There seems to be an increased buzz around cross-channel media attribution from many vendors lately and although we posted on the subject of attribution before we never really got into the nuts and bolts of the different platform options so here you go.

Check out the below slides we recently pulled together for one of our clients - the 1st part is a recap on cross-channel media attribution best practice in case you're new to the topic but the 2nd part goes into the detailed pros and cons of the various different technology platforms we've had experience with.

• Google Analytics multi-channel funnels
• Adobe SiteCatalyst Cross-Visit Participation JavaScript plugin, Light Server Calls and DoubleClick/Mediamind Genesis integration
• Atlas, Mediamind and DoubleClick ad server based purchase path tracking plus custom media attribution modelling
• Specialised ClearSaleing media attribution platform and out-of-the-box reports

Finally, it's important to make a distinction between media attribution and purchase path tracking, one is necessary to enable the other but they are not the same. Tracking the complete purchase path, i.e. every paid and organic campaign touch point leading up to a conversion is a necessary requirement to be able to actually do media attribution or the allocation or conversion credits back to those touch points. The purchase path tracking is the data collection if you so want and the media attribution the actual analysis or modelling part - given attribution modeling is only as good as the underlying data the below slides are focusing manly on the data collection aspects of the different options.

Google just uploaded the videos from last year's Think Auto events in Sydney and Melbourne so I thought I'd share that with you. Check out the below recording including slides on how we think the automotive industry could crack cross-channel media attribution and finally give digital the credit (and budgets) it deserves.

The presentation covers basic media attribution best practice as well as some suggestions on how to track offline media responses online and link offline car sales back to online campaigns and website behaviour. Have a look, especially if you work in marketing in the automotive industry, as everyone seems to know how important digital is in the research process but no-one seems to be able to quantify exactly how much - here's a few ideas.

In case you missed our presentation on Re-thinking Media Attribution at the recent Google Go Measure event, check out the slide below. 

Thes slides obviously need narration, but the gist of the presentation is that the new Google Analytics multi-channel funnels are an awesome way to measure the full path to purchase as long as you're not a heavy display advertiser (the Google data only contains clicks and not mere impressions) and don't want to track offline responses via search calls to action (needs custom JavaScript otherwise just comes through as organic search traffic). You can track offline sales influenced by online media through email receipts.

Most marketers (and especially those that listened to me at ad:tech in Singapore recently) have by now realised that the ‘last-click gets all the credit’ attribution model favoured by Google and so many others is not actually representative of how consumers interact with advertising.

Especially advertisers that invest heavily in display ads, whether historically or because they have reached a point of diminishing returns in other channels such as paid search, would cite a lack of reporting and accountability as one of their major frustrations. 

If the above challenges sounds familiar and you think your company should be analysing all campaign touch points leading up to a conversion and not just the last, then you will find the below slides from my recent presentation on media attribution at ad:tech in Singapore interesting.

The slides will show you how to record and analyse multi-channel media attribution data in your existing web analytics platform to generate some quick wins as well explain the pros and cons of more professional long-term approaches.

ClearSaleing, one of the key media attribution providers, just released an interesting new research study hinting at the return of display advertising and its reemergence as a key revenue driver (as long as companies can accurately track display impact). 

Granted, this is probably old news for advertisers that have already reached a point of diminishing returns in channels such as paid search a while ago and are now heavily relying on display ads to continue to grow. However, what might still be news is exactly how much revenue they might have been missing out on by only optimising for the last campaign touch point or the 'last click' before a sale which misses 9 out of 10 ad engagements and is unlikely to be a display ad.