Report: Despite Challenges, Marketers See Benefits from Attribution

Customers are engaging with marketers through a number of different channels, and new research suggests that marketers are struggling with attribution.

The “State of Marketing Attribution 2017” from Adroll recently discovered that the majority of marketers (35 percent) believe that defining the online customer journey is the greatest barrier to marketing attribution. This is followed by a lack of prioritization in analytics (32 percent) and the complexity of data (32 percent).

Fifty-nine percent of marketers claim that they do not carry out marketing attribution or delay it due to a lack of knowledge. About 53 percent face technology limitations, and 40 percent are pressed by a lack of time.

“Attribution continues to be one of the hottest topics in the industry for a reason: it has huge consequences, such as lost revenue and wasted ad budget, if not done properly,” said AdRoll Vice President of Marketing Shane Murphy.

Despite the challenges, marketers are still seeing benefits from attribution. The majority (70 percent) claim that they are able to better allocate their budgets across all channels. Sixty-four percent state that they gain a better understanding of how digital channels work together, and 52 percent cite a better understanding of digital/offline interactions.

How Attribution Impacts Data and Analytics

Previous research indicates that in the past, a lack of attribution has contributed to marketers’ difficulty with data and analytics.

A survey conducted by Conversion Logic and IDG Connect found that although most marketers are using at least six tools to gauge marketing performance, 50 percent were concerned about their accuracy. The primary cause of their problems regarding marketing measurement was a lack of attribution.

Overall, 30 percent of respondents claimed that attribution could provide up to 30 percent more efficiency.