Q: What is attribution?

A: Attribution is the way that we, as marketers, determine which touchpoints, platforms, marketing tactics are contributing to overall customer journey, and ultimately, path to conversion.

Q: How should we look at it from a Paid Social perspective?

A: In order to make the most informed decisions on platform (when not utilizing a MTA tool such as Northbeam or Triple Whale (as examples)), we always recommend clearing out the attribution muddy waters as much as possible and prioritizing click-through attribution in platform decision-making.

Q: What are in-platform best practices?

A: We recommend optimizing Meta for click-based attribution (7 day-click or 1 day-click) as opposed to click + view-through attribution (7 day-click 1 day-view). In essence, the way that we as buyers set up our attribution model is an optimization setting within the platform. 

• We’re directing the account to target higher intent click-to-purchase customers as opposed to over-valuing performance and likely taking credit for other platforms generating conversions when optimizing for click + view-through.

• For example, if running a small lower funnel Retention campaign optimized for 7dc1dc, the amount of view-through conversions can be upwards of 50% of all attributed purchases. Meta, in this example, is taking credit for likely organic or email efforts geared toward past purchasers and massively inflating in-platform performance which sometimes causes buyers to overspend.

  • Now imagine optimizing your attribution model for 7dc1dv in top of funnel Prospecting efforts and seeing 30-50%+ of conversion volume being attributed to view-through conversions. This is a very common scenario that we see when viewing / auditing other accounts which causes overconfidence in the platform and often, overspending in specific campaigns and ad sets.

Q: What are some of your observations?

A: Things to be mindful of when optimizing for click-through conversions:

• Older audiences tend to be “clickier”, which can cause demographic shifts in ad delivery. It’s crucial for buyers to work closely with creative strategists and creative production teams to ensure that ads are visually appealing to their target audiences, diminishing the naturally increased proclivity for click-optimized campaigns to skew toward older audiences (if that is not the intended market).

• The attribution comparison tool on Meta as well as product average order values (AOV) can both be great signals for whether to optimize for 7 day-click or 1-day click attribution. Generally, SKU’s with lower AOV’s are more likely to be considered “impulse purchases” and therefore customers have a greater likelihood of purchasing with a shorter consideration period. Vice versa for SKU’s with larger associated price tags, in which we recommend optimizing for 7dc. 

Q: What are some benefits and takeaways we should know?

A: Click-based attribution on Meta, which ultimately is a platform that functions extremely well and an acquisition tool, is the most effective way to reduce over-attributing conversions and having a clearer understanding of performance.

Creative optimization goes hand-in-hand with attribution optimization and is one of the primary drivers in targeting high-intent customers within your target audience segment.