Marketing attribution can sound technical, but it’s a fancy name that means you understand which marketing efforts are actually bringing in customers. If you run a local service business (HVAC company, salon, dental practice, etc.), you’ve probably tried a mix of ads, social media posts, and word-of-mouth referrals. Attribution helps you figure out which of those efforts deserves credit for each new lead or sale so you can invest your time and money more wisely.
In this guide, we’ll demystify attribution. We’ll break down what attribution is, why it matters, common models (in plain English), and how you can start small to gradually improve your marketing insights.
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What is marketing attribution?
Marketing attribution assigns credits or value to the marketing touchpoints that lead a customer to convert (make a purchase, book an appointment, request a quote, etc.). In other words, it answers the question: “Which marketing effort gets the credit for this customer’s action?”
For example, a new client finds your website through Google, sees your Facebook post, and finally calls your office. All you immediately know is that they called your office. Attribution determines how much credit each of those interactions deserves for that phone call.
Why does marketing attribution matter?
Without attribution (or some form of tracking), you’re marketing in the dark. As one of our articles puts it, “Measurement is key to moving beyond speculation. Without concrete data, you’re left unaware of your website’s performance…”
If you don’t know which ads or promotions drive real business, you can waste money on things that don’t work. You can also miss opportunities to double down on what does work.
Attribution gives you actionable insights into your ROI.
For instance, your Google Ads might bring five new calls per week while your radio ad brings one, or vice versa. It stops the “throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks” approach by revealing which marketing spaghetti is actually sticking!
In fact, 90% of marketers say understanding attribution is important, yet nearly 58% still rely on a single-touch model (we’ll talk more about that below). This means many businesses (perhaps even your competitors) aren’t getting the whole picture. Improving your attribution know-how can give you a competitive edge.
For local service businesses in particular, attribution is critical. It’s highly likely that your marketing budget is limited. You need to know if the flyers you mailed out bring in new clients or if your money is better spent boosting Facebook posts. And, you need to know before spending a lot of unnecessary budget on either.
Attribution connects marketing to revenue in a tangible way.
It helps you see which efforts make the phone ring or the appointment calendar fill up. When you dig deeper, attribution can even tell you which efforts are the most lucrative. The phone may ring more, but do appointments close more deals?
Attribution, followed by deeper data dives, can shed light. In short, understanding attribution means knowing where to focus your marketing energy for the best result.
Targeted improvements to the customer journey need attribution.
Attribution isn’t just for knowing which marketing brought in the last sale. It also helps when it’s time to improve the sales funnel. To make this concept more concrete, let’s walk through an example.
Imagine you own BrightSmile Dental, a local dental practice.
Most business owners imagine a straight line from prospect to patient. The prospect has a toothache and no regular dentist. They look up “dentist near me” or a similar term and locate BrightSmile Dental. They grab your phone number and call. Otherwise, they fill out the form on the site and you call them. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, you now have a patient.
However, here’s what the customer journey more often looks like:
- Touchpoint 1 – Facebook Ad: Sarah, a local resident, is scrolling Facebook and sees an ad about new patient discounts at BrightSmile Dental. Interested, she clicks the ad and lands on your website. She reads about your services but is just window shopping, so she clicks away.
- Touchpoint 2 – Google Search: A week later, Sarah has a toothache. She remembers “BrightSmile” from that Facebook ad. She goes to Google, searches for “BrightSmile Dental near me,” and clicks on your Google listing/website to find your phone number and reviews.
- Touchpoint 3 – Conversion (Phone Call): After confirming that your reviews are good, Sarah calls your office and schedules an appointment.
In this journey, Sarah interacted with multiple marketing channels, including Facebook and Google, as well as the website/phone call. Now the big question is: Which channel gets credit for Sarah becoming a customer?
3 Simple Attribution Models Every Local Marketer Should Know
There are many fancy attribution models out there, but if you’re new to attribution, you should start with the top three most accessible models. These are easy to grasp and often available in basic analytics tools.
Different attribution models tell different stories about the same customer journey. Without a deliberate model, you might accidentally give all the credit to the last thing a customer did (and therefore undervalue earlier marketing efforts that planted the seed).
This example shows why attribution is so important. Today’s customer journeys are rarely linear. People often engage with multiple marketing touchpoints before converting.
