In our modern era, marketers have access to more communication channels to engage with customers more than ever before. The more of these channels marketers use, the more they need to understand which of those channels are generating leads and converting customers and why. Optimizing their channels will bring them higher ROI.
Since Consumers interact with brands through multiple touchpoints before they complete a transaction, the buyers’ journey is more complex, which subsequently makes it more challenging for marketers to identify and optimize those channels.
A way out of this predicament is to leverage marketing attribution.
Marketing attribution is a technique for marketers to assess the value or ROI of the channels that connect them to potential customers. It is the analytical science of determining which marketing tactics are contributing to sales or conversions. Attribution models can facilitate your marketing efforts and help shape your overall strategy.
If you are considering this tactic, here is a snapshot of how other marketers view marketing attribution:
- Marketing Evolution, a marketing and optimization solutions provider, defines marketing attribution as “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.”
- In the article “Marketing Attribution: A Simple Guide For Marketers” by the attribution experts, PixelMe, it’s identified that it takes a customer an average of 6 to 8 touches across multiple channels and devices before a conversion is completed.
Therefore, it’s vital to know which channels contribute to your customer conversion funnel, using marketing attribution tools. - Analytics and attribution experts, Ruler Analytics, define the benefits of marketing attribution as:
- Optimise Your Marketing Spend
- Increase Your ROI
- Evidence What’s Working
- Track Offline Conversions
- Find Micro-Conversions
- According to the data analytics experts, Agency Analytics, there are six common attribution models: 1) First Interaction, 2) Last Interaction, 3) Last Non-Direct Click, 4) Linear, 5) Time-Decay, 6) Position-Based.
There isn’t a best attribution model that fits everyone. It’s advised to choose one as your primary tool based on your end goals of your marketing campaigns. Look for the one that will also help you measure them more easily.
- SEO and analytics expert, Neil Patel, mentions a few attribution tools available in the market in his article “How to Use Marketing Attribution to Take Your Business to the Next Level”:
- HubSpot’s Attribution Report tool: this lets you automate the process of running the model or models that are the best fit for your company. HubSpot’s reporting features can help you simplify attribution modeling. However, they’re more of an all-in-one tool and that doesn’t work for some companies.
- Bizible: its features include multi-touch attribution to measure data across all channels from the first touch to close, account-based management to measure revenue across the board, and full-funnel insights.
- Bright Funnel: you can make the entire customer journey optimized with BrightFunnel’s Revenue Intelligence Suite.
The last two may be a bit pricier than HubSpot in the long run.
- Our CTO, Mike Geller, shares a three-step approach to an effective marketing attribution model in his article “Reading Between the Lines: A Three-Step Marketing Attribution Model for Connecting Your Campaigns to Revenue”:
- Record and track your marketing campaigns
- Calculate the cost of your marketing activities and the revenue generated
- Read Between the Lines to Get the Big Picture
Marketing attribution models have the power to take your organization to the next level. Expert marketers know that what gets measured is what gets done. Measuring the right metrics and optimizing your spend to increase your ROI are real results from implementing the suitable attribution model.
Have you worked with attribution models before? Are you in the consideration phase? Let us know how this is going, get in touch!