{"id":6283,"date":"2021-09-06T07:40:25","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T07:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/?p=6283"},"modified":"2022-01-14T07:40:55","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T07:40:55","slug":"why-marketing-attribution-provides-better-insight-into-the-customer-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/why-marketing-attribution-provides-better-insight-into-the-customer-journey","title":{"rendered":"Why Marketing Attribution Provides Better Insight into the Customer Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the strangest bi-products of the move from brick-and-mortar stores to an online marketplace is the fact we now know more about customers we\u2019ve never met than shop owners of yesteryear could have dreamed of. The main reason is that everyone\u2019s internet-supporting tech also tracks them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Using software like cookies, e-commerce retailers can easily track the traffic coming to their sites. Information such as where customers are coming from and what they\u2019re doing, while they\u2019re there, is at the tip of their fingers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Putting the ethics of this to the side for a second (only now are people beginning to take discussions around their online privacy seriously), there\u2019s never been a better opportunity as a marketer to use <\/span>analytics<\/span><\/a> to create campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n

The entire purpose of your job is to drive more people to your store and persuade them, once there, to make a purchase. And, if the choice of how to do this boils down to two options, one being guesswork and the other a data-driven strategy, you\u2019d be a fool not to action the latter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Out of this mindset, concepts like marketing attribution and <\/span>RPA training online<\/span><\/a> have arisen and developed in line with technology. We\u2019ve now reached a point where these should be at the forefront of any marketer’s mind when it comes to producing strategies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this guide, we\u2019re going to discuss what marketing attribution is, how you can do it, what challenges you\u2019ll face, and the reasons why it\u2019s important.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Marketing Attribution?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Before we go into the technical details, let\u2019s make sure we understand what\u2019s meant by the term \u201cmarketing attribution\u201d. It\u2019s less a phrase that does what it says on the tin and more one that\u2019s shorthand for the idea of using customer behavior to inform future decision-making.<\/span><\/p>\n

At its most basic, marketing attribution refers to a set of data points employed to better visualize and improve the <\/span>digital experiences of customers<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Attribution<\/p>\n

Image source<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a practice that involves specifying the elements of your analytics that directly contribute to the conversion. This can take a number of forms, as we\u2019ll see in a minute. As a quick example, though, imagine a consumer is on a website and sees an advert for a new television. They click on this, which brings them to your site.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once there, they shop around but leave before making a purchase. The next day, they receive an email reminding them of the item, click through, and complete the transaction. There are several data points in this example that you can attribute credit to for the eventual purchase.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Deciding which of these you want to apportion the most credit to or whether you want to spread the credit evenly depends on the type of marketing attribution you employ.<\/span><\/p>\n

How to Implement Marketing Attribution: Three Different Models<\/span><\/h2>\n

As with anything that exists in the e-commerce world, there are tools that allow you to automate marketing attribution. And, as with most automated things, like <\/span>workflow management software<\/span><\/a>, the assumption is you turn it on and let it do its work. One less thing to worry about, right?<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, not quite. You see, people use different criteria to decide what constitutes a \u201cconversion\u201d, and if your attribution model doesn\u2019t reflect this, the data it gives you will be ineffective and unusable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the different types of attribution modeling you should familiarize yourself with before deciding which works best for you are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n