arketing is like our universe: it expands very quickly and steadily – wherever you look, you’ll now find touchpoints between companies and customers everywhere. From posters to Instagram ads to smart TV advertising, there are countless media through which your customers come into contact with you. These touchpoints determine the strategy; but how can you reliably attribute where exactly the purchase decision was made? Clarity is promised by marketing attribution software, in German “Marketingzuweisung.” Here we show you how to identify the best software for your needs.
Marketing attribution describes the assignment of individual touchpoints between customers and companies. This makes it possible to track exactly which marketing activities are particularly successful in the Sales process—and which ones should be revised. It works by assigning a specific value to every element that influences the Conversion. Quite a lot of effort! So you don’t get lost in the nitty-gritty of each touchpoint, marketing attribution software handles it for you. Easy!
Marketing attribution software finds out which touchpoints such as ads, events or promotions successfully contribute to your sales activities. The software takes on various tasks:
Tracking and analysis of various online marketing channels
Flexible assignment of touchpoints by differentiating between various attribution models (e.g., single-touch attribution or linear attribution)
Visualization of the results and provision of relevant data
If you want to better understand your own online touchpoints and continuously optimize them, the right software is a good choice. But from what point is it actually worth it?
Anyone who successfully sells a product or a service needs to know when and what convinced the customer. When did it click, and how can I transfer this success to my future measures?
This is where marketing attribution software comes into play. It monitors the various channels such as social media and email and can ultimately say which factor was decisive for the sale. After all, potential prospects don’t just come once and in one place; rather, they often come into contact with a product or service frequently and at various touchpoints. So, to get an overview here without having to do a deep dive into every channel yourself, marketing attribution software is just the thing.
Marketing attribution software offers different solutions for tracking marketing activities and online touchpoints. Before you decide on a tool, you therefore need to know your own requirements very precisely. Pay attention to the following features:
Attribution models
The models help determine the success factors of the different channels and measures. Different methods are used depending on how in-depth the analysis is intended to be:
a. Single-touch model
Single-touch attribution models assign 100 percent of the conversion rate to a single touchpoint. Even if customers have seen multiple ads, with single-touch attribution only one of the ads is counted for the conversion. Single-touch models (first touch and last touch) are not very complex and therefore quite easy to implement.
b. Multi-touch model
The multi-touch model assumes that all touchpoints in the user journey play a role. In the linear multi-touch model, all touchpoints are weighted equally, whereas the time-decay model assumes that the last of many touchpoints was decisive for success. The third multi-touch model is automated and is based on past successes to identify conversion touchpoints. This model provides you with multifaceted information, but is therefore more complex to use.
Multichannel tracking
With the help of the software, data is collected from various channels such as social media, email, SEA and other digital and non-digital sales channels.
Mapping conversions
The software traces customers’ path up to the completion of a conversion by recording the individual touchpoints and online interactions.
Integration
Integrating the software into other tools such as CRM systems enables a clear, uninterrupted workflow.
Analysis
The software uses parameters such as click numbers, conversions and ROI to measure the success factors of the marketing campaign.
Competitive analysis
How does your marketing performance compare to the competition? By analyzing your keywords and topics, the software helps you learn a lot about your competitiveness.
Real-time analysis
The software can be used to carry out real-time analyses to measure the impact of changes to marketing campaigns or the website on revenue. Note, however, that the feature is only useful if the attribution processes are observed over a longer period. “Real time” therefore does not mean that the reason for a measure’s success can be read directly.
Target audiences
Marketing attribution software segments customers according to various characteristics, such as age, gender, interests and location, to determine the optimal placement of the campaign or initiative. Based on this information, you can tailor your next campaigns even more precisely.
Reporting
Using the reports from your marketing attribution software, you can keep track of the performance of your measures and identify promising success factors.
The right marketing attribution software for your purposes isn’t far off—answer the following four questions to get a better idea of what you need:
Which attribution model helps me the most—the simple single-touch model or the more complex multi-touch model? How much information do I really need at this point to successfully track my conversions?
Does the software comply with the current data protection regulations in my country?
Which tools and applications do I want to integrate with? Where could there be compatibility issues?
How much should I pay for marketing attribution software? Can I start off with a basic version that offers me fewer options and features?
The user journey has many points at which prospective customers come into contact with your product or service. Ideally, the desired conversion also takes place at one of these touchpoints—regardless of whether it is a completed sale or a newsletter sign-up.
Marketing attribution software is the ideal tool for keeping an eye on all online activities and results with minimal in-house resources. Used and integrated correctly, it delivers valuable insights and therefore the foundation for further optimization and success. But beware—these tools aren’t perfect. None of them can always trace 100 percent exactly at which point the purchase decision was actually made. However, the more intensively you use your marketing attribution software, the more accurate the results will be—and the better you’ll find your way around the marketing universe. Best of luck!
Are you looking for a technical attribution solution that fits your marketing channels and adapts ideally to your structures?
On the Matchilla platform, you get free access to the most relevant software providers and can match them to your specifications. Just give it a try.
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Till Zier is CPO at Matchilla and, as a MarTech expert, reports in MatchZINE on news and trends in marketing, automation, analytics, and data.
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