Digital's long running query - attribution

If Yogi Berra was asked ‘how do you drive $100 in ecomm revenue?’ he’d probably say something like: $50 from paid, $50 from organic and $50 from email.

The attribution challenge stymies demand teams, and frustrates CFOs. Add up revenue across your stack, and you’ll likely have more slices than you have actual pie.

There’s a good reason why we turn to attribution platforms that 

“give marketers the ability to understand the entire customer purchase path and how each online channel works to move a customer from acquisition to conversion, which helps deliver stronger performing marketing programs.”

Knowing what helps deliver a sale is as relevant today as it was when the above quote was crafted… in January of 2011 (per the acquisition of ClearSaleing by GSI Commerce).

Attribution is one of digital’s long running queries. Which is why it’s still compelling to know just a bit more about what encouraged the shopper to come by and buy.

Here’s what caught my eye in the KnoCommerce recap report (self-reported shopper attribution):

1. Ads are driving about half of “non-other” orders - far outpacing search, email and sms.

2. When it comes to ads (excluding paid search), meta dominates… and, the impact of walled gardens is getting trickier to measure. TikTok shops are likely keeping traffic in situ, another complicating thron in that garden.

3. Conversions take time - we are actually in the business of fostering fluency with our shoppers - the time to first purchase histogram is probably the most important point for looking beyond what you earn based on today’s spend.