Making better decisions: Attribution Modeling comes to DFA

Attribution modeling, even with the Path to Conversion report, can be a daunting task, with the data inputs required and the approaches varying greatly depending on one’s level of experience. Countless hours can be spent manipulating and setting up data before you can even think about gleaning insights on your campaign.

Last week we first introduced the Attribution Modeling Tool, and today we’re pleased to announce its availability to all DFA users. No additional setup is necessary to get started, since the modeling data is pulled from your advertising campaigns running in DFA.

The Attribution Modeling Tool, accessible from within Multi-Channel Funnels, includes six standard models plus the ability to create custom models:

1. Floodlight, the standard DFA model, is based on a last-click wins model which gives 100% of credit to the last click, or to the last impression if no click is present in the path. It’s useful as a baseline for comparison with other models. 
2. Last Interaction gives the last touch point 100% of the credit for the conversion. 
3. First Interaction gives the first touch point 100% of the credit for the conversion. It can help you understand which campaigns create initial awareness for your brand or product. 
4. Linear gives each touch point in the conversion path equal credit for the conversion. An advertiser might use this model if campaigns are designed to maintain contact and awareness with the customer throughout the entire sales cycle. 
5. Time Decay gives most of the credit to touch points that were closest in time to the sale or conversion. It can be useful for campaigns with short sales cycles, such as promotions. 
6. With Position Based, 40% credit is assigned to the first interaction, 20% credit is assigned to the middle interactions, and 40% credit is assigned to the last interaction. It can be used to adjust credit for different parts of the customer journey, such as early interactions that create awareness and late interactions that close sales. 

You can further answer specific questions by creating custom models with rules based on interaction type, position, time, DFA data (site, placement, etc.), and DoubleClick Search data (campaign). This lets you adapt the models to better account for your campaign objectives.

So start exploring different attribution models with the data in your DFA campaigns. You’ll learn how to quickly build, customize, and compare models and derive new insights on the customer journey to conversion from the different touch points of your campaign.

Attribution modeling is just one area where clients will benefit from a single view of the customer via the unified platform, DoubleClick Digital Marketing. To learn more about what you can do with attribution in DFA, reference these articles in the DFA Help Center (sign-in required).

Posted by Bill Kee, Product Manager