marketing attribution · attribution model
Attribution is the rule that splits the credit for a conversion between the channels a customer crossed before buying: an ad seen, a Google search, a follow-up email. Depending on the model (last click, first click, distributed), the same revenue tells very different stories.
A concrete example
A prospect clicks a Meta ad, comes back a week later via Google, then signs after a follow-up email. Last-click attribution gives the email all the credit; in reality, all three channels contributed.
Why it matters
Without a conscious attribution model, you cut channels that initiate your sales and over-feed the ones that close them. The classic trap: every platform claims the same sale, and the sum of reported conversions exceeds your real sales. Always compare against the CRM number.
Frequently asked questions
- Which attribution model should I choose?
- For an SMB, the honest answer is pragmatic: keep your platforms' default model for daily steering, but judge overall profitability on a single source of truth, your real sales by original channel in the CRM.
- Why do my platforms report more sales than I actually have?
- Because each one counts the conversions it touched, without coordinating with the others. A sale touched by both Google and Meta is counted twice. It is normal, and it is why the platform total must never serve as your bottom line.