Multi Touch Vs Single Touch Attribution Models

Multi-touch attribution

Multi-touch attribution models consider all touchpoints that a customer makes leading up to a purchase or conversion. Each model assigns credit in a different way. For example, linear attribution assigning equal credit to each touchpoint, and time-decay attribution assigning more credit to those touchpoints closer in proximity to the final conversion.

Pros

• Considers all marketing channels. Any marketing channel that contributes to a conversion is credited to an extent. This stops valuable marketing activities from being devalued simply because they don’t directly drive conversions.
• Can see how your marketing channels impact each other. Unlike single-touch, multi-touch attribution demonstrates the relationship between marketing channels and how they work together along the buying process.

Cons

• More complicated. Multi-touch attribution can be complicated to implement, possibly requiring complex calculations, technology, and algorithms.
• Still not 100% accurate. Although it is considered more accurate than single-touch attribution, multi-touch attribution still makes assumptions about the contribution of marketing activities. It also still ignores various external factors such as word-of-mouth, pricing, and competitor activity.

This basic comparison of multi-touch and single-touch attribution models gives a good idea of how each type of model can benefit your marketing attribution process. Consider each model to determine which is best suited to your business.