Sarah sees an ad promoting a brand new energy drink on Google, then is served another ad on Youtube promoting the same product, before getting another GMail ad and ultimately converting. How do marketers track this journey, and which channel do we attribute the conversion to? This is where marketing attribution tools come in.
Marketing attribution models are designed to track the different touchpoints your consumer experiences throughout your multi-channel efforts. In short, these tools are meant to properly assess which promotional channels were most influential in getting a user to convert. This will help marketers invest more resources in specific channels/creative that are attributing to the highest engagement with their audiences. While there are a ton of attribution models widely available, there are two main ones that most marketers follow:
Single-Touch
Single touch attribution models pinpoint the one source responsible for getting a user to convert. There are two types of single touch models that marketers use:
- First-Touch Attribution
- First-touch attribution gives the attribution to the first ad a user sees in their journey, while disregarding all other efforts that came after.
- Last-Touch Attribution
- Last-touch attribution gives the credit to… you guessed it, the last channel the user encounters on their conversion journey, while ignoring the efforts that preceded it.
Multi-Touch
Contrary to single touch attribution models, multi-touch models look at all of the channels in a consumer’s conversion journey. There are different types of multi-touch models that marketers use:
- Linear
- Linear models give equal credit to each touchpoint in a user’s conversion journey.
- Time Decay
- The time decay model gives an increasingly higher attribution to each of the touchpoints the closer they are to the final conversion.
- U-Shaped Model
- The U-shaped model gives the majority of the credit to the first and last touchpoints, scoring them at 40% each, with the rest of the touchpoints crediting the rest of the percentage of the attribution.
- W-Shaped Model
- The W-shaped model gives equal credit to the first touch point, the last touchpoint, and the touchpoint responsible for generating the lead.
As you can see, there’s an endless buffet of different attribution models available. Picking the right one is completely dependent on your business and the specific product you’re promoting. One important note here is that single-touch models are generally more ineffective than multi-touch models as they don’t paint the most picture of the entire promotional journey a user embarks on and only pinpoints one touchpoint.
Now that we’ve highlighted some insights on marketing attribution models, below are our top recommendations for attribution tools currently available for marketers:
1. Hubspot Marketing Analytics Software
Description: This software, in both the Enterprise and Professional packages, provides a multi-touch revenue attribution summary that helps you understand how your advertising and marketing campaigns are performing by breaking down all customer interactions and crediting the activity that leads to a sale. Their main attribution tool has an emphasis on contact creation, but there are also advanced attribution methods such as multitouch revenue that are offered in Enterprise collection. Hubspot is definitely worth a try because it’s just one of many tools in the data analytics program, so there are plenty more you can use.
Add On ? Yes, Part of Professional Package
Price: $890 / month
2. Google Analytics – Attribution
Description: Google Analytics is currently running an attribution tool in beta form, which means it is not yet fully developed or 100% implemented. However, if your company works with Google Analytics on a daily basis, then this tool is recommended as a simple add-on. When you take attribution into account, you can take advantage of reports like conversion paths, conversion delay, conversion path length, and more. Additionally, Google’s attribution channels differ from the Analytics version because they dive deeper and dissect channels at a more granular level. These small details make a difference when budgeting for ads and can provide a different perspective on campaign performance.
Add on? No, Part of Google Analytics
Price: Free (Beta Feature)
3. C3 Metrics
Description: C3 Metrics stands out from other analytics platforms because one of its main focuses is attribution. With their Attribution Data Cloud, C3 Metrics promises cross-platform tracking to credit the ads/campaigns that have won over the client. In addition, C3 Metrics is committed to simplifying the method of attribution by addressing the issues of ad fraud and walled gardens advertising. Other services they offer include marketing mix modeling, unified marketing measurement, TV attribution, and anonymous identification.
Add on? No, main service offered by C3Metrics
Price: N/A
4. Looker
Description: Looker is Google’s highly acclaimed analytics platform that offers a huge library of integrations and tools for all your needs. One of the best tools it offers specifically for marketers is this Marketing Attribution integration via Segment. Through this block integration, you can do all kinds of crediting, from first-touch to last-touch, which guarantees that you get a clear view of your channels and campaigns that bring the most conversions. Some of the best services offered through this block are conversions by channel, first-touch and last-touch analytics, and revenue vs. CAC. Through these tools, your marketing will be taken to the next level and your ROI is guaranteed to grow.