Especially for local services, a person might hear about you in a local Facebook group and then check Google for reviews. Maybe they’ll see your name again somewhere else before they finally reach out. Attribution helps you track and assign value to these touches so you know what’s working.
First-Click Attribution (aka First-Touch)
First-click attribution credits the first interaction for a sale/lead. It’s like saying, “The first impression did all the work.”
In our BrightSmile Dental example, first-click means Facebook (the first touchpoint) gets 100% of the credit for Sarah’s appointment. We assume the initial Facebook ad was the key driver, even though other steps happened later.
Suppose someone discovers your HVAC services through a Google ad that appeared when they first searched for “AC repair near me.” They click the ad (visit your site) but don’t convert immediately. Even if they later see other ads or come back via other channels, a first-click model would still say that the Google ad “created” the customer.
When it’s useful: First-click models are helpful for understanding which marketing channels are great at introducing your business to new customers. Local companies might use this to identify top-of-funnel drivers (e.g., did they hear about us first on social media, search, a flyer, etc.?).
Last-Click Attribution (aka Last-Touch)
Last-click attribution gives credit to the final interaction before the customer converts. This is the most common/default model in many analytics tools (and what most people intuitively track by default). It’s basically saying, “The last thing the customer did is what drove the conversion.”
In the BrightSmile example, last-click means Google Search gets 100% of the credit for Sarah’s call, since searching on Google and clicking the site was the last action she took before converting. The earlier Facebook touch is not credited at all in this model.
If a client found your salon’s website via several channels but ultimately called after doing a Google Maps search for your salon and clicking the “Call” button, a last-click model would attribute that client entirely to Google Maps/Local Search (the last touchpoint). It doesn’t matter how they heard of you initially.
Why it’s popular (and risky): Last-click is simple and tends to be the default setting in tools because it directly ties to the moment of conversion. It’s helpful in seeing what usually “closes the deal .”However, it can be misleading if used alone:
“If you choose to attribute 100% of the credit to any one single touchpoint, then you’ll miss the entire buying process” (CallRail).
In other words, last-click ignores the assistance from earlier marketing efforts. Many businesses stick with last-click because it’s easy, but it’s like only thanking the closer of a relay race and not the earlier runners who passed the baton.
Linear Attribution (Equal Weight to All Touchpoints)
Linear attribution spreads the credit equally across all touchpoints in the customer’s journey. It’s a simple multi-touch model: every channel that played a part gets a fair share of the glory.
In our example, linear attribution would credit both Facebook and Google for Sarah’s conversion. If we have two touchpoints, each gets 50% credit. If there were four touchpoints, each would get 25%, and so on. Everyone who helped, even a little, gets an equal pat on the back.
Think of linear attribution like splitting a restaurant tip evenly among the staff who served your table. In marketing terms, if a customer saw your Facebook ad, clicked an email newsletter, and finally came through Google, each channel gets 1/3 of the credit for that customer. So you could attribute $30 of a $90 sale to each channel (in a three-touch journey).
When it’s useful: Linear models are great for getting a balanced overview of your marketing. For a local business, this can confirm that multiple touchpoints often contribute. It’s especially handy if you engage in integrated marketing (e.g., you run social media ads, search ads, and email campaigns together).
Linear attribution acknowledges that marketing works as a team. Even if one channel didn’t “close” the sale, it still played a role in nurturing the customer. This model helps you avoid the bias of focusing only on first or last touches. It reminds you that all your efforts matter to some extent.
So, which attribution model is right?
After learning these three models, you might wonder: which one is “right”? The truth is that no single model is perfect for every situation. Each one gives a different perspective. The goal isn’t to pick one forever but to understand it so you can analyze your marketing performance from multiple angles.
For beginners, we recommend starting with last-click (since it’s easy). Once you’re used to using attribution models, you can compare first-click or linear insights, which are highly valuable. For example, you might notice that your Facebook ads rarely get last-click credit, but they often get first-click credit. This means they introduce lots of people who later convert through other channels.
Wrapping it up
By starting with these basics, you’ll gradually become more comfortable with marketing attribution. Remember, the goal isn’t to achieve perfect tracking (even big companies can’t track every nuance of a customer’s decision) but to get better visibility than you had before.
Even a little attribution insight can lead to more intelligent decisions. And smarter marketing means more customers and better ROI for your local business. Take it one step at a time, use the tools and data available, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a great service provider and a savvy marketer.
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