Results Drive Optimization
By advertience | June 7, 2023 | Insights
For example, if a customer journey includes discovery via a paid social media ad, exploration through an organic search result, and a final conversion via a retargeted display ad, a properly executed attribution model would illustrate how each touchpoint contributed to the conversion. With this insight, digital marketing agencies can then tailor their strategies to…
For example, if a customer journey includes discovery via a paid social media ad, exploration through an organic search result, and a final conversion via a retargeted display ad, a properly executed attribution model would illustrate how each touchpoint contributed to the conversion. With this insight, digital marketing agencies can then tailor their strategies to prioritize the channels that have the most significant impact on customer conversion.
However, the impending elimination of third-party cookies is set to create challenges for attribution. Traditionally, third-party cookies have been a primary tool for tracking user behavior across websites, facilitating targeting and retargeting, personalization, and importantly, multi-touch attribution. Without them, digital marketing agencies will lose a significant source of customer journey data.
In this new environment, the future of attribution across digital channels will likely rely heavily on first-party data – information that is directly collected and owned by an organization from their audience. For example, a user on an eCommerce website might first hear about a product through a social media post, click through to the brand’s website, sign up for a newsletter (providing their email), and then finally make a purchase after receiving a promotional email. In this scenario, the brand would use the user’s consented email address to connect the dots between the social media interaction, the newsletter subscription, and the final purchase.
Moreover, digital marketing agencies may also start relying on advanced technologies like machine learning to model user behavior and infer the effectiveness of different channels. Privacy-focused, aggregated reporting solutions will likely also gain in prominence.
For brand marketers, a key point of consideration will be to build a robust first-party data collection strategy, if they haven’t already. Fostering direct, consented relationships with customers will be paramount. Invest in platforms or technologies that can help capture, analyze, and activate first-party data, and remember to always respect user privacy and consent.
In this evolving landscape, adaptability, creativity, and respect for consumer privacy will be the cornerstones for successful digital marketing strategies and effective attribution.
