Last week I had the good fortune to participate in a panel called Channel Surfing at SES. The panel focused on the hot-button issue of generating accurate cross-channel attribution. We had a diverse set of panelists representing ad platforms, analytics providers and media agencies. Here are three important themes I felt emerged from the panel.
1. Diversity of Platforms: Multiple panelists talked about the significant challenge marketers face in tying together tracking across a diverse set of marketing platforms (email, search, ad serving, site analytics). Tying together tracking is critical to enable accurate attribution. Leaving multiple platforms in their own silo will result in duplication.
2. The Final Days of Last Click: Last click has been the dominant attribution method for digital marketers. It's a simple solution that ignores much of the cross-channel inter-play. Forward thinking marketers are starting to value both the first ad interaction as well as intermediate interactions. The days of the last click getting 100% of the attribution credit are limited.
3. Internal Tensions Hamper Attribution: Many marketing teams continue to be silo'd in both budget and goals. The result is tension around attribution between the groups that control each channel. Team coordination and goal alignment is critical for enabling improvements in attribution.
Justin Merickel
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