Over the past few years, revenue attribution has become somewhat of a buzzword in marketing—this is no coincidence.

With marketing becoming more accessible to businesses of all types thanks to the boom in digital platforms, the focus has shifted from merely putting the brand out there for revenue generation to finding the most efficient and effective ways to improve awareness about the brand.

This is where revenue attribution has become such a hot topic.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, revenue attribution is simply a way to measure which marketing strategies are contributing to revenue and by how much. With this data, you can find out exactly what’s working and what you require to reduce marketing spending and improve revenue.

You have the option of using various attribution models based on your specific needs and goals.

For all its benefits, however, revenue attribution is also very easy to get wrong and some common revenue attribution mistakes that many marketers and business owners make can skew the data.

So here are some common attribution mistakes you should avoid to get the most accurate results.

Not having an attribution strategy

Although there are numerous attribution tools and platforms available for use, it’s very easy to misalign your marketing efforts if you don’t have an attribution strategy.

No matter how many channels you’re tracking or how many tools you’re using, your attribution won’t produce the results you want if there’s a lack of clear direction.

So a clear, bespoke attribution strategy is very crucial if you want to get the results that feed your decision-making process to optimise your results.

But how do you develop a strategy that’s suitable for your business?

The first step is to become more organised. You don’t need to track every marketing channel under the sun—just the ones that are relevant to your marketing efforts. Make a catalogue of all the critical marketing channels and assign labels and budgets to ensure that the data you’re collecting is consistent, accurate, and complete.

Using only basic attribution models

When it comes to attribution, attribution models play a big role. After all, they will determine how each interaction on different marketing channels is evaluated and weighted.

One of the most common mistakes you can make when using attribution models is choosing the most basic models like the last interaction or first interaction models.

Unless you’re only using a single channel and all your conversions are coming from one interaction, these models can mess up your attribution numbers.

Instead, opt for models that reflect your multichannel marketing strategy. This way, you’ll have a more accurate picture of what’s working and what’s not.

Not understanding intent

Not all marketing channels have the same intent or are used in the same stage of the customer journey.  For example, a blog post is likely to have less of a positive impact than a paid ad when it comes to getting conversions. But at the same time, you can’t completely discredit a blog post’s contribution to conversions.

So it’s very important to understand channel intent. This will inform you about which attribution models to use and this will help produce more accurate insights that can support decision-making.

Using only attribution as a marketing analytics method

Despite its usefulness, attribution shouldn’t be the only analytics method you use to measure the success and efficiency of your marketing efforts—it’s not the end-all-and-be-all of marketing analytics; it’s the contrary.

To hyper-optimise your marketing strategies, you’re going to still need to use other analytics techniques like SEO, funnel analysis, and trend analysis alongside revenue attribution.

These different techniques will let you make your attribution more comprehensive and maximise conversions.

Stay clear of common revenue attribution mistakes to maximise marketing performance

Although it’s a great way to identify which marketing interactions and channels are contributing to revenue and conversions, the insights produced by revenue attribution can be irrelevant and inaccurate if you make the common mistakes outlined above.

So steer clear of these mistakes for accurate insights—and get expert help if you want to nail attribution.

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