an attribution journey by adam proehl
TRANSCRIPT
#SMX #31C @adamproehl
§ Digital Marketer since 1998
§ Specialize in Complex & Omni-Channel sales
§ Partner at NordicClick Interactive – a Minneapolis based agency
§ Past Instructor at Online Marketing Institute, University of San Francisco, and Instant E-Training
§ Hopeless MN sports fan
About Me
#SMX #31C @adamproehl
A Curmudgeon’s Rant
“I got a lot of problems with this whole ‘attribution’ thing”
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#2: Attribution: Many week links
§ Crumbling cookies (Thanks Apple!)§ Do not track settings§ Multiple devices§ Offline Marketing Activity
#SMX #31C @adamproehl
“And in applying the time-decay methodology, your first-click PPC non-branded accounts for 40%.....
• Too smart for your own good?• Over complicating things?
#3: This can happen
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#4: Lot’s of Hair Pulling
• Tracking Issues
• Data Sources
• Internal Cultural Challenges
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#5: No Testing to Validate Attribution • Display Ads
• Social Targeting
• Assumptions / Sampling
• Accounting for external factors
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THIS?
Determine what (and ultimately “who”) gets credit for the conversion based on some formula?
#6: Last – What Are You Really After?
#SMX #31C @adamproehl
OR THIS?
Where should we spend our time, money, and resources?
#6: Last – What Are You Really After?
#SMX #31C @adamproehl
OR THIS?
Where should we spend our time, money, and resources?
#6: Last – What Are You Really After?
#SMX #31C @adamproehl
Attribution: My Goals
Which marketing tactics:• Move the needle?• Improve the performance of other tactics?
#SMX #31C @adamproehl
§ Upscale Products
§ Top 10% earners
§ High LTV, low purchase frequency
§ E-Commerce - 12% of overall business
Background
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C-Level: Understand the effects that digital marketing has on in-store sales
Key Challenge
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§ Store managers HATE E-Commerce
§ Old, old, legacy systems
§ Recent botched E-Commerce migration
§ Entirely new digital team
§ They’re cheap
Complications
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Audit Analytics:
§ Traffic double counting
§ Improperly configured goals & events
§ Referral tracking issues
§ Excessive Bot traffic
Attribution Journey: Part 1
#SMX #31C @adamproehl
Attribution Journey: Part 1Inventory of Available Data
ü Adwords data (Search, remarketing, GDN, Shopping)
ü Facebook data
ü Retail store foot trafficü In store sales numbers (by zip code)üEmail dataüAnalytics
#SMX #31C @adamproehl
Attribution Journey: Part 2
Analytics Canvas
Retail Store Sales
Retail Foot
Traffic
Analytics
Adwords
Email Data
#SMX #31C @adamproehl
Old School Test & ValidationMarketing 101 still works : Geo Control Tests§ In Market Audience Display Advertising
§ Offline Advertising
§ Similar Markets
§ Site Link Extensions / Headlines
§ Social Advertising
#SMX #31C @adamproehl
Direct Traffic – Ad period Test Market
Direct Traffic – Ad period Control Market
Old School Test & ValidationMarketing 101: Geo Control Tests
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Extensive Validation§ Test vs. control markets
§ Other media conditions consistent
§ Validated several different times
§ Year over Year
NOTES
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§ CFO overjoyed. Really!
§ Significant budget increase
§ Bing getting more love
§ Directive: Go deeper yet
So What Happened?
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Attribution Journey Part 3: Brand Measurements • Branded & Product Based
Search Queries
• Causation/Correlation of Media Buys
• Accounting for seasonality, external events, etc.
#SMX #31C @adamproehl
§ “Culture of Attribution”
§ Success looks different for different platforms
§ Validation efforts are validated
§ Not as slick and easy as made out to be
Lesson’s Learned (So far)