Attribution
Attribution is deciding which marketing touches get credit for a sale, and it decides where budgets flow.
What attribution is
Attribution is deciding which marketing touches get credit for a sale: the ad clicked last week, the email opened yesterday, the search that closed it, and in what proportion.
Why attribution matters
Budgets follow credit: whichever model assigns it decides which channels look profitable and get funded. The wrong model quietly starves the channels that start journeys and overfeeds the ones that finish them.
Common attribution models
- Last-click: all credit to the final touch
- First-click: all credit to the introduction
- Linear and position-based: credit spread across touches
- Data-driven: modeled credit from conversion patterns
Frequently asked questions
Why is attribution getting harder?
Privacy changes, consent choices, and cross-device journeys break the tracking thread: platforms increasingly model conversions instead of observing them. Treat attribution as estimation, and sanity-check it against incrementality tests and plain revenue.
Which model should a store use?
One that matches the question: last-click for closing efficiency, longer-window models for understanding discovery. Pick one lens for decisions and stay consistent; switching models mid-comparison manufactures fake trends.