Attribution
The process of assigning credit for conversions to the marketing touchpoints that contributed.
Attribution is the discipline of determining which marketing channels and touchpoints actually drove a conversion. Most customer journeys touch multiple channels — a customer might first see a Facebook ad, later search the brand on Google, then convert directly. Different attribution models give credit differently.
Common models: First-Touch (100% credit to the first touchpoint), Last-Touch (100% to the last), Linear (equal credit to all), Time-Decay (more credit to recent touches), Position-Based (most to first and last, less to middle), Data-Driven (Google's ML-based model). Each has tradeoffs; no single model is right for every business.
Attribution is increasingly broken in the modern privacy environment (iOS 14+ restrictions, third-party cookie deprecation). Sophisticated measurement now combines digital attribution with marketing mix modeling and incrementality testing.
A customer sees a YouTube ad, later searches for the brand, clicks a Google Ad, browses the site, then converts a week later from an email newsletter. Last-touch attribution gives 100% credit to email; data-driven attribution might split credit across YouTube, Google Ads, and email.
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