Attribution is the process of assigning credit for a conversion to the marketing touchpoints that led to it — deciding, for example, how much of a sale to credit to the email that drove the final click.
In depth
Common models include last-click (all credit to the final touch), first-click (all to the first), and multi-touch (credit spread across touches). Email often looks weaker under last-click because it does assisting work — nudging a subscriber who later converts via search or direct.
Example
A shopper clicks a welcome email, leaves, then returns two days later via a Google search and buys. Last-click attribution credits Google; multi-touch credits the email for starting the journey. The model you choose can swing email’s reported ROI by a wide margin.
Related terms
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