When people often go inside Google Analytics for digital marketing insights, they are usually exposed to a lie. Most notably, the Last Click model that exists across most of the standard GA reports are truly a disconnect from the multi-channel digital marketing world that drives visitors to a website. The goal of my presentation is to make a case about why marketers should all look at the GA Attribution Model reports and configure it to get deeper insights for their strategies.

1. March 4, 2015
Smarter
Attribution with
Google Analytics
Adrian Vender
Director of Analytics, IMI
@AdrianVender

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@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
Last Click Attribution?
User goes to your site & converts on that visit.
Full credit goes to that source.
(Most web analytics tools use last click attribution)

3. searchmarketingexpo.com
@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
Multi-Channel, Multi-Device Attribution
In reality, the path to conversion may occur over many visits.
Early touch points would get no credit with last click model.
Multiple devices may be involved as well.

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@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
The Case for Multi-Attribution
Very common to have
over 60% multi-touch
conversions!
Conversions >
Multi-Channel Funnels >
Path Length

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@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
Time for Change
We know that multi-attribution is important…
But we still act using single-touch (last-click) attribution.
It’s time to embrace multi-attribution
in Google Analytics

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@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
Multi-Attribution Challenges in GA
• No offline conversions (in-store or phone orders, etc)
*call tracking solutions can send calls to GA, but not orders
• No native cross-device tracking
*UserID can be matched, if provided. Not always practical
• Display impression tracking available (GA Premium only)
*Otherwise, lack of impression data has severe impact to attribution
There is no perfect multi-attribution system!

7. searchmarketingexpo.com
@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
Google Analytics Channels
Make sure all of your traffic is properly
identified in the right Channels.
If you don’t UTM tag your links:
• Email traffic is split to Direct and
“mail.” referrals
• Social traffic is slit to Direct and
obscure referrals.
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3297892?hl=en

8. searchmarketingexpo.com
@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
UTM Tagging
Check out @AnnieCushing and her guide to UTM tagging.
http://www.annielytics.com/guides/definitive-guide-campaign-tagging-google-analytics/

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@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
Go to Attribution Reports in GA

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Configure the Modeling Report
• Select/Deselect
appropriate conversions
• Type “All” is more
common
• Adjust your lookback
window to a max of 90
days

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@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
Choosing an Attribution Model
You can select pre-defined rule-based models,
or you can create custom rule-based models.
With GA Premium, you can enable an
algorithmic “Data-Driven” attribution model!
Learn more about selecting and creating
attribution models from Avinash!
http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/multi-channel-attribution-modeling-good-bad-ugly-models/
Unsure? Try “Position Based” model!

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@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
Custom Models
Create a custom model
from scratch or use an
existing model as a
baseline.
• Adjust position weights
• Specify lookback window
• Adjust credit based on
user engagement
• Custom rules, such as
increasing credit towards
Brand PPC

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@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
Model Comparisons
Selecting a multi-touch
model may provide a
significant lift of
conversion credit to your
marketing channels.
*Link your AdWords,
DoubleClick (GA Premium
only), or import cost data
for any source to get CPA
and ROAS metrics.
https://support.google.com/analytics/
answer/2803329?hl=en

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@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
Custom Channel Groupings
Create channel groupings to identify your specific marketing mix.

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@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
Conversion Segments
Use Conversion Segments
with Attribution Models to
answer questions like:
“What’s the revenue
influence of Paid Search as
an introducer?”
“How much credit does
each channel get for long
conversion journeys?”

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@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c
Recap
• Tag and Identify your Channels
• Setup Goals and/or Ecommerce Tracking
• Import cost data (whenever possible)
• Beware of “normal” GA last click attribution
• Experiment with different preset and custom models
• Leverage custom channel groupings and conversion segments

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@AdrianVender
#SMX #24c