What is attribution in marketing?

Question

Justin Parker · Accepted Answer

Attribution in marketing is a process that is used to identify and measure the impact of a variety of marketing campaigns or channels on a specific desired outcome, like a sale or conversion. Attribution is used in marketing to help companies understand which ad campaigns or marketing channels are key to driving positive business results.

Attribution plays a key role in digital marketing. It tries to understand what drives consumers to click on certain ads and ultimately make purchases.

Broken down even further, attribution looks at each stage in the process, for example, a consumer might see an ad on social media, then select a Google search ad before finally making a purchase. Attribution assists in evaluating how much credit each one of these stages that led to the sale should receive in terms of their contribution to the sale.

There are several different types of attribution models in marketing, including:

Last-click attribution - This gives credit to the last touchpoint before the conversion was made.
First-click attribution - This provides the first touchpoint that then brought the consumer to the website to make the purchase.
Multi-touch attribution - This form of attribution credits several touchpoints that were involved with the consumer's journey toward the purchase.
Time decay attribution - This form of attribution gives more credit to touchpoints that are closer, in terms of time, to the conversion.
Linear attribution - This type of attribution sees credit divided equally amongst all touchpoints involved in the consumer making the purchase.

Attribution is used by marketing professionals and companies to better comprehend the success or lack of success regarding their marketing campaigns. This process enables them to adjust or transition their strategies in an attempt to optimize conversations or sales.