Last-click attribution is broken. You know it. Your CFO knows it. But fixing it feels impossible when touchpoints live in HubSpot (email, forms), Google Ads (search), LinkedIn (social), and Salesforce (deals).
Here’s how to build attribution that shows what actually works—without hiring a data science team.
Why last-click attribution lies
Last-click gives credit to the final touchpoint, which is usually a branded search where they already knew you, a direct visit from someone who bookmarked your site, or a retargeting ad targeting someone who was already interested. This makes everything else look worthless, even when those earlier touchpoints are doing the heavy lifting of building awareness and interest.
The 3 attribution models that matter
1. First-touch attribution
First-touch attribution helps you understand which channels create awareness and where your best customers first discover you. It answers the critical question of what your top-of-funnel ROI actually is, showing you which channels are most effective at bringing new prospects into your funnel.
2. Multi-touch attribution
Multi-touch attribution reveals how many touches it typically takes to convert a prospect into a customer. It shows which channels work best together and helps you identify the optimal sequence of touchpoints that leads to conversion.
3. Time-decay attribution
Time-decay attribution recognizes that recent touches often matter more than older ones, especially for longer sales cycles. It helps you understand the impact of nurture campaigns and how the timing of touchpoints affects conversion rates.
What to build first (week 1)
Start with a simple journey map that captures the first touch from Google Ads, LinkedIn, or HubSpot. Track all touches including every email open, ad click, and form fill throughout the customer journey. Record the conversion when a deal is won in Salesforce. Finally, assign credit using your chosen attribution model to understand which touchpoints contributed to the win.
Once you have this foundation, you can answer critical questions like which channels create pipeline, how many touches it typically takes to win a deal, and what the ROI is by channel and sequence.
The attribution challenge (why DIY fails)
Attribution requires identity resolution to match the same person across different tools, ensuring you’re tracking a complete journey rather than fragmented interactions. It needs touchpoint deduplication so you don’t count the same touch twice when data comes from multiple sources. You must define time windows that determine how long a touch remains valid in your attribution model. Finally, you need model flexibility to test different attribution rules and see which approach best reflects reality.
When this lives in spreadsheets, it breaks every time a new channel is added or tracking changes occur, like updates to UTM parameters or cookie policies. Definitions evolve over time as you refine what counts as a touch, requiring constant manual updates that quickly become unsustainable.
With our managed data platform, attribution updates automatically as new touches arrive, so you can see what’s working in real-time rather than waiting until next quarter to understand your marketing performance.
The hidden cost of bad attribution
When attribution is wrong, you over-invest in last-click channels like branded search and retargeting ads, which get credit for conversions they didn’t actually drive. You under-invest in awareness channels like content marketing, social media, and display advertising that build the foundation for future conversions. Most critically, you miss the channels that create pipeline but don’t close deals, leading you to cut budgets on channels that are actually driving growth.
Good attribution shows the full picture of how customers discover and engage with your brand, so you can invest your marketing budget where it actually matters rather than where it appears to matter.