Add on? Yes, Add-On through Looker’s Blocks
Price: N/A
5. Ruler
Description: This next attribution tool is one of the few that have attribution as one of their main focuses. So you can be sure that this tool has been tailored and made by experts. With multi-channel attribution and easily accessible comparison of attribution models, Ruler excels at thorough yet simple tracking. With these tools, you can figure out which campaign, keywords, channels, and more are increasing your return on investment. Ruler also allows you to add lead source data into your favorite CRM, ensuring that the data collected with Ruler is functional and actionable.
Add on? No, main service offered by Ruler
Price: $210 / month
6.Chartable
Description: If your marketing campaigns include podcasts, this is the tool for you. Chartable provides podcast ad attribution that goes beyond referral links and coupons to capture clicks and downloads from every search engine and podcast playback service. This marketing attribution tool is trusted by major agencies like iHeart Radio and VoxMedia. It’s no wonder, because the signal capture, consisting of IP addresses and device graphs, is modern and effective for ad performance tracking.
Add on? No, Chartable SmartAds is the main service for Ad Managers
Price: N/A
Description: From one of the leading enterprise Saas vendors, Bizible enters the competition for the best marketing attribution tools. As you would expect from a product from Adobe, Bizible is designed to enhance your ROI with insights to optimize your advertising strategy. With the every-touch attribution model, you can see your customers’ clear path to conversion. Bizible is designed with intuitive model building and automation in the source attribution process. Finally, this innovative attribution tool also has Machine Learning tools and other advanced methods to help you take the next step and drive your marketing forward.
Add on? Yes, Add on from Adobe Marketo
Price: N/A
Description: Marchex’s Marketing Edge is the right tool for you if your business does much of its marketing through phone calls and text messages. Marchex offers a holistic approach to marketing attribution with call and text tracking that includes trend identification, expert help, and hassle-free integration with your favorite CRMs. This marketing attribution tool has two types of services, each offered at different price points, so even those with a limited budget can benefit. Finally, Marchex has a comprehensive dashboard that also allows you to summarize your data and create reports that can be quickly used for optimal decision making.
Add on? No, One of 3 main services from Marchex
Price: Free 30 Day Trial
9. Dreamdata
Description: Dreamdata is the go-to tool for B2B revenue attribution. With three main products Revenue Analytics, Customer Journeys, and Performance Attribution, this tool is precisely designed to know your customers and thereby achieve higher profitability. Dreamdata’s solutions enable you to understand the pipeline and revenue generated by your customers and ensure that you capitalize on it by moving in the right direction.
Add on? – No, one of the other solutions
Price: $42 /month
10. ActiveCampaign
Description: ActiveCampaign is a comprehensive marketing and sales platform that helps you and your business grow through automation and valuable insights. Their focus on customer experience is top-notch, as evidenced by their superior customer segmentation methods and dynamic content creation for specific groups. All of this combined with the easy to create Conversion Attribution reports will take your marketing capabilities to the next level. Using the last-touch method, ActiveCampaign allows you to identify the exact moment your customers were sold to and ensure you keep track of your most successful promotional strategies. Plus, ActiveCampaign provides plenty of guides and videos on how to set up your attribution reports, so you don’t have to worry about being an expert in the field before you start your credit tracking journey.
Add on? No, one of many features offered in this platform
Price: $129/month
11. Attribution
Description: There is no way you can go wrong with this tool. Attribution is a cutting-edge marketing attribution company that focuses on innovative methods with multi-touch attribution. By doing so, they guarantee to improve your marketing with better customer conversion data to maximize ROI. Their patent-pending technology is second to none, having been awarded by the G2 crowd in areas such as High Performer, Best Est. ROI, Easiest Setup, and much more. Automated data collection frees up your time to focus on reaching more customers. Their custom multi-touch attribution models are built using machine learning fundamentals and also have traditional models to choose from. The attribution platform also provides a dashboard-like environment where you can manage customer enrollment and offers, plus compare conversions and sales from all your different channels and apps.
Add on? No
Price: N/A
12. Segmetrics
Description: Segmetrics is an excellent tool for advanced attribution in marketing. Their advanced marketing attribution consists of Ad Attribution, Lead Attribution, Lead Tracking, Customer LTV and much more. Through these tools, Segmetrics allows you to gain granular insights and get a picture of where your strengths and weaknesses lie. With this finer understanding of your conversions, you can allocate money to the right ad campaigns and maximize ROI. Segmetrics also offers an extensive list of integrations to various CRM platforms, guaranteeing that your data will last more than just one report. You no longer have to compare your data across multiple platforms, Segmetrics keeps it all in one place.
