Attribution done right: How to prove the real value of marketing

Abstract

Marketing attribution models are used by businesses to keep the marketing department accountable for the expenditure and the resources they use, as marketing is often seen as a cost centre within many organisations. Marketers implement marketing attribution models for two purposes. Firstly, to justify the money spent on marketing campaigns and activities, and secondly, to identify which marketing channels and tactics produce the desired results or outcomes. However, marketing departments continually struggle to use marketing attribution models to justify expenditure or show results. The most common reasons many marketers struggle to implement attribution models are issues with data integrity, lack of knowledge around how to effectively use marketing attribution tools and the sheer complexity of the buyer's journey. In this paper, it is argued that the actual problem lies in how marketers perceive the use of attribution reporting. Furthermore, it is posited that those reasons are just symptoms of a larger problem with marketers' approach to marketing attribution. If marketers want to use attribution successfully then they need to change the purpose of their attribution models to focus on customer metrics and not business outcomes. Nearly all marketing attribution focuses on return on investment as a desired outcome; however ROI is a business outcome, not a customer metric. Focusing on customer metrics such as brand awareness, brand engagement and churn rate will provide marketers with the informed outcomes they desire. The ability to gain insight from an attribution model comes from establishing the goal of the attribution model and then aligning the proper marketing metrics to the desired outcome.