Common Attribution Marketing Model

[IanAtAdobe]

As a consultant for Marketo Measure I am often asked, “what are other reports that Marketo Measure users build?” 

And I then give the consulting answer, “It depends.” 

But I have been seeing more the idea of creating a marketing weighted custom model. the custom model will identify the value of those touchpoints that are identified as Middle Touch (MT). 

This idea of making an attribution model solely focused on Marketing was something I first resisted, but after wrestling with it for some time it is something worth sharing.  

First, the basics of the Full Path Model. 

At first, when looking at attribution the goal is to better understand the buyer's journey, and Marketo Measure does an excellent job of this when using the full path model.  

The Full path model will weigh the FT, LC OC, and Close as 22.5% and the other 10% gets evenly distributed across all middle touches (MT).  

So, in the example above the five MT’s will each receive 2% of the revenue.  

Who really creates and closes an opportunity? 

But the reality is Marketing rarely opens new opportunities, and is never (or, I have never seen) closing an opportunity.  

Marketing Weighed Attribution Model (MWAM) 

All this to say, I am working with more clients to create a custom model that helps identify the value of their marketing efforts across the marketing journey. This model will help better understand the impact of those Middle Touches as these are the touches that are often what is driving the deal forward alongside Sales engagement. 

This custom model is not one I suggest surfacing up to take claim of opportunities, but it is to better understand where to invest marketing dollars.  

This weighted model will reduce or remove the value from the OC and Closed Touchpoint and give a heavier weight to the MT’s. This model is best for those who have multiple touches happening across the lifecycle of the opportunity. If your current deal cycle has one or two touches between open and close, this may not be a right fit. 

Here is the comparison of Full Path v. MWAM (suggested but not concretely defined) 

Full Path	Weight	MWAM	Weight
FT	22.5%	FT	20%
LC	22.5%	LC	20%
OC	22.5%	OC	0%
Closed	22.5%	Closed	0%
MT	10%	MT	60%

Compare and Contrast 

Here is how the Full path model would breakdown a $10,000 deal:

FT – 22.5% - 04/01/2022 - AdWords 

LC – 22.5% - 04/03/2022 - Direct 

MT - 2% - 04/04/2022 - Webinar 

MT - 2% - 04/04/2022 - Webinar 

MT - 2% - 04/04/2022 - Webinar 

OC – 22.5% - 04/15/2022 - Sales Activity 

MT - 2% - 04/20/2022 - Sales Call 

MT - 2% - 04/21/2022 - LinkedIn Ad 

Won – 22.5% - 04/22/2022 - Sales Call 

Overall, the Webinar and LinkedIn Ad only attribute $800 to the $10,000 that closed. The full Path Model is not wrong in how it breaks down the value of those touchpoints, but if you are a Marketer who is looking to make analytical insights, it would appear that those marketing channels were performing less than those at the FT and LC position (AdWords and Direct).  

Let us now look at the MWAM. Still looking at the $10,000 deal:  

FT – 20% - 04/01/2022 - AdWords 

LC – 20% - 04/03/2022 - Direct 

MT - 12% - 04/04/2022 - Webinar 

MT - 12% - 04/04/2022 - Webinar 

MT - 12% - 04/04/2022 - Webinar 

OC – 0% - 04/15/2022 - Sales Activity 

MT - 12% - 04/20/2022 - Sales Call 

MT - 12% - 04/21/2022 - LinkedIn Ad 

Won – 0% - 04/22/2022 - Sales Call 

In this model, it quickly highlights the MT’s impacted $6,000 in revenue. Again, the goal is not take money away from sales, we all know who closes the deals.  

The goal here is to make analytical insight on where to invest more dollars.  

The MWAM shows where to invest more dollars for those MT that are helping to drive Accounts to closed won opportunities.  

The data is easier to read.  

For example, what is easier to read: 

1. Webinar impacted $600 of $10,000 

1. Webinar impacted $3,600 of $10,000 

For me, it is number two. This removes the additional digging that needs to be made to understand what MT’s are driving to closed won deals. This helps to quickly identify those channels/campaigns that though they may not generate leads or opportunities, still have a very meaningful impact on the journey of the deal. 

Conclusion 

To wrap this up like I would my middle school paper. 

In conclusion, I think the WMAM is a neat concept and is helpful to better understand how Middle touches are driving revenue.  

No attribution model is a one size fits all, but I do think an adjustment like this will help marketing teams to pull quicker insights on what efforts are pushing opportunities across the finish line.  

[jstephan1961 · Accepted solution]

Ian, must have been a great customer session where you came up with this good thinking. 

Thanks you for guidance on leveraging Adobe technology.

Jurgen 

[Rosie_Knox]

This is GOLD Ian!  Thank you for outlining this so clearly.