What is attribution modelling?
Attribution modelling refers to the formula which demonstrates the impact each funnel stage has had in a conversion. While the ability to effectively attribute sales to certain campaigns has always been contentious, our shift to a cookieless environment will make attribution modelling even more difficult. In order to combat this, our approach relies on setting KPIs at each funnel stage to effectively understand the value each channel drives.
What does cookieless mean for brands?
Cookieless means campaigns will no longer be able to rely on website visits and other browser-based behaviours for retargeting campaigns and platforms to perform the way they used to. Instead, brands will need to use first party data and build customer profiles around that in order to effectively utilise customer behaviour in their retargeting efforts.
How this will impact reporting and analysis
Campaigns at different stages of the funnel each serve a specific purpose in nurturing users to conversion. Objectives align with the purpose of each funnel stage, so using one set of metrics (e.g. ROAS) is not the most effective way to analyse campaign performance.
Our approach involves setting funnel-stage-specific KPIs to assess the performance of each funnel stage:
At the top of the funnel, the objective is brand awareness. Success here should look primarily at metrics such as reach and impressions in order to determine the effectiveness of these campaigns.
At the middle of the funnel, campaigns look to drive consideration in users. Engagement with ads, websites, and other collateral gives a strong indication of whether campaigns are performing here, so we need to look at metrics such as clicks and time on site.
At the bottom of the funnel, we’re trying to convert. This is where brands should focus on ROAS, cost per purchase, revenue, profit, and other metrics which are directly related to a business’ financial performance.
These stages all culminate in driving real business results for a brand, the individual influence of which should form the basis of our attribution model. Understanding, collaborating on, and communicating their contribution to real business results is our core focus as a consultancy.
