprehensive view of the customer journey. This way, you can better understand the contribution of each touchpoint to the customer journey and make more informed decisions about your marketing strategy moving forward. 

What is multi-touch attribution? 

In today’s complex marketing landscape, it’s essential to take a comprehensive approach to attribution. With prospects and leads often engaging with multiple marketing activities and channels before converting, it’s crucial to map their journeys accurately. This is where multi-touch attribution, also known as fractional attribution, comes in. This approach takes into account every touchpoint a customer has with your brand when attributing credit for a conversion. By using multi-touch attribution, you can gain a more complete understanding of your customers’ journeys and the impact of your marketing efforts at each stage. 

Benefits of a multi-touch model 

The ability to attribute credit for conversions across all marketing channels is invaluable. By using multi-touch attribution, marketers can gain a more holistic view of the customer journey and understand how all channels work together to influence conversions. This is critical for improving the customer experience and ensuring that each touchpoint contributes to a positive outcome. With multi-touch attribution, marketers can gain insights into what matters most to their target audience and identify the aspects of the customer experience that are most influential in their decision-making process. Armed with this data, marketers can enhance their marketing strategies and create more effective campaigns that resonate with their customers. 

Multi-touch models 

Even-Weight model 

The even-weight attribution model is the most straightforward approach to multi-touch attribution. This model assigns equal credit to each touchpoint in the buyer’s journey, making it easy to understand and implement. However, it does have its limitations.  

One of the main drawbacks of the even-weight attribution model is that it doesn’t consider the relative importance of each touchpoint. In other words, all touchpoints are given equal value, regardless of their actual impact on the conversion. This can result in inaccurate attribution, and ultimately, ineffective marketing decisions. 

Time-Decay model 

The time decay attribution model recognizes that not all touchpoints are created equal and gives each touchpoint a score based on its relative influence on the conversion. By organizing touchpoints in order of importance, with the least influential first and the most influential last, we get a clearer picture of the customer journey and which touchpoints had the most significant impact on the conversion. While this model can be more challenging to understand and implement than the even-weight model, we believe that the extra effort is worth it for the accuracy and insights it provides. 

U-shaped model 

The U-shaped attribution model, also known as the bathtub model, is similar to the time-decay model in that it considers each touchpoint’s relative importance. However, the U-shaped model gives the first and last touchpoints in the buyer’s journey a higher percentage of credit than the touchpoints in the middle.   

 

W-shaped model 

The W-shaped model is similar to the U-shaped model. But it is different because it gives importance primarily to the first, last and middle touchpoint in the buying journey. All remaining touchpoints receive an equal score. The ideal attribution model for your business will depend on several factors, including the type of business, the products, or services you offer, and the buyer’s journey.