Understanding the effectiveness of various marketing efforts and campaigns is crucial in digital marketing. Businesses must determine which interactions bring them customers. One method that provides valuable insights into consumer interactions is last touch attribution.
Last touch attribution assigns credit to a customer's last interaction with a business before making a conversion. This model determines which touchpoint prompts a user to take the desired action, whether it's making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or any other lead generation or conversion goal.
While marketing efforts often involve a series of touchpoints across various channels, the last touch attribution model brings clarity by pinpointing the final interaction that sways the customer's decision.
This attribution model plays a pivotal role in marketing, assigning credit to only one interaction. However, there are many types of marketing attribution, and the one you choose will ultimately depend on your goals. Keep reading to learn about the last touch attribution model and how it works.
Last touch attribution is an attribution model in digital marketing that assigns credit to a customer's last interaction with a brand before making a purchase or conversion.
In this model, the final touchpoint in the customer journey, whether it's a click on an ad, a visit to a website, or another interaction, is considered the decisive factor leading to the desired action, such as a purchase, sign-up, or converting website visitors into customers.
While other touchpoints throughout the sales funnel may have contributed to building awareness and consideration, last touch attribution focuses on the last touchpoint that directly precedes the conversion event. This model offers a clear and straightforward way to identify the touchpoint influencing a customer's decision to take a specific action.
How does last touch attribution work?
Again, the last touch attribution model works by assigning credit for conversion only on the last touchpoint or interaction that a customer has with a brand before completing the desired action. This process involves tracking and analyzing customer touchpoints across various marketing channels and marketing efforts.
Here's a simplified overview of how it works:
- Gather data on customer interactions across different marketing channels and touchpoints. This can include clicks on ads, website visits, social media interactions, email engagements, and so forth.
- Map out the entire customer journey, identifying each touchpoint from the initial interaction to the final conversion event.
- Determine the last touchpoint the customer engages with before making the conversion. This could be the last ad clicked, the final website visited, or the concluding email opened.
- Attribute all credit for the conversion to the last touchpoint. In last touch attribution, the assumption is that this final interaction played the most significant role in influencing the customer's decision.
- Analyze the data to understand the effectiveness of the last touchpoint in driving conversions. Businesses can use these insights to optimize their marketing strategies, emphasizing channels or campaigns that frequently serve as the last touchpoint before conversions.
The last touch attribution model is popular because there's only one marketing touchpoint you have to worry about.
However, your marketing efforts create many touchpoints; without monitoring them, you won't know how effective they are. While the last touch attribution model is practical and straightforward, it has limitations.
The pros of the last touch attribution model include the following:
- Simplicity: One of the main advantages of last touch attribution is its simplicity. It offers a straightforward approach to attributing conversions by focusing solely on the last touchpoint. This simplicity makes it easy to understand and implement.
- Ease of implementation: Last-touch attribution is more accessible to implement than complex multi-touch attribution methods. It requires less intricate tracking and analysis, making it accessible for businesses with limited resources or those looking for a quick initial attribution solution.
- Clarity in the last touchpoint: The model provides clear visibility into the last touchpoint that directly precedes a conversion. This clarity helps businesses identify the most effective channels or campaigns to drive customers to take the desired action.
The cons of last touch attribution models include the following:
- Oversimplification of the customer journey: A significant limitation of the last touch attribution model is its tendency to oversimplify the customer journey. Focusing only on the last interaction ignores the complexity of multiple touchpoints that contribute to customer awareness, consideration, and decision-making.
- Ignoring earlier touchpoints: The last touch attribution model disregards earlier touchpoints, contributing to brand awareness and consideration. This can lead to a skewed understanding of the customer journey, as the model neglects the impact of interactions before the final touchpoint.
- Potential misattribution: Last touch attribution assumes that the last interaction is the most influential in driving a conversion. However, this may not always be accurate, especially in cases where customers engage with various touchpoints before making a decision. Misattributing the entire credit to the last touchpoint can lead to inaccurate insights and decision-making.
When should you use last touch attribution?
