Marketing Attribution Explained
When you use multiple platforms to market your product, it can be tricky to determine what platform actually caused the customer to complete the sale. Are multiple platforms taking credit for the same sale? Are certain platforms under reporting or over reporting their true effectiveness in your business’ growth? Where should you put your next advertising dollar?
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or confused by attribution, you’re not alone. The likelihood is that the customer had multiple touchpoints before making a purchase and each channel likely played a part. This is why we always recommend a multichannel approach. Let’s dive in to see how each platform calculates attribution and how you can use this information to make better business decisions.
What is attribution?
Marketing attribution is 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.
Essentially, which channel created the sale.
How is attribution measured?
Each advertising platform measures attribution differently.
Meta reports on a 1-day view / 7-day click attribution window. This means if you view an ad and purchase within 1 day OR click an ad and purchase within 7 days, Meta will attribute the sale to their efforts.
Pinterest allows you to customize your attribution window to be up to 60-day click or 60-day view, but we report on a 7-day view / 7-day click attribution window to be more accurate.
Google Ads reports on a 30-day click through attribution window. They do not report on any view through attributions as the other platforms do. However, their attribution is set to be data driven. That means that conversion credit is distributed across every channel based on how much it contributed to the sale. As a result of this data driven attribution, Google may show partial conversions/transactions.
EX: If a customer took 3 trips to your website before purchasing, 1 through Google, 1 through Meta, and 1 through Email, the purchase is divided amongst all 3 channels based on how much it contributed to the sale. So if the initial click was through Google, and 40% of the shopping activity occurred during that click, Google will be attributed 0.4 conversions, and 40% of the conversion value is credited to Google.
Klaviyo reports on a 5 day attribution window, so if you open or click an email and purchase within 5 days, Klaviyo will take credit for that sale.
Attentive reports on a 1-day view / 30-day click attribution window.
How is attribution used?
We use attribution to determine which channels, and more specifically, which ads/campaigns are generating the most revenue. Attribution allows us to see how a campaign is performing, and make adjustments accordingly. It is a necessary tool for optimizing your sales channels.
Downsides to how attribution is calculated:
Because each platform reports on attribution individually, it is possible to double count conversions/revenue.
EX: A user sees a Meta ad for a product. The user then searches for the product they saw in Google. They then click on a Google ad and make a purchase. In this case, Meta would attribute the sale to their ads due to the view through conversion, and Google would attribute the sale to their ads due to the Ad Click. Both ads contributed to the sale, so both deserve the credit, but as a result it may over report the revenue generated.
Attribution does not account for conversions through multiple devices.
EX: A user is browsing Instagram on their phone. The user then clicks on an ad, and begins shopping on a website. They add multiple items to the cart and make an account. This same user then goes on their desktop a couple days later and completes their transaction. Even though the Instagram ad created the interest for the sale and drove the customer to the website, because the sale was completed on a different device, Instagram would not receive any credit.
Attribution data may be delayed. In some cases, you may see sales numbers increase over time. This is due to the attribution window, and how each platform attributes the conversion.
EX: A user clicks on a Google ad on July 31st and adds an item to cart. They then return to the website on August 1st, and complete the sale. While the sale itself occurred in August, Google would attribute the sale to the ads click in July.
What do we do about it?
Take it with a grain of salt and use your best judgment. If you are seeing something that does not make sense, it's time to investigate.
Is there an issue with your attribution window? Are your UTM’s properly set up? If a number does not make sense, there is always a reason.
Look at what each platform is reporting and don't take it at face value.
Dig into analytics tools like GA4 to get a better idea of the conversion path and how all of these channels work together. Some transactions may take multiple trips to the website before converting. Your customer may interact with each channel at a different step in the process. Understanding their purchase journey can help you assign value to the proper channel. You might notice some helpful trends like the majority of your users beginning their purchase journey on Meta, but ending the journey on Google.
Make sure you have a post-purchase survey in place.
What better way to find out what led to the sale than directly asking? We recommend Fairing and KnoCommerce to easily implement a post purchase survey as part of your Shopify checkout process. Feedback directly from your customers is invaluable.
Invest in a 3rd party attribution software like Triple Whale.
Use our partner link if interested in getting started!
Partner with us!
Our team of experts provide you with a monthly report breaking down the performance across your marketing channels. We do the heavy lifting for you, to make sure the data is digestible and accurate. For more information, check out our services, and learn how Milked Media can help you take your business to the next level.