What do we actually mean by attribution?
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2025 5:08 am
When someone buys a product online, it's rarely a direct process. Instead, the user often encounters numerous touchpoints with the brand before making an online purchase. These touchpoints can occur across a variety of channels, such as an ad on Facebook , a video on YouTube, or a Google search. A customer's journey, from the first touchpoint that generates awareness of the product to the final touchpoint where the product is purchased in the online shop, is called the customer journey. Every customer journey is unique and, tunisia phone number data nowadays, very complex, as it spans not only channels, but also browsers and devices.
Attribution in Performance Marketing - Touchpoints along the Customer Journey
In the customer journey depicted above, email marketing was the final touchpoint before the purchase was completed. However, it would be wrong to say that email marketing alone was responsible for the purchase, as there were a whole series of preparatory marketing channels. That would be like blaming only the goalscorer for scoring a goal in a soccer match. Instead, the teamwork of the entire team was the reason a goal was ultimately scored.
Performance marketing focuses on the measurable performance of a marketing channel. Using data, the goal is to determine precisely which channel or ad triggered or contributed to a purchase. Attribution and attribution models come into play to answer this question. They allow us to view the entire customer journey with all its touchpoints and assign a certain value to each channel involved.
Attribution addresses the following questions:
Which channels or ads have the greatest impact on conversion?
Which channels are preparatory and which are final in terms of a conversion?
Where do we want to invest our budget in the future?
Attribution in Performance Marketing - Touchpoints along the Customer Journey
In the customer journey depicted above, email marketing was the final touchpoint before the purchase was completed. However, it would be wrong to say that email marketing alone was responsible for the purchase, as there were a whole series of preparatory marketing channels. That would be like blaming only the goalscorer for scoring a goal in a soccer match. Instead, the teamwork of the entire team was the reason a goal was ultimately scored.
Performance marketing focuses on the measurable performance of a marketing channel. Using data, the goal is to determine precisely which channel or ad triggered or contributed to a purchase. Attribution and attribution models come into play to answer this question. They allow us to view the entire customer journey with all its touchpoints and assign a certain value to each channel involved.
Attribution addresses the following questions:
Which channels or ads have the greatest impact on conversion?
Which channels are preparatory and which are final in terms of a conversion?
Where do we want to invest our budget in the future?