Last touch attribution is particularly well-suited for specific scenarios where the customer journey is shorter and more direct, and the final touchpoint significantly influences the conversion decision. A few situations in which last touch attribution makes sense include:
- E-commerce and online sales: Last touch attribution is commonly used in e-commerce and online sales environments. In these settings, customer journeys often involve quick decision-making processes, making it more feasible to attribute conversions to the last touchpoint.
- High-impact last touchpoints: When a business identifies specific touchpoints that consistently impact driving conversions, last touch attribution becomes valuable. This is particularly relevant when a specific channel or campaign consistently serves as the final catalyst for conversions.
- Limited-time offers: Campaigns featuring limited-time offers or promotions often have a sense of urgency, compelling customers to make quick decisions. In such cases, last touch attribution can attribute conversions to the last touchpoint, clarifying the impact of time-sensitive incentives.
- Abandoned cart recovery: The final interaction that successfully brings a customer back to complete a purchase is crucial for businesses implementing abandoned cart recovery strategies. Last-touch attribution helps in recognizing and attributing conversions to these recovery efforts.
- Promotional landing pages: When businesses create targeted promotional landing pages designed specifically for conversion, last touch attribution can highlight the effectiveness of these pages as the final step in the customer journey.
Alternative attribution models
Last touch attribution is easy to understand and implement, but there are potentially better options for understanding what drove your customers to take action.
If you want a more nuanced understanding of the customer journey, other attribution models offer different perspectives on how credit for conversions is assigned across various touchpoints.
First touch attribution
First touch attribution is a model that assigns full credit for a conversion to the initial touchpoint in the customer journey. A customer's first interaction with a brand is considered the most influential in driving the ultimate conversion.
The first touch attribution model is beneficial when businesses want to emphasize the impact of the first impression and brand introduction on customer decision-making. It provides insights into the channels or campaigns that initiate the customer journey and lay the foundation for subsequent interactions.
Multi-touch attribution
Linear multi-touch attribution distributes credit equally across all touchpoints in the customer journey. This model acknowledges that multiple interactions contribute to a conversion and assigns equal importance to each touchpoint. It offers a more balanced view of the customer journey, allowing businesses to recognize the cumulative impact of various channels and campaigns.
On the other hand, position-based multi-touch attribution, also known as U-shaped attribution, allocates significant credit to both the first and last touchpoints, with a balanced distribution for intermediate interactions.
This model acknowledges the importance of the introduction to the brand and the final conversion-triggering touchpoints, recognizing that certain interactions may play a more pivotal role in influencing the customer's behavior.
When leveraging last-touch attribution to understand the dynamics of customer conversions, certain best practices can enhance its effectiveness. Recognizing that attribution models serve as tools rather than one-size-fits-all solutions is crucial.
Here are a few best practices for optimizing last touch attribution in your marketing strategy:
Combine with other models
Utilizing a mix of models, such as first touch, linear multi-touch, or position-based multi-touch attribution, allows you to gain a more nuanced perspective. By doing so, you acknowledge the various touchpoints' roles in the conversion journey, providing a more holistic view that improves decision-making.
Context matters
Consider your marketing goals, industry dynamics, and the complexity of your customer journey. While last touch attribution can be effective in specific scenarios, such as e-commerce, it may not be ideal for industries with more intricate and extended decision-making processes.
Tailor your attribution model selection to align with the unique characteristics of your business landscape.
Data integration
To enhance the accuracy and reliability of last-touch attribution, integrate additional data sources and analytics tools into your strategy.
The more comprehensive your data, the more robust your attribution insights will be. Incorporating customer feedback, surveys, and data from various touchpoints allows a deeper understanding of the customer journey.
This integration also helps you overcome the limitations of attributing conversions solely on the last touchpoint, providing a richer context for analysis and decision-making.
Get a better understanding of the customer journey
Understanding the dynamics of the customer journey is fundamental to optimizing marketing strategies, and last touch attribution can be a valuable tool in determining the effectiveness of various touchpoints.
While last-touch attribution simplifies the path to conversion, businesses must acknowledge its limitations and explore alternative attribution models for a deeper understanding.
Achieving a comprehensive understanding of the customer journey requires data. With Mailchimp, you'll have all the data you need to learn more about your customers and the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.
Use our website builder, analytics, automation, and integrations to gain deeper insights into customer interactions, optimize touchpoints, and refine your marketing strategy for sustained success.