“All models are wrong but some are useful”.  This is how the presentation on Multi-channel Campaign Attribution and Optimisation began at the UK Adobe Summit this year.  To continue George Box’s quote, “the practical question is how wrong do they have to be to not be useful”.  Finding the optimal attribution model is clearly a challenge for many marketers with some of the UK’s biggest brands working their way through a solution.  

Leading brands and Acceleration clients BSkyB and MoneySupermarket formed part of the panel at the Adobe Summit to discuss how they are moving away from last click attribution and working at adopting a more sophisticated approach better suited to multi-channel environments.  Paul Gambrill from BSkyB explained that using the last click model doesn’t determine where best to invest their money.  With over 10 million customers as well as prospects interacting with the BSkyB site, understanding where to get results is critical.  The importance of correctly attributing channels was supported by Andy Mihalop from MoneySupermarket, which is also moving away from last click measurement as they continue to drive acquisition from commercial partners.  Andy explained that this is particularly challenging when you sell a range of products to customers with different purchasing habits.  Add in affiliates with different commission structures and rev share models plus PPC and SEO costs and marketers are facing even greater confusion over where to invest their budgets to hit targets. 

Attribution and statistical expert, Dr Sid Shah from Adobe explained that attribution is only a partial solution and that attribution combined with algorithmic optimisation provides a more optimal solution for organisations.  However, the most important lesson is to work from a rock-solid foundation by ensuring all your different channels are configured correctly.  Once the different channels are functioning correctly, you can then start applying multi-channel attribution models and benefit from using cross-channel insights to hone your marketing mix.

Acceleration is currently working with a number of top UK brands on data validation, attribution modelling and audience data management projects.   Please click here to read more about how we work with clients to create actionable insights from multiple marketing channels.

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