What is first-click attribution?

First-click attribution is a model used in marketing to measure the effectiveness of different marketing channels. Imagine a customer's journey from first seeing your brand to making a purchase. This model says that the first time they ever interacted with your brand, like clicking an ad or visiting a blog post, gets all the credit for any future conversion. It's like giving a trophy to the player who made the first move in a game, even if someone else scored the winning point. This approach is particularly useful for understanding which channels are best at bringing new people into your marketing funnel. It helps you see what initial touchpoints are successful in creating brand awareness and attracting potential customers who might not have known about you before. By focusing on the starting point, you can better optimize your strategies for initial engagement and lead generation.

Why first-click attribution matters

First-click attribution is important because it highlights the value of your top-of-funnel marketing efforts. These are the activities designed to introduce your brand to a wide audience and generate initial interest. Without these initial interactions, many customers might never discover your products or services. It helps answer questions like, "Which ad campaign first caught our customer's attention?" or "What content piece initially brought a visitor to our website?" Using this model can guide your budget allocation. If you see that a specific channel consistently brings in new users, you might want to invest more in that area to expand your reach. It helps ensure that channels focused on awareness, which might not directly lead to a sale, still get the recognition they deserve for initiating the customer journey.

Best practices for using first-click attribution

To get the most out of first-click attribution, consider these best practices:

• Focus on awareness and lead generation: Use it primarily to evaluate campaigns aimed at introducing your brand and attracting new prospects. It's excellent for understanding the effectiveness of your brand awareness initiatives.
• Identify initial touchpoints: Pinpoint which marketing channels or specific pieces of content are most effective at bringing brand-new visitors to your website or platform. This could be a specific Google Search ad, a social media post, or an organic search result.
• Combine with other attribution models: First-click provides a specific viewpoint, but it doesn't tell the whole story. For a complete picture, always use it in combination with other models, such as last-click, linear, or time decay attribution. This gives you insights into every stage of the customer journey.
• Optimize for initial engagement: Based on your first-click data, optimize your ads, keywords, and content that are designed to capture initial interest. Ensure your landing pages are welcoming and provide a clear next step for new visitors.

How it compares to other models

Understanding first-click attribution often means knowing how it differs from other common models:

Last-click attribution

This model gives all the credit to the very last interaction a customer had before converting. While first-click shows what started the journey, last-click tells you what closed the sale. Both are valuable but answer different questions.

Linear attribution

Linear attribution distributes credit equally across all touchpoints in the customer journey. If a customer had five interactions, each would get 20% of the credit. First-click, however, puts all the weight on the beginning.

Time decay attribution

This model gives more credit to touchpoints that happened closer to the conversion time. Older interactions get less credit. First-click is the opposite, valuing the very first interaction regardless of how long ago it occurred. By understanding first-click attribution, you gain valuable insights into the beginning of your customer's journey. Use this knowledge to strengthen your awareness campaigns and bring more new prospects into your marketing funnel. Remember to always look at it alongside other attribution models for a truly comprehensive view of your marketing performance.