The problem is, this treats the buyer
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 4:19 am
as if they existed in a vacuum: nothing before this moment had any influence on their decision. This leads to undervaluation of both lead nurture and generation - as if all that mattered were the final CTA.
3. Linear Attribution
This model assigns equal credit to every channel the buyer interacts with, creating a totally flat weighting system. This helps address the issues with first and last touch mobile no data attribution, and advocates argue it helps marketers better understand the full buyer journey.
Example: Imagine a situation where a prospect has been in your marketing funnel for several months. During that time, they opened 7 emails and clicked 4 of them, downloaded 2 one pagers, interacted with 3 social ads, and read a single blog article for 23 seconds.
The linear attribution model would give as much credit to your blog as to your email team, which essentially undermines the key benefits of marketing attribution.
It becomes impossible to alter your channel mix - unless a specific channel is not engaged with at all - and fails to assess the relative ROI of any channel which is used.
4. Time Decay Attribution
This model assigns credit to each channel based on its relative temporal proximity to conversion. That is, channels that were used 1 day before conversion are given more weight than those used 2 days before - creating a descending slope from the last to first touchpoint.
While linear attribution treats the buyer journey as if there is no ebb and flow between a buyer’s first and last brand interaction, time decay attribution assumes the journey is a constantly escalating adventure. But given that B2B buyers no longer move through the funnel in a linear motion, this makes little sense - and risks crediting useless activity that happens to have occurred close to the moment of conversion.
Example: If a prospect happens to open an email the day before they convert, email marketing will be given a greater weighting than the white paper they read 2 weeks ago - even if the email had no impact whatsoever.
5. W-shaped Attribution
This model emphasizes three moments in the buyer journey:
The first interaction
The moment the prospect becomes a lead
The moment of conversion
Each of these take 30% of the credit, while the final 10% is shared equally amongst all other touchpoints - creating a ‘W’ shape on a graph.
Example: A prospect enters your funnel through a paid search ad, becomes a prospect when they download an eBook and ultimately convert based on an email - and therefore all three share equal credit for the conversion.
The problem is this assumes that each ‘stage’ is equally challenging. It might be much more meaningful for a given user to download an eBook than it was for them to click on an ad (after all, the latter content demands far less time and attention.) As a result, marketers don’t properly focus their efforts on ‘pain points’ within their funnel.
6. U-shaped Attribution
This model gives the first and last touchpoints 40% of credit for a conversion - and distributes the final 20% amongst everything in the middle. While this is unlikely to be perfectly accurate, it ensures the right factors are focused on - and tends to produce the best results.
Why? Largely because lead generation and conversion are the most impactful activities. Once you have a prospect in your funnel, regular nurture is essential. But turning them into a customer - and generating revenue - is ultimately a matter of conversion.
Example: Organic search might bring the user in, and your super persuasive email finally convinced them to convert - but there is still plenty of activity in the middle that influences their behavior. The U-shaped attribution model addresses that fact - without treating everything as totally equal.
Still Struggling to Achieve Accurate Marketing Attribution?
Even with the right strategy in place, marketing attribution is difficult. You need accurate data to track buyer behavior and the right analytics in place to turn that data into clear, actionable insights.
ProperExpression is a performance marketing and RevOps agency that helps marketers set up and automate that kind of reporting - all based on proper attribution models. The result? You receive real-time feedback to optimize your campaigns, understand buyer behavior and drive more revenue.
3. Linear Attribution
This model assigns equal credit to every channel the buyer interacts with, creating a totally flat weighting system. This helps address the issues with first and last touch mobile no data attribution, and advocates argue it helps marketers better understand the full buyer journey.
Example: Imagine a situation where a prospect has been in your marketing funnel for several months. During that time, they opened 7 emails and clicked 4 of them, downloaded 2 one pagers, interacted with 3 social ads, and read a single blog article for 23 seconds.
The linear attribution model would give as much credit to your blog as to your email team, which essentially undermines the key benefits of marketing attribution.
It becomes impossible to alter your channel mix - unless a specific channel is not engaged with at all - and fails to assess the relative ROI of any channel which is used.
4. Time Decay Attribution
This model assigns credit to each channel based on its relative temporal proximity to conversion. That is, channels that were used 1 day before conversion are given more weight than those used 2 days before - creating a descending slope from the last to first touchpoint.
While linear attribution treats the buyer journey as if there is no ebb and flow between a buyer’s first and last brand interaction, time decay attribution assumes the journey is a constantly escalating adventure. But given that B2B buyers no longer move through the funnel in a linear motion, this makes little sense - and risks crediting useless activity that happens to have occurred close to the moment of conversion.
Example: If a prospect happens to open an email the day before they convert, email marketing will be given a greater weighting than the white paper they read 2 weeks ago - even if the email had no impact whatsoever.
5. W-shaped Attribution
This model emphasizes three moments in the buyer journey:
The first interaction
The moment the prospect becomes a lead
The moment of conversion
Each of these take 30% of the credit, while the final 10% is shared equally amongst all other touchpoints - creating a ‘W’ shape on a graph.
Example: A prospect enters your funnel through a paid search ad, becomes a prospect when they download an eBook and ultimately convert based on an email - and therefore all three share equal credit for the conversion.
The problem is this assumes that each ‘stage’ is equally challenging. It might be much more meaningful for a given user to download an eBook than it was for them to click on an ad (after all, the latter content demands far less time and attention.) As a result, marketers don’t properly focus their efforts on ‘pain points’ within their funnel.
6. U-shaped Attribution
This model gives the first and last touchpoints 40% of credit for a conversion - and distributes the final 20% amongst everything in the middle. While this is unlikely to be perfectly accurate, it ensures the right factors are focused on - and tends to produce the best results.
Why? Largely because lead generation and conversion are the most impactful activities. Once you have a prospect in your funnel, regular nurture is essential. But turning them into a customer - and generating revenue - is ultimately a matter of conversion.
Example: Organic search might bring the user in, and your super persuasive email finally convinced them to convert - but there is still plenty of activity in the middle that influences their behavior. The U-shaped attribution model addresses that fact - without treating everything as totally equal.
Still Struggling to Achieve Accurate Marketing Attribution?
Even with the right strategy in place, marketing attribution is difficult. You need accurate data to track buyer behavior and the right analytics in place to turn that data into clear, actionable insights.
ProperExpression is a performance marketing and RevOps agency that helps marketers set up and automate that kind of reporting - all based on proper attribution models. The result? You receive real-time feedback to optimize your campaigns, understand buyer behavior and drive more revenue.