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Multi touch attribution
Written by Alexandra Flygare
Simply tracking clicks and leads isn’t enough to understand how your marketing efforts drive revenue.
B2B customer journeys are long (192 days on average) and involve multiple touchpoints across various channels.
To accurately measure the impact of every interaction, you need a solid attribution model.
This is where multi-touch attribution comes into play.
In this article, we'll dive into the essentials of multi touch attribution, discuss why it's essential for B2B companies, explore different multi touch attribution models, and show how you can maximize insights with a specialized platform like Dreamdata.
What is Multi Touch Attribution?
Multi-touch attribution (MTA) is the practice of assigning credit to every touchpoint that influences a potential buyer throughout their journey.
Instead of giving all the credit to just the first or last interaction, multi-touch attribution spreads the recognition across all the key points that lead to a conversion.
In simpler terms, it helps you answer questions like:
Which marketing efforts created awareness?
Which touchpoints influenced the decision to book a demo?
What pushed the prospect from consideration to purchase?
For B2B companies with long sales cycles and complex customer journeys, this model is critical in understanding the real value of each marketing and sales effort.
For more on attribution check out this article: What is Attribution, really?
Synonyms of Multi Touch Attribution
Multi touch attribution might go by a few different names depending on the context, but they all refer to the same concept and can be used interchangably.
Here are some common synonyms:
Full-Funnel Attribution: A term that emphasizes covering every stage of the buyer's journey.
Cross-Channel Attribution: Highlights the attribution across multiple marketing channels (social media, email, PPC, etc.).
Customer Journey Attribution: Focuses on tracking every interaction within the customer journey.
Why should B2B companies use Multi Touch Attribution?
B2B customer journeys are unique, often involving multiple decision-makers, a lengthy timeline, and a variety of channels.
Traditional single-touch models like first or last click can be misleading in this context, as they tend to oversimplify the buyer’s journey.
By distributing credit across several interactions, multi touch attribution provides a nuanced understanding of each marketing touchpoint’s contribution, empowering B2B marketers to make informed choices about where to invest their budget.
With multi touch attribution, you gain the ability to accurately measure your marketing impact. This can help you allocate resources more effectively by revealing which campaigns or channels drive results and which may need optimization.
Furthermore, insights from multi-touch attribution can highlight key interactions that accelerate the buying process, allowing you to focus on these points to shorten sales cycles.
Importantly, it also aligns marketing and sales teams by providing shared visibility into how their combined efforts contribute to revenue, fostering better collaboration and strategy.
Why Use Dreamdata for Multi-Touch Attribution?
Dreamdata stands out as a top platform for multi-touch attribution, especially for B2B companies with long, complex sales cycles.
Here’s why Dreamdata is the go-to solution:
Complete View of the Customer Journey: Dreamdata pulls data from various sources—like your CRM, marketing automation, ad platforms, and website analytics—so you get a full picture of how each touchpoint contributes to conversions.
Accurate Revenue Attribution: Dreamdata’s advanced algorithms ensure that revenue is allocated to all touchpoints, giving you clear insights into what actually drives deals.
Optimize Marketing Spend: By understanding the true ROI of each channel and campaign, you can confidently invest in high-performing tactics and cut the ones that aren’t delivering results.
Faster Sales Cycles: Dreamdata shows you which interactions accelerate conversions, helping you streamline your customer journey and close deals faster.
Better Collaboration Between Teams: With shared insights across marketing and sales, Dreamdata helps break down silos, leading to better alignment and more efficient growth strategies.
In short, Dreamdata provides the clarity that B2B marketers and sales teams need to understand how every touchpoint contributes to revenue, enabling smarter decisions and driving predictable growth. If your business is serious about using data to fuel growth, Dreamdata is your multi-touch attribution solution.
Check out how you can report on marketing’s impact and uncover how all of your paid channels are connected to revenue with Dreamdata’s performance attribution feature.
Multi Touch Attribution Modelling
Dreamdata provides 10 out-of-the-box multi-touch attribution models to help you analyze which activities contribute to revenue.
Here’s a quick breakdown of each multi touch attribution model:
First Touch: All credit goes to the first interaction, highlighting the initial point of customer awareness.
Linear: Distributes credit evenly across all touchpoints, giving a balanced view of the customer journey.
Last Touch: Assigns full credit to the last interaction before conversion, emphasizing the final step in decision-making.
U-Shaped: Gives more credit to both the first and last touchpoints, with the remainder spread across mid-journey interactions.
W-Shaped: Credits three key moments—first touch, lead creation, and opportunity creation—offering a detailed view of early, middle, and late stages.
Linear Non-Direct: Similar to Linear but excludes direct traffic, focusing on non-direct interactions.
First Touch Non-Direct: Attributes all credit to the first non-direct touchpoint, spotlighting non-direct channels in early engagement.
Last Touch Non-Direct: Credits the final non-direct touchpoint, identifying key influencers before conversion.
U-Shaped Non-Direct: Follows the U-Shaped model but only considers non-direct touchpoints.
W-Shaped Non-Direct: Mirrors the W-Shaped model, focusing solely on non-direct touchpoints across key stages.
These multi touch attribution models allow you to see the customer journey from different angles, helping you understand the true drivers of revenue across channels and stages.
Frequently asked questions about Multi Touch Attribution
What Makes B2B Multi-Touch Attribution Different from B2C?
B2B multi-touch attribution is more complex due to longer sales cycles, multiple stakeholders, and various touchpoints. B2B attribution focuses on mapping the journey through specific interactions that drive revenue.
How Does Multi-Touch Attribution Aid in Lead Generation and Pipeline Management?
Multi-touch attribution provides insights into the effectiveness of lead generation campaigns and pipeline management by analyzing touchpoints across the customer journey. This allows B2B companies to identify impactful channels and campaigns for nurturing leads and moving them through the sales funnel.
How Can Multi-Touch Attribution Improve Alignment Between Marketing and Sales?
By providing visibility into how each marketing touchpoint influences conversions, multi-touch attribution encourages collaboration between marketing and sales. Both teams gain insights into which strategies are effective, improving lead quality and conversion rates.
Can Multi-Touch Attribution Help Determine the ROI of Marketing Campaigns?
Yes, multi-touch attribution allows B2B companies to calculate campaign ROI accurately. By assigning revenue to each touchpoint, companies can evaluate the impact of campaigns on revenue generation, helping them allocate resources effectively.
What Challenges Are Associated with Multi-Touch Attribution in B2B?
Implementing multi-touch attribution in B2B can be challenging due to the complexity of tracking offline touchpoints, managing multiple decision-makers, integrating data from various platforms, and aligning models with the B2B sales cycle. However, platforms like Dreamdata help overcome these challenges by centralizing data and providing advanced analytics.
How Can Multi-Touch Attribution Benefit Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?
For ABM, multi-touch attribution is essential as it provides insights at the account level. By understanding the interactions that drive engagement, conversions, and revenue generation for specific accounts, businesses can optimize ABM strategies and tailor their approach to each account.
Can Multi-Touch Attribution Help B2B Companies Optimize Their Marketing Budgets?
Absolutely. Multi-touch attribution helps businesses identify the touchpoints with the most significant impact on revenue, enabling them to allocate budgets more effectively. This allows B2B marketers to invest in high-performing campaigns and channels, maximizing returns and eliminating waste.