The importance of attribution and how to do it effectively

A deep-dive for marketers in the HubSpot ecosystem

DEAR STAGE 2: I just joined a series A startup and 2 months in, I’m finding that I don’t trust the data in HubSpot. There is a large chunk of leads attributed to “offline sources”. What can I do to ensure I have a clear view of what channels are working in the future? How should I be thinking about marketing attribution at this stage? ~NEW HEAD OF MARKETING

DEAR NEW HEAD OF MARKETING: Attribution is a funnnnn topic and one that comes up regularly for marketing and sales teams. It especially surfaces in the context of setting budgets for the year and determining where to make investments in the future. You point out a particularly unique challenge within the HubSpot ecosystem. 

I asked our friends at RevPartners and Supered to weigh in here given their expertise around HubSpot. Oh, and there might just be a “Super” solution to fixing those attribution problems inside HubSpot at the end 😉

First, some level-setting for those of you coming up to speed on marketing attribution. Not all methods of attribution were created equal, and relying on basic reporting tools like HubSpot's default last-touch attribution model might not give you the full picture.

RevPartners shared this example: Let’s say a potential customer sees your ad but ends up converting through an organic search later on. In this case, HubSpot's default model would chalk it up as an organic conversion, completely ignoring the ad's influence. This limited view of the customer journey could lead to misallocated resources and missed opportunities for optimization.

While it's possible to examine individual contact journeys, getting a broader, holistic understanding of attribution across multiple channels can be a real challenge. HubSpot's Source Journey custom reports can provide some help in this regard, but keep in mind that in-depth attribution reporting is generally part of paid plans. Free HubSpot users might find their data and insights somewhat limited.

And that “Offline” issue you noted? Contacts are tagged as "Offline" due to integrations or imports. RevPartners calls it the "dark funnel" issue, where contacts created through untraceable sources make attribution even trickier. 

So, how can you tackle these challenges and ensure your marketing efforts get the credit they deserve? Let’s take a look at the importance of marketing attribution and how to do it effectively. 

Selecting an Attribution Model

RevPartners helped to lay out definitions of the various attribution models and quick hit pros/cons. If you are starting from scratch (or even evaluating your current setup), it’s worth considering which is best for your business:

Single-Touch Attribution Models

• First-touch: Assigns all credit for a conversion to the first touchpoint in the customer journey.

• Last-touch: Attributes 100% of the conversion credit to the final touchpoint before conversion.

Pros and Cons of Single-Touch Models

• Pros

  • Simplicity: Easy to understand and implement.

  • Budget-friendly: Requires minimal resources to set up and maintain.

• Cons

  • Incomplete view: Neglects the influence of other touchpoints in the customer journey.

  • Potential misallocation of resources: Can lead to over or underestimating the impact of specific channels or campaigns.

Multi-Touch Attribution Models

• Linear: Distributes credit for a conversion equally across all touchpoints in the customer journey.

• Time Decay: Assigns greater credit to touchpoints closer to the conversion event, with credit decreasing over time.

• Position-based (U-shaped): Gives 40% of the credit to the first and last touchpoints, while distributing the remaining 20% among the touchpoints in between.

• Custom models: These models can incorporate various factors, such as the type of interaction, channel, campaign, or customer segment.

Pros and Cons of Multi-Touch Models

• Pros

  • More accurate: Considers multiple touchpoints throughout the customer journey, providing a more comprehensive understanding of marketing effectiveness.

  • Adaptable: Custom models can be tailored to specific business goals and industry characteristics.

• Cons

  • Complexity: Requires more advanced analytics and reporting capabilities, which may be resource-intensive.

  • Data interpretation: Multi-touch models may introduce more complexity in interpreting and acting upon attribution data.

As you increase your level of sophistication, RevPartners lays out 2 additional techniques you may want to consider:

Leveraging UTM Parameters for Comprehensive Tracking

• UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are tags appended to URLs, allowing marketers to track various aspects of their campaigns, such as source, medium, campaign name, and more.

• By incorporating UTM parameters into marketing campaigns, businesses can gain a granular understanding of user interactions and the effectiveness of individual marketing channels or campaigns.

Best Practices for UTM Implementation

• Establishing a standardized approach to naming UTM parameters ensures clean, organized data and facilitates accurate campaign analysis.

• Applying UTM parameters to all channels and marketing initiatives provides a comprehensive view of campaign performance and customer engagement.

A/B Testing

A/B testing is a method that compares two versions of a marketing asset or campaign element to determine which performs better.  It helps marketers identify the most effective components of their strategy, enabling them to refine their approach to attribution and achieve better results.

Implementing A/B Testing for Attribution Tracking

• Choose elements of your marketing assets that may impact customer engagement and conversions, such as headlines, visuals, or calls-to-action.

• Set clear objectives, hypotheses, and success metrics to ensure that your A/B tests generate actionable insights for attribution tracking.

Integrating A/B Testing Results with Attribution Data

• Examine A/B test results within the broader context of your attribution data to understand how various elements of your marketing strategy contribute to customer engagement and conversions.

• Apply insights from A/B testing to optimize your marketing initiatives, refining attribution models and tailoring your approach to specific audience segments.

Some final tips

RevPartners left us with a few final tips to consider as you roll out attribution tracking. If you’ve made it this far, dive into best practices and let us know how it goes:

Define/Identify Relevant KPIs for Attribution Tracking

• Clearly defined goals are crucial for developing and refining effective marketing strategies, providing direction and focus for attribution tracking efforts.

• Select KPIs that help evaluate the success of marketing campaigns in driving desired outcomes, such as website traffic, lead generation, or sales conversions.

• Depending on campaign objectives, relevant metrics may include click-through rates, conversion rates, cost per acquisition, return on ad spend, or customer lifetime value.

Establish Targets and Benchmarks

• By establishing target values for each KPI, marketers can more effectively measure campaign success and identify areas for improvement.

• Past campaign performance and industry benchmarks provide valuable context for setting realistic and achievable goals.

Regularly Review and Adjust Goals and KPIs

• As customer behaviors, market trends, or business priorities evolve, marketers should revisit their goals and KPIs to ensure alignment and relevance.

• By regularly analyzing attribution tracking data and campaign performance, marketers can identify opportunities to refine goals, KPIs, and overall marketing strategies.

If this resonated with you, and you want help on tracking attribution in HubSpot, here’s a free Supered pack offer that gives you an attribution dashboard with the click of a button!

Until next week!