As an ecommerce business, how do you know which marketing channels generate revenue? Are you sure you're investing in the right marketing initiatives that drive growth and optimize your operations for profitability? The answer lies in marketing revenue attribution.

In this article, we'll explore marketing revenue attribution, how it works, and strategies for leveraging it to achieve ecommerce success.

What is marketing revenue attribution?

Marketing revenue attribution identifies which marketing channels generate revenue and how much revenue each channel generates. It provides invaluable insights into the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and helps businesses make data-driven decisions about their marketing strategies.

What is attributable revenue?

Attributable revenue refers to the income generated by a specific marketing channel or campaign. It measures the effectiveness of a particular digital marketing activity in driving sales.

An example of attribution in marketing

Let's say an ecommerce business runs a social media campaign and a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign simultaneously and earns $15,000 in total. The company measures revenue from both campaigns and finds that the social media campaign generated $10,000 while the PPC campaign generated $5,000. 

That process of identifying how much revenue each strategy/channel generated is called attribution. And with the gained insights, the business now understands its most effective campaign and can allocate resources accordingly for more results.

How to measure marketing revenue attribution

Businesses must track customer interactions across all touchpoints in the buyer's journey to measure marketing attribution. This process includes monitoring website visits, email opens, ad clicks, and social media engagement. 

By analyzing this attribution data, businesses can determine which touchpoints contribute to revenue generation and how much they do.

5 types of attribution in marketing

There are many types of attribution in marketing, but here, we've outlined four of the most popular:

  1. First-touch attribution: Credits the first interaction with the customer for a sale. It's a simple model.

  2. Last-touch attribution: Credits the last interaction with the customer for a sale. This model is ideal for businesses with short sales cycles.

  3. Multi-touch attribution: Credits all touchpoints along the customer journey for a sale. This model is ideal for businesses with longer sales cycles involving multiple different touchpoints.

  4. Linear attribution: Assigns equal weight to all touchpoints in the customer journey, providing a more balanced view of customer behavior. It is ideal for businesses with relatively short sales cycles where all touchpoints are equally important.

  5. Algorithmic attribution: Employs data-driven models to assign credit to touchpoints in the customer journey. This marketing attribution model is ideal for businesses with complex sales cycles that require a more sophisticated approach.

Strategies for marketing revenue attribution

Businesses must clearly understand which marketing channels generate revenue and how to optimize their operations for profitability To achieve ecommerce success.

These four strategies for marketing revenue attribution will help you gain invaluable insights into customer behavior and emotions, make data-driven decisions, and drive business growth.

1. Use a data-driven approach to determine the most effective marketing channels

A data-driven approach involves analyzing data to determine which marketing channels generate the most revenue. First, collect data on website visits, email opens, ad clicks, and other customer interactions across all marketing channels. Then, analyze this data to determine which channels are most effective in boosting conversions and revenue.

For example, an ecommerce business may find that its email marketing campaigns generate the most revenue compared to social media or PPC campaigns. With this information, they can allocate more resources toward email marketing to optimize their operations and drive growth.

2. Implement a multi-touch attribution model to capture all touchpoints along the customer journey

A multi-touch attribution model provides a more detailed view of customer behavior by tracking all touchpoints along the customer journey. Unlike first-touch or last-touch attribution models, which only credit one touchpoint with the sale, a multi-touch model credits all touchpoints that contribute to the sale. This approach enables businesses to identify which touchpoints are most effective in driving revenue.

Say a customer interacts with an ad on social media, clicks through to the website, reads a blog post, and then makes a purchase. A multi-touch attribution model would credit each of these touchpoints with contributing to the sale, providing a more accurate view of customer behavior.

3. Utilize marketing automation tools to track customer interactions and identify revenue-generating touchpoints

Marketing automation tools automate repetitive tasks and enable businesses to track customer interactions across all touchpoints in real-time. These tools can help identify revenue-generating touchpoints and provide insights into customer behavior.

For instance, an ecommerce business may use marketing automation tools to track customer interactions with their website and identify which landing pages lead to the most sales. Companies can optimize their website and marketing strategies to drive revenue by focusing on these pages.

4. Combine qualitative and quantitative data to get a holistic view of customer behavior and emotions

Quantitative data gives businesses valuable insights into customer behavior but doesn't tell the whole story. Qualitative data, such as customer feedback or reviews, can provide insight into customer emotions and motivations.

Imagine you notice a decline in revenue from a specific marketing channel. By analyzing customer feedback, you may find that customers are dissatisfied with the user experience on their website. Addressing this issue could lead to an increase in revenue from that marketing channel.

By combining qualitative and quantitative data, businesses can better understand customer behavior and emotions, enabling them to optimize their marketing strategies for profitability and growth.

Attribute your marketing revenue more accurately, use Emotive

Emotive Attribution is a powerful tool for businesses that want to leverage marketing data analytics for accurate attribution and business growth. With its easy-to-use dashboard and integration with top marketing and advertising channels, the tool provides a full-funnel overview of the strategies driving most of your business revenue. 

Plus, with no need for manual data entry or coding, businesses can use Emotive Attribution to save time and focus on making data-driven decisions for success. Ready to take your marketing campaign attribution to the next level? Try Emotive Attribution today and unlock the insights you need for airtight marketing data analytics.