Understanding which marketing attribution model is best for your organization is important for accurate performance tracking and the ability to optimize marketing spend.
HubSpot offers several built-in attribution models, each with unique strengths and ideal use cases.
The trick?
Effective marketing reporting often requires using multiple attribution models to gain a comprehensive understanding of your efforts.
For instance, when evaluating the impact of events, a first-touch attribution model can be incredibly valuable. This model allows you to see how events drive net new contacts and net new companies, illustrating the role events play in introducing new contacts to your company—and most importantly, determining whether events are a good marketing tactic for your org.
However, these contacts may have interacted with various marketing assets and campaigns through their journey, and since campaigns and sales tactics significantly influence the marketing and sales funnel, relying solely on first-touch attribution would not provide the complete picture. To account for this, we supplement our reporting with other models, such as U-shaped or J-shaped attribution. These models help us better understand the marketing and sales efforts that drive leads through the funnel and ultimately close deals.
Let’s walk through your options.
1. First-Touch Attribution
First-touch attribution assigns 100% of the credit to the first interaction a lead has with your brand.
Example: A lead first discovers your company through a blog post. In first-touch attribution, this blog post gets full credit for the conversion, regardless of other interactions.
Pros:
Simple to understand and implement.
Ideal for identifying initial touchpoints that generate awareness.
Cons:
Ignores the influence of subsequent interactions.
Not suitable for long sales cycles with multiple touchpoints.
Best Use Case: When your goal is to identify which marketing channels are best at generating initial interest.
2. Last-Touch Attribution
Last-touch attribution gives all the credit to the final interaction before a conversion.
Example: Right before purchasing, a lead clicks an email link. In last-touch attribution, the email receives all the credit for the sale.
Pros:
Highlights the touchpoint that directly led to the conversion.
Useful for understanding the final steps in the buyer's journey.
Cons:
Overlooks the contributions of earlier interactions.
Can misrepresent the overall journey and the importance of nurturing.
Marketing efforts are generally not represented in this model.
Best Use Case: When your focus is on the effectiveness of closing tactics or channels.
3. Linear Attribution
Linear attribution distributes credit equally across all touchpoints in the buyer’s journey.
Example: A lead interacts with a blog post, a webinar, and an email campaign before converting. Each touchpoint receives equal credit.
Pros:
Provides a balanced view of all interactions.
Useful for understanding the full buyer journey and engagement.
Cons:
May overemphasize minor touchpoints.
Doesn’t account for the varying influence of each interaction.
Best Use Case: When you want a holistic view of all marketing efforts throughout the customer journey.
4. Time Decay Attribution
Time decay attribution assigns more credit to touchpoints closer to the time of conversion, with diminishing credit to earlier interactions.
Example: A lead interacts with several touchpoints over three months, with most interactions happening in the last two weeks. Time decay attribution gives more credit to these recent touchpoints.
Pros:
Reflects the growing influence of recent interactions.
Useful for campaigns with long sales cycles.
Cons:
Can undervalue important early interactions.
Requires detailed tracking and analysis.
Best Use Case: When recent interactions are more critical in driving conversions, especially in longer sales processes.
5. U-Shaped (Position-Based) Attribution
U-shaped attribution gives 40% credit to both the first and last interactions and distributes the remaining 20% evenly among the middle touchpoints.
Example: A lead first finds your website through an ad, attends a webinar, and finally converts via a sales call. The ad and sales call get 40% each, while the webinar gets part of the remaining 20%.
Pros:
Emphasizes critical touchpoints (first and last).
Provides a balanced view of initial and closing interactions.
Cons:
Middle interactions might still be undervalued.
Complex to set up and analyze.
Best Use Case: When you need to highlight both initial engagement and closing interactions.
6. J-Shaped Attribution
J-shaped attribution assigns significant credit to the first touchpoint and the most credit to the last touchpoint, with less emphasis on the middle interactions.
Example: A lead first interacts with a social media ad, follows up with several blog posts, and finally converts after an email campaign. The social media ad and email campaign receive the most credit, with less emphasis on the blog posts.
Pros:
Highlights the importance of initial and final interactions.
Useful for understanding the critical touchpoints that drive conversions.
Cons:
Middle interactions might be significantly undervalued.
Can be more complex to implement and analyze.
Best Use Case: When you want to focus on both the beginning and end of the customer journey, especially in marketing campaigns that rely heavily on these stages.
Comparison Chart
Below is a comparison chart summarizing each attribution model's key points, which you can use to create a visual guide for your audience:
Attribution Model | Definition | Pros | Cons | Best Use Case |
First-Touch | Assigns 100% credit to the first interaction | Simple, identifies initial touchpoints | Ignores subsequent interactions | Identifying channels that generate awareness |
Last-Touch | Gives all credit to the final interaction | Highlights conversion touchpoint | Overlooks earlier interactions | Effectiveness of closing tactics |
Linear | Distributes credit equally across all touchpoints | Balanced view, holistic understanding | Overemphasizes minor touchpoints | Understanding full buyer journey |
Time Decay | More credit to touchpoints closer to conversion | Reflects recent interaction influence | Undervalues early interactions | Importance of recent interactions |
U-Shaped | 40% credit to first and last, 20% to middle | Emphasizes critical touchpoints | Middle interactions undervalued | Highlighting initial and closing engagements |
J-Shaped | Significant credit to first, most to last touchpoint | Highlights initial and final interactions | Middle interactions undervalued | Focus on beginning and end of journey |
Finding the Right Attribution Model for Your Organization
Selecting the right attribution model is a decision that depends on your organization’s unique goals and sales processes. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, leveraging a combination of models can provide a comprehensive view of your marketing efforts. Creating a HubSpot dashboard with multiple attributions allows you to tell the full story, capturing the nuances of your customer journey and the effectiveness of your marketing strategies.
Personally, I am partial to the U-shaped attribution model. This model helps identify the key touchpoints that brought new contacts into the marketing funnel and the final interactions that pushed them to convert. By emphasizing both the initial engagement and the closing touchpoint, the U-shaped model offers a balanced perspective on the most critical stages of the buyer’s journey. However, my HubSpot dashboards always have a first- and last-touch attribution report on them as well.
Ultimately, the best attribution model for your organization will depend on your specific objectives and the complexity of your sales process. By experimenting with different models and analyzing their outcomes through comprehensive dashboards, you can gain deeper insights into your marketing performance and make more informed decisions to drive growth and success.
If you need help figuring out which marketing activities are driving leads, closing leads, or anything in between, we’re here for you. Whether you’re looking for guidance on choosing the right attribution model for your organization or need assistance setting up effective HubSpot dashboards—let’s chat!
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