In a perfect world, a user visits your website and decides to buy the product. He then keeps buying the product regularly and becomes a loyal customer. Looks pretty rosy, doesn’t it? The world is not perfect, and this isn’t as easy as it sounds. The customer journey is more nuanced than we think. Various touchpoints, nudges and reinforcements need to be put in place for the customers to become loyalists.
What is Attribution?
We create content for the website, run ads, get crazy on social media, and make our sales efforts to push a product. Yes, the path is not so straightforward after all. Then how will we get to know which way is working the best? Or which way attributes to which part of the funnel?
For this, the attribution model comes to the rescue. Every marketing touchpoint is designated with credits to understand which touchpoint is driving the most conversions. It further helps you design future campaigns from those touchpoints to optimise growth.
Every attribution model is different; it may be best for one industry, not another. The attribution models are based on two most important factors:
- Length of buying cycle; and
- Nature of offering
These factors must be kept in mind while choosing an appropriate model.
What are the types of Attribution Models?
Let’s learn about the most common attribution models.
There are six standard attribution models:
First Touch Attribution: In this model, the whole of the credits are assigned to the first point of contact a user has. For example, if a user saw an ad, then the blog and then the landing page before converting, the credits will be awarded to the ad only.
Last Touch Attribution: This model awards credit for the user’s final point of interaction. Under this model, if a user saw an ad, then the blog and then the landing page before converting, the credits will be awarded to the landing page only. It is also called last interaction attribution.
Multi-Touch Attribution: This model awards different weightage to different traffic sources for an interaction. This helps assign an appropriate weightage of credits and efforts to different channels. If you run ads on Facebook, Google, Instagram and Twitter, weightage from each platform will vary according to the impact or engagement the ads bring.
Linear Attribution: Linear Attribution allots credits equally to every checkpoint of interaction. If you’re running ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, each will get an equal weightage. This may be a more straightforward way of attributing values; however, it may lead your marketing efforts astray.
Time-Decay Attribution: Similar to linear attribution, this model also attributes values to multiple checkpoints. Under this model, whichever interaction occurs closer to the conversion time is attributed with more weight than the others. The last interaction is awarded more credits, while the first is awarded the least.
Position-Based Attribution: Position-based attribution, also known as U-shaped attribution, distributes credits between the first and last interactions before making a purchase. Each of these checkpoints is awarded 40% credits each, and the rest of the checkpoints in between them are given 20% of the credits split among the checkpoints.
Summary
Attribution Models are very instrumental in balancing efforts across multiple channels of marketing. They help you understand the highest converting channel and where customers have maximum interaction.
Every attribution model is different; it may be best for one industry, not another. The attribution models are based on multiple factors, but it’s a crucial metric for you as a marketer to follow to ensure maximum success in your business.
