What is Attribution in Digital Advertising?
Understand how to track customer journeys and accurately measure which marketing channels drive your conversions.
Attribution Definition
Attribution is the process of identifying and assigning credit to the marketing touchpoints that contribute to conversions. It helps you understand which ads, channels, and campaigns are actually driving results by tracking the complete customer journey from first interaction to final purchase or conversion.
In modern digital marketing, customers rarely convert after a single touchpoint. They might see a Facebook ad, click a Google search result, receive an email, and then finally purchase through a retargeting ad. Attribution helps you understand this complex journey and determine which marketing efforts deserve credit, enabling smarter budget allocation and campaign optimization.
The Customer Journey
First Touch
User discovers your brand through an initial ad or marketing channel.
Middle Touches
User interacts with multiple touchpoints: emails, retargeting ads, social media.
Last Touch
Final interaction before conversion, often direct visit or branded search.
Conversion
User completes desired action. Attribution determines which touchpoints get credit.
Common Attribution Models
Last-Click Attribution
Gives 100% credit to the final touchpoint before conversion. Simple but may undervalue earlier interactions.
First-Click Attribution
Credits the first interaction that introduced the customer. Good for measuring awareness effectiveness.
Linear Attribution
Distributes credit equally across all touchpoints. Fair but doesn't account for varying impact.
Time-Decay Attribution
Gives more credit to recent interactions. Reflects that recent touches often have more influence.
Position-Based Attribution
Credits first and last touches heavily (40% each), with middle touches sharing 20%.
Data-Driven Attribution
Uses machine learning to assign credit based on actual contribution to conversions.
Attribution Models Comparison
