Factor 4 – Optimization: Is attribution data being used for optimization?

Companies make a decision to invest in an attribution solution in order to more accurately attribute credit to marketing touch-points throughout a customer’s research process…. Yet, one of the biggest factors inhibiting a company’s ability to maximize the value of their tool is: the marketing teams are not optimizing using attribution data!

If marketing teams continue to operate in silos, and manage their campaigns based on their historical practices, they are undermining the primary value proposition of the solution itself!  All campaigns should be tracked, reported on, and optimized based on attribution data in order to make the most out of the investment.

Call to Action: Campaign Managers, with top-down support, should optimize their campaigns based on the attributed results.

Companies that follow Adoption, Inc.’s approach are much more likely to increase adoption of their attribution solution.  In doing so, they will be in the best position possible to transform their business by making awareness generating campaigns affordable through holistic measurement and maximizing their total site results over time.

The four factors Adoption, Inc. took into account during the roll-out of their attribution tool enabled them to get the most out of their solution.  They had prepared their team for the changes to come, aligned goals across channels based on total site goals, sourced reporting from the attribution tool, and optimized to the attributed results.

Remember, investing in an attribution solution is more than a decision to capture purchase path data; it is a commitment to change the way you think about measurement by taking a holistic approach to your digital strategy.  Learn from the struggles of Set it & Forget it, Co. and model your business off of Adoption, Inc.!

Factor 3 – Reporting: Is attribution data the source of truth?

Investing in the advancement of digital measurement is an important strategic decision for any company.  While many are prepared to make this investment, far fewer are prepared to maximize the return of their investment by utilizing the tool in their day-to-day operations!

With a holistic goal defined and a solution in place to de-duplicate results and measure overall impact, the attributed data should become the primary source of performance reporting for marketing teams and analysts. The attribution tool provides a detailed, first party view of the customer journey, and it is critical that all teams treat it as the single-source of truth to ensure results are reported consistently and reviewed from the same vantage point.

Call to Action: Strategists, Analysts, and Campaign Managers should embrace their attribution solution as the single source of truth for all digital marketing performance reporting.

Check back soon for our final installment: Factor 4 – Optimization: Is attribution data being used for optimization?

Today we are looking at:

Factor 2 – Goals: The data is aligned, but are the goals?

In a world of “big data” and holistic measurement, why do we continue to see goals fragmented across marketing channels?  In order to maximize the success of a marketing program as a whole, it is essential that all channels work toward the same goal as opposed to having separate (and at times competing) channel-level goals.

Once goals are aligned, performance should be measured based on a channel’s ability to contribute to the overall goal in terms of both incremental growth and cost efficiency.  Campaign managers should be just as incented to tell a cost-savings story as they are an incremental growth story. After all, reallocating budgets to a higher-performing area may be the best way for a particular channel to contribute to the total marketing goal.

Call to Action: Marketing Directors should ensure total marketing goals are defined and that performance of each channel is measured based on its contribution to that goal.

Stay tuned for our next installment… Factor 3 – Reporting: Is attribution data the source of truth?

Today, many marketers are familiar with the concept of attribution, but fewer have taken full advantage of the solution.  Whether you are an Executive Sponsor, Marketing Director, Strategist or Campaign Manager – the ultimate success of any attribution program relies on adoption, and adoption relies on you!

In this four-part series, we will explore the factors for successful adoption of an attribution program by comparing the real-life story of two fictional companies, “Set it & Forget it, Co.” and “Adoption, Inc.”.

Factor 1 – Expectations: What is the company attributing to attribution?

There is no shortage of cross-channel and customer behavior insights that can be learned from purchase path data. With such a rich and deep data set, one of the biggest risks businesses face is losing sight of the tactical plan while dreaming of all the possibilities.

It is important to remember that the basic goal of attribution is to more accurately attribute value to your campaigns, based on their ability to drive overall results. Performance will look different for some campaigns and terms under an attributed lens – so ensuring your team is aware of what to expect is crucial.  Changes when compared to an incumbent a ‘last click’ model may include:

• Performance for awareness campaigns and non-brand terms may appear more favorable, as these touch-points often occur earlier in the customer’s research process;
• Performance for brand terms may appear less favorable, as the customer is often close to making their purchase and may have engaged with other channels prior to the search.

CALL TO ACTION: Executive Sponsors should set the stage with the extended team, ensuring all parties are aware of the commitment to adopting a holistic measurement strategy and the changes that come with it.

In our next installment… Factor 2 – Goals: The data is aligned, but are the goals?

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For a second consecutive year, Forrester Research has partnered with GSI Commerce and its digital agency, True Action, to analyze 77,000 consumer orders with the goal of evaluating how shoppers were influenced by various marketing touchpoints prior to an online purchase. ClearSaleing provided marketing analytics and attribution modeling.

The report will help marketers learn:

• How consumers interact with multiple marketing channels before making a purchase
• Why shoppers continue to follow traditional interactive marketing tactics
• What influences new and repeat shoppers to make a purchase

Click HERE to download the report.