Overview
Campaign attribution is the practice of evaluating the touchpoints a customer encounters on their path to a conversion. The goal is to determine which channels and messages had an impact on the customer's decision to convert or take the desired next step. This information allows you to make more informed decisions when executing future campaigns.
Default settings
When reviewing the performance of your campaigns, the revenue attributed to the campaign uses a default attribution model. This model attributes conversions and revenue to the campaign that a customer most recently opened or clicked, looking back a maximum of 3 days.
In the example below, revenue is not attributed to this email campaign based on this default model.
Customize settings
The buyer's journey of your business may not align with the default attribution model or the goal of your campaign. For example, customer re-engagement via a page view may be considered a victory in a win-back campaign. For these reasons, you can change the conversion event and the attribution window.
To change these settings and review the impact of the change:
- Navigate to Campaigns.
- Select the campaign you'd like to update and review.
- Locate the campaign touchpoint you'd like to review and click on the Eye
icon to expand the performance metrics view. Review each metric in more detail here. - At the top-right of the metrics card, select the desired conversion event and attribution window. After choosing a new option, the performance metrics will update automatically.
After customizing the settings, revenue is attributed to the email campaign from the previous example.
Platform differences
It is common to observe differences in campaign performance when comparing or switching between different tools. These differences are typically due to the default attribution model used by each platform. For example, the default approach of each of the tools listed below differs from Zaius. As a reminder, the default Zaius model attributes conversions and revenue to the campaign that a customer most recently opened or clicked, looking back a maximum of 3 days.
- Bronto: The standard attribution window is 28 days. Bronto allows the attribution window and conversion event to be customized. The conversion can be either open, click, or both.
- Klaviyo: The standard attribution window is 5 days. A last open or click attribution model is used.
- Listrak: The standard attribution window is 30 days. A last click attribution model is used.
Ultimately, when comparing or switching between tools, it is crucial to be mindful of the model and settings that were previously applied to your campaigns.