Week 10 Review
Hey everyone! Another hectic week for the books! Hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving and enjoyed the time they had with family and friends. We have so much to be thankful for and this time really puts into perspective what we should really appreciate. With that being said, this week I wanted to go over attribution. Nothing major, but def a big help in the big scheme of things. Let’s get started!
What is attribution? It’s pretty much understanding the context behind the data that we’re getting. It’s about understanding the consumer. We’ll go over the different tactics use in different platforms and avenues in order to use attribution to make better decisions. The major focus will be overviewed in the span of a B2C journey since that’s where the big major challenges are. When you consider attribution in the marketplace, we’ll just be under Google Attribution since it’s pretty popular and the most well known product under Google Analytics. One of the first things we can go over is GDPR. One of the major challenges right now in Europe is that there have been limitations on data which hinders analytics to do its job properly. But we’ll see how we can use attribution to really help out a business and its importance to make a difference. Attribution is for all marketing. Whether its online or offline…marketing is everywhere. It’s so accessible to grab data and information from so many avenues now to make better decisions within a business. You either have to be tactical or strategic on how you use attribution in your business. There are so many attribution models that different people within a business will use but all in all, going by the metrics on how to properly us attribution again will help you make better decisions. Key thing is that everyone should be on the same page. Your PPC team, Affiliate team, and your display team should be using the same type of logic that all the other team should be using. Attribution is the actual concept change that is required. Some people will ask is if they need attribution. A lot of business don’t understand how consumers deal with them, they just simply look at the metrics from google analytics and go from there. Attribution breaks down and understands that consumers conversion journey. Ask yourself, how many times do user actually engage with you? Throughout their journey? Could be through many different platforms. In order to do attribution properly, you’ll need to have the right data that is required to really answer that question. Tracking correctly and getting those correct data will utilize attribution correctly.
There are many different types of models for attribution. There will be 4 focused touch points that focuses on visits. The first model is last non direct click. This model is the basis for conversions. The non direct click focuses on the 3rd touchpoint. Tough thing about this model is where the credit goes for the conversion. Depending on a particular time of how long they’ve been back, the credit goes to the last non direct click. The next model is due from the last model. The last interaction. Sale happens at the end of the journey. Covers the last touchpoint. The last interaction attribution doesn’t necessarily have to be digital, it could be through the offline world as well due to actions that lead to that. The journey is always different. It may not be the last thing that someone does that completes the conversion. Could be from something early on in the journey. The next model is the linear attribution. All touch points are equal and evenly spread out. The next model is time decay attribution. It goes from low to high through the four touch points. The last section has the highest value in this journey but we want to take it back and see how long the journey back did they really start. The next model is the position based attribution. The first and the last touch points are given the most credit. This model has a lot of benefits. It aligns with how consumers actually behave so its very important to really consider this model. Another more complicated model is the custom attribution model. Very dangerous in terms of putting a value on each of those separate touch points. The way you ultimately want to do things moving forward is using an an algorithm or machine learning model to give a value for that particular touch point. As marketers, we should not be deciding it ourselves. The second that happens, the model breaks. Best to think about what factors should be included in that algorithm. Think about the factors that we should be including in this machine learning model such as devices or different seasons throughout the year. The type of data needed to create an attribution solution for the models are very important. First thing you need is analytics data. Think about the groupings and segmented data for making better decisions.
Considering tactical application of attribution in many platforms will not only help your particular style of business but certain key points that can drastically improve it. Different tactics meant for different platforms such as PPC, SEO, through emails, affiliates, etc. Let’s go over some SEO since that’s what our agency focuses on. Three categories to focus on are the technical, onsite, and offsite. When we look at the attribution side of SEO, we look at the impact of that on the consumer’s journey and what ultimately makes their decision. First consider what the consumer engages onsite. Next understand their concept of perception before they get to the website by using the keywords they use. Consider the mood and the terminology used of that consumer during that time. Now look at the value of the SEO during that journey. How does it impact journey? At this point we can choose where to focus on in their journey. Consider what key words are being used in that part of the journey. Really consider it.
We’ll continue on to the strategic applications of attribution in terms of the value of a brand, the life time value, the customer data based on individuals and the value of visitors. Attribution gives a better understanding on how a customer’s relationship between marketing and its impact. Through many beneficial results through decent journey analysis, you can really create and positive impact on how your business does marketing. Marketers really need to understand the value that’s within their brand. The perception should change when overlooking the whole marketing strategy. Calculating and understanding the life time value of a consumer is help to your business as well. Think of the potential earnings that a consumer can bring to your business in their lifetime. Collecting data in an individual level is another way to collect attribution data. When a consumer engages with a brand, as a business you must consider the weight of the value of that person during the time of their visit.
A lot of these info about attribution I’m sure will really help us better understand our consumers through the proper data. Hope it really helps our agency. Till next week everyone. Thank you again!
