How to Build a Business Case for Attribution

How to Build the Business Case for Attribution

Introduction

84% of enterprise marketers intend to invest in attribution in the next 12 months*.

Yet many of the marketers we speak to still struggle to justify spend on attribution technology to their business.

Before you can use the results to prove your point, you need to persuade your FD, MD or CEO that your business should be investing in attribution in the first place.

Rather than taking everyone in your business through the complex algorithms, we want to help you to build an ROI focused business case for attribution.

* Source: Econsultancy: Enterprise Priorities in Digital Marketing

In this booklet we will demonstrate that if you deploy your attribution solution in the right way you can (within 3 months): 1. Identify 15-20% of marketing activity that isn’t working 2. Identify where to re-invest this budget

Here is our 4 step plan to help marketers build the business case for attribution:

1 Do the

Math(s)

By spending 1-5% of your media budget on ensuring the rest is spent in the right way, you will be able to prove that you’re managing it effectively.

“Budget is often seen as a big blockage, but the way I look at it is just 1% of your budget can tell you what the other 99% is doing. With that perspective the cost doesn’t seem significant.

JAMES LIBOR, VIRGIN HOLIDAYS

By deploying the correct solution you will find 15-20% of ineffective spend within 12 weeks and identify where to re-allocate it.

2 Solve

Existing Questions

The most effective way to get buy-in from stakeholders in your business is to focus on solving their most pressing questions with attribution early on.

For example, you could enable your search manager to justify generic PPC once and for all, which will in turn prove to your MD that it is more than just an academic pursuit.

For an in depth list of questions and attribution resolutions you can check out our latest blog post on how to build a business case for attribution at https://goo.gl/mQu2Ww or turn the page for some more examples.

Examples Summary

There are many questions that can be answered with measurement and attribution.

Here are some examples for you: How can I identify the affiliates that add value?

I want to encourage content and specialist affiliates that drive value, but with my last click view I can only see the voucher and cashback affiliates.

What is the true value of Display Ads? I can’t optimise my display unless I can measure it in a way that makes sense – last click is undervaluing it but post impression means I have duplicate sales.

What activity drives new customers?

My targets are based on driving growth by acquiring new customers at an acceptable ROAS, however because I don’t have this view my teams end up optimising in a way that accentuates retention channels.

What is the effect of my online marketing on my store sales?

My MD wants to spend more and more money on TV and offline advertising because she says it drives store sales, how can I show that many customers who end up in store start their journey online?

3 Plan to

Prove Value Fast

It is easy to get hung up on the technology and the algorithm that makes attribution possible - but to successfully sell it into your business, you need to step away from that and focus on the value.

Here are two top tips to help you focus your plan in a way that will prove value fast...

1. Shifting the budget from an ineffective activity to an effective one has the potential to both save moneand generate further revenue.

2. The right platform should be easy to implement with the right level of service. Allowing you to answer those pressing questions, rather than waste time searching for the perfect algorithm.

4 Go for a

Fixed Price Solution

The perception in the marketplace is that volume based pricing is standard and the more successful you are, the more you will end up paying. This is no longer the case.

You can now get fixed cost platforms that won’t penalise you for succeeding.

Don’t fall into the trap of a model that will become more costly the more you measure. It also makes it harder to prove the value of your attribution solution if you don’t know how much it will cost in 12 months.

Summary

In today’s ‘omnichannel’ world, last-click is no longer fit for purpose.

Rather than telling stakeholders that they have no choice but to move to attribution try something like...

“

In the next few months we are going to have a much better idea of how our marketing channels are performing.

Focusing on the ways attribution makes their jobs easier and allows them to make more confident decisions will encourage the initial leap and make the project much more likely to succeed in the long term.

Are you ready to build the business case for attribution?

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