Think back twenty years. Think of how marketers everywhere would have rejoiced at the idea of being able to measure every product bought as a direct result of an advertisement. Fast forward to present day, where marketers are simultaneously grateful for and overwhelmed by the myriad ways to reach consumers. With research-based guidance, marketers are becoming more keenly aware of the best places and ways to reach their target. The challenge doesn’t end there; it’s equally important to effectively measure the success of marketing efforts. How else do we know which messages and platforms resonate most strongly with our target?
Many direct marketers used to value clicks, and only clicks that directly lead to purchase. Those same marketers are those who scoffed at the efficacy of social media, saying it was a waste of time. Time has shown, however, that there is a different kind of value to be found in social interactions. As consumers build affinity for a brand online, they may be more likely to seek it out offline. They may sing its praises in casual, spoken conversation, something that will never be measured outside of structured survey environments. And that’s just social media. Every channel brings unique value to the consumer journey, and marketers are constantly trying to find the best way to quantify that value.
In our opinion, heuristic attribution techniques are a great option.
Put simply, heuristic attribution involves assigning values to different types of consumer-brand interactions. The specific interactions measured and values assigned can and should vary by company.
While somewhat time consuming, heuristic attribution is extremely useful when measuring interactions across multiple devices and channels. Most customers don’t make a buying decision the first time they visit your website. This is especially true in B2B transactions. Instead, they might download a white paper, connect with one of your salespeople on LinkedIn, and browse your mobile site, and only then decide that it’s time to hit “purchase.” Each of these steps in the sales process is important, but without heuristic attribution, assessing their value toward your ultimate goal (making a sale) is nearly impossible.
If you’re ready to explore heuristic attribution for your company, check out this Inc. article, and pay special attention to the studies at the bottom.
If you’re using heuristic attribution at your company (or plan to in the future) tell us how it’s going in the comments!
Photo via: aussiegall
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