How to Move On From Last Click Attribution

Goodbye last-click… Hello new attribution!

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Google have recently announced the shiny new Analytics 360 suite! At last. One of the new and improved features includes ‘Attribution 360’, formerly known as ‘Adometry’. With their rumoured decision to stop Last-click attribution soon to be implemented, Google Attribution 360 claims to give marketers detailed insights on their customer journeys to improve ROI.

But what does it all mean? Here our digital marketing wizards break down how to get over your Last-click attribution break up and move on to another attribution method that’s right for you. If you need any advice about tracking your customer journey, ask the Upperdog experts about our digital marketing services.

Last-Click Attribution Model

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Last-click attribution is the standard way Google AdWords determines conversions. This is when the last point of contact gets all the credit for a conversion. Let’s say a customer clicks a link to your website from your Facebook post, but doesn’t buy. They later click on your PPC ad but still aren’t quite sure. Later they searched for one of your keywords organically before buying a product. The sale conversion would be credited to your organic search. Although simplistic, this method doesn’t accurately represent your full customer journey. So, let’s look at some other options.

Linear Attribution Model

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A very democratic method. With the Linear model, each touch point with your website has an equal amount of conversion value. Although applying equal weighting to each touch point may seem fair, this doesn’t help you determine which point has resulted in the most conversions.

Time Decay Attribution Model

Time decay gives most of the credit to the touch point within a few hours of a conversion. This is the most similar option to the Last-click attribution method and may be the best option for companies who want a smooth transition after the change.

Position-Based Attribution Model

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This is our favourite in the AdWords management team. With the Position-based model, 40% of weighting is given to the first and last touch point. 20% is divided between the touch points in-between. This method gives priority to when the customer first became aware of your company and the touchpoint that resulted in a conversion. The indecisive interactions in-between still get a little credit, but not enough to outweigh the important parts.

First-Click Attribution Model

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In this model, all the weighting is given to the very first touchpoint. This may be beneficial for new companies looking to expand brand awareness or new customer acquisition.

Data-Driven Attribution Model

This is Google’s favourite. It’s also a little mysterious. Data-driven attribution “uses your account’s conversion data to calculate the actual contribution of each search ad click along the conversion path” (Google AdWords Blog). It weights the credit to the data points that it feels most worthy based on your current data. It then uses machine learning to improve the model to result in more conversions. So far, there are mixed results for this method.

Not sure which attribution method is right for your company? Or maybe you want to pick the brains of our PPC management team about social media marketing? Call Upperdog today on 01202 798 820 or email hello@upperdog.co.uk.