Attribution: Build, Model, Do

THE THREE STEPS FOR SUCCESSFUL ATTRIBUTION:

BUILD MODEL DO ,

,

Introduction

“Attribution is still a difficult topic for many companies because there isn’t one set way to attribute, which can be an extremely unsettling discussion point for any business.”

SOPHIA EVGENIOU, HOUSE OF FRASER There is still a feeling of ambiguity surrounding attribution, with much of the discussion focusing solely on which attribution algorithm is best.

While the technology and the algorithm for sharing value across touchpoints is important, we want to widen the lens to look at the three stages of attribution that are crucial to success:

1. BUILD Collect data from multiple touchpoints across all devices to create user journeys.

2. MODEL The algorithm and technology will now apply weightings and share sale value between touchpoints.

3. DO Visualise results with refined reporting outputs and automate optimisation.

1 BUILD JOIN CHANNELS & DEVICES

Just like with construction, you first need to collect the raw materials and build the foundations for your attribution model to ensure the project’s success.

Without accurate and representative consumer journey data your algorithm will be useless, no matter how good it is.

First collect as much touchpoint data as possible: • • •

All online channels All devices All offline touchpoints

This data is then linked to a single consumer to create their omnichannel user journey. An accurate view of all user journeys and how consumers interact with your brand is the fundamental basis of everything we do next.

Don’t just look at consumers who convert, analysis of all the consumer journeys that don’t end with a purchase is crucial to value the influence of channels.

2 MODEL CALCULATE TOUCHPOINT VALUE

The sharing algorithm’s purpose is to share sale value between touchpoints based on their contribution, and while there are many ways of doing this and several layers of complexity that can be added, there are two common ways of evaluating influence: • Propensity: The impact each touchpoint has on conversion rate •

Engagement: Valuing touchpoints based on consumer engagement

As the number of devices shoppers use continues to grow, it becomes more essential to have an accurate attribution model to help make sense of activity.

Once we understand the impact of the touchpoints, weightings are applied to attribute value across the consumer journey leading us on to the next step . . .

3 DO VISUALISE PERFORMANCE & AUTOMATE OPTIMISATION

The final, and probably most important, step – taking action on your attributed data.

The way attribution data is stored and accessed means you can use the insights to support your business goals and drill down to product specific insights or analyse the way consumers interact with your brand.

This will enable you to not only better understand your customers, but also better understand consumers who are not buying from you. The insights will allow you to: • • •

Answerpressingquestionsonchanneleffectiveness Refine reporting outputs to meet your objectives Automate optimisation to improve performance

Questions Summary

Answer Pressing Questions You will be able to answer questions such as: •

What can we do to influence customer journey Y in the future?

• How does my digital marketing impact in-store sales?

• Which marketing channels attract new customers?

• Does my top performing channel create long term customers? Or short term?

• Which channel drove the most sales for product X? • Did customers purchasing product Y, also buy product X? Answering these questions will not only enable you to maximise the efficiency and performance of your marketing strategy, but also validate spend on attribution to stakeholders quickly.

Use the Data Summary

Refine Reporting Outputs It’s about creating a view of the data that delivers the most suitable view of the data for each stakeholder.

Work closely with your channel managers and attribution provider to create tailored visual reports and customised dashboards that display the results each part of the business needs, in a way that can be easily digested and actioned.

Automate Optimisation To create more efficiencies your attributed sales information can be fed directly into third party tools, such as PPC bid optimisers and DMPs or DSPs for programmatic display buying, to automate channel optimisation.

Automation will save valuable time and resource and ensure channels are more accurately optimised, using data measured in the context of the full consumer journey.

Summary

It’s what you do with the data that counts!

If you buy a brand new television, it doesn’t matter how ‘smart’, how big or how high its resolution, you still need a network to provide entertaining content, and someone to watch and enjoy that content, in order to gain real value and justify the spend.

The same goes for attribution – any technology is redundant without a quality input and an output that delivers value.

While there are many other factors to consider unique to each business, using this “build, model, do� methodology to view the complete process of attribution, will leave you well on your way to achieving your ultimate goal.

That goal could be automating the optimisation of your marketing channels, validating spend to stakeholders, feeding specific business goals or delivering a relevant and contextual omnichannel experience to your customers.

Are you ready to build, model and do with attribution?

Rakuten Attribution (formerly DC Storm) arms digital businesses with performance measurement tools, analysis and reporting, powering great decisions and driving success. rakutenmarketing.uk/attribution rm-salesuk@mail.rakuten.com +44 (0)1273 807272