Podcast
Episode 51: Beyond the Last Click: Mastering Marketing Attribution
Featuring
Ashtyn Morris, VividFrontKyle Mollison, VividFront
In this episode of Mini Moves, our team sat down to unpack the evolving world of marketing attribution. As privacy regulations and the decline of third-party cookies reshape attribution, we share strategies for measuring meaningful conversions throughout the funnel. We also discuss the role of AI and media mix modeling in tackling these challenges, offering listeners a fresh, holistic approach to evaluating marketing success.
Prefer to read instead of listen? Here's what we discussed:
Marketing attribution is often misunderstood as just a method for tracking the source of a sale. However, it can provide deeper insights into the customer journey, helping marketers understand how a customer first discovered a brand, what kept their interest, and what ultimately led to a purchase.
Key Insights from the Podcast
The Broader Questions Marketing Attribution Can Answer
Kyle Mollison emphasizes that marketing attribution is not just about identifying the last touchpoint before a sale. It involves understanding the entire customer journey, which includes:
Customer Journey Analysis: How did a customer first discover your brand?
Conversion Tracking: What interactions drove the customer to make a purchase?
Marketing ROI: Which marketing channels are delivering the best return on investment?
Channel Performance: How effective are different marketing channels in driving conversions?
The Impact of Changing Attribution Windows
A significant discussion point in the episode is the impact of changing attribution windows. For instance, Meta's shift from a seven-day to a one-day view attribution window led many marketers to believe their campaigns were underperforming. This change highlighted the need for a broader understanding of attribution models to avoid misconceptions about campaign performance.
Challenges in Achieving True One-to-One Marketing Attribution
Kyle also sheds light on the challenges of achieving true one-to-one marketing attribution due to privacy regulations and technological changes like iOS 14.5 and the deprecation of third-party cookies. These changes have made it difficult to track customer behavior across different devices and platforms, complicating the attribution process.
Adapting to Attribution Challenges
To adapt to these challenges, Kyle suggests several strategies:
Leveraging AI for Modeled Conversions: Platforms like Google Ads, Meta, and TikTok use predictive AI models to fill in the gaps in conversion tracking.
Media Mix Modeling: For brands with larger budgets, media mix modeling can help predict the contribution of different marketing channels to total sales, although it requires robust data and expertise.
Real-World Applications
Kyle shares a practical example of how marketing attribution can reveal surprising insights that change a brand's marketing strategy. By understanding the entire customer journey, brands can optimize their marketing spend allocation and improve overall marketing effectiveness.
Conclusion
Marketing attribution is a vital tool for understanding the customer journey and optimizing marketing strategies. By broadening their perspective and leveraging advanced attribution models, marketers can gain valuable insights into customer behavior, improve conversion tracking, and enhance marketing ROI.