Attribution is both a simple and complex process: while it is easy to define an attribution model in Google Analytics, it is difficult to weigh the implications of each model, especially with the model you choose affecting the perceived value of your campaigns. And if you want to set up a custom attribution model, you need a deep understanding of both the attribution process and the Google Analytics platform. Whether you're new to understanding attribution or looking for ways to improve your modeling and data accuracy, let's look at the role of attribution models in Google Analytics and how you can modify them to better understand your data. Prove-the-ROI-with-CallRail-CTA The impact of attribution on the analysis Any marketing department manager or marketing agency uses analytics to assess campaign performance and guide strategic decision-making in the future. The purpose of using Google Analytics is to collect data and insights that tell you where you are succeeding, where you are struggling, and how you could improve your marketing spend in the future. If your top marketing channel is converting 10% of its contacts and your worst performing marketing channel is not converting anyone, this may trigger one of the following actions: changing your message or other strategic elements of the underperforming channel, moving money from that channel into other marketing options, or even dropping the underperforming channel altogether.
But the Employee Email Database numbers can tell a different story depending on the attribution model you choose. If you move from a last-response model to a first-response model, virtually all of your marketing channels are going to experience changes in their return on investment (ROI). In other words, the value you see in your Google Analytics reports is determined, in part, by how you decide to weigh that value in the first place. Marketers have many attribution models to choose from. A handful of popular options are available in Google Analytics. If you use Google Analytics but haven't set or adjusted these attribution models, it's time to dive in and take control of this important metric. The default attribution models found in Google Analytics Google Analytics offers seven default templates already built into the platform. Businesses and agencies can easily choose one of these templates, or switch to them, with just a few clicks. Below are the default templates used by Google Analytics, along with explanations of how the platform specifically defines and analyzes each. Last Touch Attribution: With this model, 100% of the credit for a conversion goes to the last ad channel that interacted with the user, regardless of how many touchpoints the brand had with that customer prior to the conversion.
First touch attribution: In contrast to the last touch model, this model gives all the credit to the first point of contact between a marketing channel and the customer. Linear attribution: With this model, credit for a conversion is split equally between each channel involved in the conversion path. Temporal decay attribution: This model gives more weight to more recent touchpoints. The last touchpoint receives the most credit, with that credit decreasing until the first touchpoint, which receives the least credit. Position-based attribution: This model weighs the beginning and end of the heaviest conversion path, giving the first and last contact 40% of the credit each. The remaining 20% is split equally among all middle keys. Non-Direct Last Click: This model assigns attribution to the last touchpoint that is not the result of a direct visit to a website. This is the default model used by Google Analytics, so if you haven't adjusted the attribution models in your dashboard, this is the one your account uses. Google Ads Last Click: This model only gives credit to the last contact with a Google Ads product. This can be useful when evaluating the performance of Google Ads campaigns independently of other strategies. For some companies, these attribution models will offer the insights they seek to guide their marketing strategy. In other cases, a more personalized approach will be required. Learn more about common attribution models here. Set or change your Google Analytics attribution model Whether you're setting up an attribution model for the first time or want to switch between models, here's the basic process for doing so in Google Analytics: