Are you still using Last-Click Attribution?
In this blog, I will explain you what Last-Click Attribution really is, and what are the flaws of the attribution. Lastly, if marketers are not going to use Last-Click Attribution today, then what is next? What now? What marketers are using right now?
What is Last-Click Attribution?
(Photo from: http://www.marketingdive.com/news/is-last-click-attribution-to-blame-for-misallocation-of-media-budgets/351453/)
It refers to a web analytics model in which the “last click” is to give credit of the sale or conversion to the last channel that the customer touched. For example, if you search for a pair of “ankle boots”, then you click an organic listing for ALDO and browse their selection. You end it with not buying anything. Next time, you go back ALDO website directly by typing www.aldoshoes.com into your URL bar. You still decide leave the website without buying any shoes, but you signed up for subscription. After that, you receive promotion emails from ALDO; finally, you purchase a pair of ankle boots while it is on sale. In this situation, the credit goes to the last click for the sale. Many companies measure their sales by using Last-Click Attribution or First-Click Attribution; however, these measuring models do not always provide the most accurate result and even have some flaws.
What are the flaws in using Last-Click Attribution?
Firstly, “many, many businesses, 99% of the conversions and sales come from branded keyword (your name) traffic.” It is true that no one is born knowing your name, so ask yourself- what are some keywords that introduced your customers or “potential customers” to your sites? Another reason why the Last-Click Attribution model has always been flawed is because “with the rise of the multi device user, it is now actively driving bad decisions.” It is hard to keep track of people which devices they use when they see your brand at the first, and for the marketers the process of seeing people come to your websites is actually the important part. The model is just completely under-value marketing efforts influencing the middle of the sales funnel, such as customers’ research and consideration.
If Last-Click Attribution doesn’t work that effective, then what are some other options?
According to the research above, we can see that the Last-Click Attribution and the First-Click Attribution is having the same effectiveness percentage, which is 14%. On the other hand, Customized by Channel has 29% presents in very effective; also, Linear model has 69% in somewhat effective which is the highest number compared to other methods. Different models have different people to devote or detract; even only 29% of people considered the model of Customized is very effective. My opinion is that it sometimes depends on which industry you are in, what segment of people you are targeting and others. Finally, marketers: the Last-Click Attribution is almost dead. And what attribution models are you going to use?
04/28/15
Reference:
Last Click Attribution http://willmarlow.com/last-click-attribution/
Why last click attributions breed bad decisions in a multi-device world http://thenextweb.com/dd/2014/07/27/last-click-attributions-breed-bad-decisions-multi-device-world/
Marketing Attribution: Valuing the Customer Journey http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/marketing_attribution_whitepaper.pdf