Before making a purchase, a customer might see an ad, open an email, and receive a WhatsApp message. Attribution determines how much of that sale is attributable to each touchpoint. There are different models: some give all the credit to the last touchpoint, others distribute it, and the most rigorous ones measure the actual impact using a control group.

Why does it matter?

Without attribution, you don't know what works. You end up investing in the channel that makes the most noise, not the one that generates the most sales.

With good attribution, you can:

• Compare the performance of email, WhatsApp, SMS, and ads.
• Adjust the budget based on actual results.
• Show, using numbers, how much marketing contributes to the business.

It’s a good idea to define the attribution window in advance—that is, how many days after a message a purchase counts as a result of that message. With that criterion clear, the entire team interprets the same numbers in the same way.

Story mode

Lucia receives an email from an online sports store featuring new T-shirts. She doesn't make a purchase. Two days later, she receives a WhatsApp message with a reminder and makes a purchase. Who gets credit for the sale? With a "last touch" model, the credit goes to WhatsApp. With a control group-based measurement, the store can see how much each channel actually contributes.

How to Use It with Data4Sales

• Revenue attributed to each campaign and channel.
• Measurement using a control group (holdout) to calculate actual incremental revenue.
• AI Reporting sends automatic reports via email, based on natural language requests.

Related terms

• Attribution Window
• Incremental revenue
• Conversion by means of
• UTM