Add on? No, one of the main focuses.
Price: $175 / month
13. Twik
Description: Twik takes customer experience to a higher level by automatically personalizing customers’ experiences, mostly related to their interests. Using artificial and business intelligence, Twik adapts to its customers’ needs and collects the data that matters most. With this data, you can see what works best for each individual customer. Twik’s automated personalization allows you to optimize the interactions that led to conversion, automating your attribution process as well. This tool was built specifically for eCommerce and will likely be very useful considering the AB testing tools and related product recommendation algorithms.
Add on? No
Price: N/A
14. Adroll
Description: Adrolls Cross Channel Attribution is a tool found at Growth Marketing Platform that has an impact on your budget allocation and sales/revenue. As a full-funnel tool, you have the ability to quickly monitor the ad campaigns that are attracting customers, the complete customer journey from Google search to your latest blog post, and more granular details on conversions. Aside from great services, Adroll has served over 37,000 brands and was recently awarded the G2 Spring 2021 Momentum Leader. So what are you waiting for? Optimize your conversions with this tool.
Add on? No
Price: $19/month
15. Everflow
Description: This next tool is an integrated part of Everflow’s great performance marketing platform. The attribution tool offered here is part of a suite of tools created to make tracking efficient and easy. By using View-Through Attribution, you can gather information about all the impressions in your channels, so you will never miss a potential customer. You also don’t have to worry if you ever don’t get the right information or have trouble merging information from different sources, as Everflow offers 24/7 support to help you get back on track in no time.
Add on? No
Price: $395 / Month
16. CallRail
Description: Conversion Intelligence – AI-powered phone transcript analysis, Call tracking – marketing campaigns track to know the ad campaigns that are working, Form tracking phone and web. The fascinating intelligence from conversion intelligence is that you get to change the automation rules, so you can partly design the algorithm to catch the phrases and keywords that you want to target.
Add on? Yes, attribution separated across.
Price: $50 / month
17. LeadsRx
Description: LeadsRx is one of the most productive attribution tools available today, offering attribution tools specialized for different markets. With attribution tools designed for retailers, agencies, and broadcasters, LeadsRx makes attribution analysis a must-have for everyone. As if that wasn’t enough, they offer customer support that can help your business with any burning questions or issues with your analytics. Finally, this platform offers premium services for those who need an extra helping hand that can provide further customer insights and even helps you with onboarding.
Add on? No, principal service offered.
Price: N/A
18. Roivenue
Description: Roivenue is a platform that, in addition to increasing your ROI, aims to use attribution data to technically optimize your capital allocation. With intuitive graphics, cross-channel connections to fully see the customer journey, and attribution model comparison, Roivenue creates a platform that drives success. This tool is smart and reliable, as evidenced by the kind of clients like AXA Insurance that have entrusted them with their attribution analysis.
Add on ? No, there is a specific plan for attribution.
Price: $120 / month
19. Openprise
Description: Openprise changes the entire playing field as their attribution tool is designed to automate parts of the analysis process, allowing you to reclaim valuable time. This amazing tool comes packaged with bots and algorithms that are programmed to handle mundane tasks like data cleansing and merging. Openprise also offers template models but also leaves room for those who want to create their own. Whether it’s first-touch, last-touch, or multi-touch attribution, Openprise lets you implement them with ease.
Add on ? No, one of the main services offered.
Price: $4,000 / month
20. Onclusive
Description: Onclusive was developed with PR as the primary focus, with the idea of honoring the content a customer saw that actually turned them into a prospect. Scale the impact of your social media and blog posts to quantify their effectiveness and profit. It’s important to know the content that actually changes a customer’s mind. That’s why Onclusive focuses on tracking those moments and consistently using that data to make budget allocation decisions.
Add on ? No
Price: $415 / month
21. Demandbase
Description: This attribution tool stands out from other tools because it focuses on account-based marketing as a whole, rather than just looking at your individual marketing campaigns. Demandbase offers comprehensive types of attribution which include engagement minute attribution and journey attribution. Having these types of crediting under your wing is very helpful because they offer further customization than traditional attribution methods, and can give you an overall picture of the customer journey to make optimal decisions.
Add on ? Yes, add on from ABX Cloud
Price: N/A
Just like the different models available for marketers for attribution, there are several software currently available to help with your marketing attribution efforts, each with pros and cons specific to your industry and product. It’s important to assess your current goals and most important needs to ensure you’re picking the right tool and model for your analytics efforts.
