Do’s and Dont’s of Marketing Attribution
Marketing Attribution can seem like an uphill task. It is a lot of maths, and the full array of Attribution Models and Tools available in the market can make every choice confusing.
As a result, a lot of marketing teams are hesitant to tackle this complex problem and never dig deep into it.
This short guide will give you the fundamentals to get started and help you avoid some common pitfalls.
Do
Just get Started
Don’t hesitate. Just get started. No amount of research will make you an expert without practice.
It’s a pretty easy setup. Look for tools that integrate smoothly with your Website and Ad platforms. Ensure you have a free trial and try out the platform for a couple of weeks. Tools like Cometly, BooleanMaths, RulerAnalytics, Segment offer seamless integration.
Don’t
Get Impatient
Attribution is not an instant magic formula.
Setting up any attribution tool can seem daunting for a non technical marketing professional, but it is actually easy. It can be done in a couple of hours.
The hard part comes after that.
Patiently waiting for enough data to accumulate to generate actionable insights is hard.
Using these actionable insights and implementing changes in marketing processes across strategy, budgets, creatives and platforms is harder.
Patiently waiting for the results to finally start showing, resisting the urge to revert to the earlier known comfortable strategy is near impossible.
The rewards are worth it. With Attribution set up correctly, most marketing teams which spend across multiple platforms can see a 20% increase in ROAS.
Do
Tag it like you mean it
Your attribution tool will only work if it is fed the right data. It can associate each website visit or purchase to the correct campaign only if each link is tagged correctly. This is absolutely important.
Meticulous Tagging => Clean Data => Great Results
You can do this by adding UTM parameters to your link.
UTM stands for Urchin tracking Modules. In case you are wondering, Urchin was the first website traffic analysis software in the market and was acquired by Google in 2005, forming the foundation for their Google Analytics suite.
There are five different UTM parameters, which may be used in any order. Make sure that all links across Ads, Affiliates and your websites are tagged correctly.
Don’t
Chase Perfection
Perfection is a dream. It is in your best interest to wake up and face reality.
There is no perfect attribution setup and there is no magical marketing strategy. You can’t track all of your engagements in every channel, there will always be bad data and you won’t find a tool that does exactly what you need.
At least not on Day 1. Perfection should be a goal for Day 100.
On Day 0, ask yourself these Three Questions.
Have you set up tracking on your three most important traffic sources?
Is your attribution setup giving you live and reliable Analytics?
Do you have feasibility to turn on/off and adjust budgets on your Ad campaigns?
If your answer is YES to all of them. It’s time to start the clock.
Do
Supplement your Attribution Results.
Attribution and Analytics are powerful tools and they can accurately map out a customer journey from discovery to purchase. They can’t however gain insight into what the customer was thinking. The only way to do that is to talk to customers.
Make feedback an important part of your customer journey.
Human memory is not exact and customers may not remember all the subtle engagements they had with your Brand. But they do remember the touchpoint that had the biggest impression on them.
While attribution can help you figure out which creatives or campaigns are working for you. It cannot help you with new creatives. This may be a possibility in the near future with generative AI, but we are still some distance away from a stable solution for it. So what should youdo while you await the AI future?
Keep A/B testing.
More Experiments => More Data => Great Results
Don’t
Confuse Correlation with Causation
This is a common pitfall for most Analysts, especially when they do not have domain knowledge.
Attribution reads the data on what is happening to give you insight into how it is happening. However, only you as an experienced marketing professional can answer why it is happening.
You need to identify the various patterns and persona that your customers fall into. Some factors that might affect their decisions include
Brand. A recognisable brand is built over time and using multiple touch points across print, media, ads and word of mouth. Think of having a good brand as having huge headstart on your customer journeys.
Loyalty. Your loyal shoppers are your superpower. Treat them well, and make sure they never have a reason to leave.
Convenience. Is your product always in stock and delivered quickly? Do you have all payment options that customers use? Any obstacles in your customer journey will eat into your conversions.
Pricing. Your pricing compared to your competitors and over time can significantly affect your conversions.
To conclude, marketing attribution is an extremely effective tool. But to get the maximum benefit out of it you need to set it up correctly, be patient and supplement its results with your industry experience to take actions.
