Don't Cut Off Your Best Marketing Channels!
If you're running B2B marketing campaigns and only measuring success by last-click attribution, you're probably making a critical mistake that's costing you customers—and you don't even know it.
This isn't just about numbers on a dashboard. It's about understanding the real story of how customers find you, why they trust you, and what actually drives them to convert. And if you're getting that story wrong, you're likely cutting off the very channels that are bringing new customers through your door.
The Attribution Trap Most Marketers Fall Into
Here's a scenario that plays out thousands of times every day:
A potential customer sees your LinkedIn ad. Your brand name registers in their mind. Later that day, they Google your company name, click through to your site organically, and fill out a contact form.
In your analytics dashboard, that conversion gets credited to "Organic Search."
But here's the problem: If they'd never seen that LinkedIn ad, they would have never done that search in the first place.
This is the attribution trap, and it's why most marketing teams end up making decisions based on incomplete data. They see organic search driving conversions and decide to double down there—while simultaneously cutting budget from the LinkedIn ads that are actually introducing new prospects to their brand.
Understanding the Three Stages of Attribution
Attribution isn't a single moment. It's a journey with three distinct stages:
1. The Introduction (First Touch)
This is where the relationship begins. A prospect sees your ad, reads your content, or encounters your brand for the first time. This stage is all about awareness and that crucial first impression.
2. The Nurture (Mid-Touch)
After the introduction, prospects typically interact with your brand multiple times before converting. They might see retargeting ads, visit your website directly, read your emails, or search for more information. Each of these touchpoints builds trust and moves them closer to conversion.
3. The Conversion (Last Touch)
This is the final interaction before a prospect takes action—filling out a form, making a purchase, or requesting a demo. It's the easiest to measure, which is why so many marketers focus exclusively on it.
The problem? Focusing only on the last touch is like giving all the credit for a touchdown to the player who carries the ball over the goal line—while ignoring the offensive line that created the opening.
The Real Cost of Last-Click Attribution
When you only look at last-click data, you're making decisions in the dark. Here's what typically happens:
You cut top-of-funnel channels that are actually introducing new customers
You over-invest in bottom-funnel tactics that mainly reach people already aware of your brand
You plateau your growth because you're focused on retention rather than true acquisition
You miss opportunities to optimize the channels that are actually working
Think about it: If you stop investing in the channels that create awareness, eventually you'll have fewer people searching for your brand. Your "high-performing" last-click channels will start to decline, and you won't understand why.
How to Get Attribution Right
The good news? You don't need expensive enterprise software to start understanding your true attribution picture. Here's how to begin:
Start with Google Analytics
Google Analytics provides a robust way to track the full user journey, as long as you're using UTM parameters properly. Here's what to look for:
Which channels initiated conversions (first touch)
Which channels assisted through the journey (mid-touch)
Which channels closed the deal (last touch)
Yes, Google Analytics is primarily click-based, so it won't track video views or impressions. But it's the best free tool available and gives you far more insight than last-click data alone.
Track What Actually Matters
Don't just collect data—analyze it with the right metrics:
Cost Per Initiated Conversion: How much does it cost to start a conversion journey on each channel? A channel might look expensive on a last-click basis but be incredibly efficient at introducing new prospects.
Assisted Conversion Value: Which channels are consistently present in successful conversion paths, even if they're not the last touch?
Return on Ad Spend: When you factor in the full journey, what's the true ROI of each channel?
Feed Data Back to Your Ad Platforms
Here's where things get powerful: Once you understand attribution, create custom conversions that track first-touch and mid-touch actions. Feed this data back to your advertising platforms.
Why? Because algorithms optimize for what you tell them to optimize for. If you only feed last-click conversions, that's all they'll optimize for. Give them the full picture, and they'll find more of the prospects who actually complete the entire journey.
Connect Your CRM
The ultimate attribution setup tracks prospects all the way through your sales funnel:
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)
Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)
Closed/Won deal value
When you can see which campaigns and channels are driving not just leads, but high-value closed deals, you can optimize for revenue rather than just lead volume.
One real-world example: By connecting CRM data to marketing attribution, one team discovered that their "cheapest" lead source was actually driving the lowest deal values and worst close rates. Meanwhile, a "more expensive" channel was bringing in prospects with 3x higher lifetime value. Without full-funnel attribution, they would have kept pouring money into the wrong channel.
A Note on Video Attribution
Video views present a special challenge because they're not tracked in standard attribution models. But there's a workaround:
Run video campaigns to build awareness, then retarget video viewers with specific campaigns using unique UTM parameters. When those retargeting campaigns drive clicks and conversions, you can attribute that success back to the video views that made it possible.
It's more complex, but entirely doable—and crucial if video is part of your marketing mix.
The Simple Truth About Attribution
Here's the thing that gets lost in all the technical talk about UTM parameters and conversion tracking: Attribution equals contribution.
Every touchpoint that moves a prospect closer to conversion is contributing to your success. Your job as a marketer is to understand those contributions accurately, so you can invest wisely in the channels that actually drive growth.
Stop asking "What was the last thing they clicked?" and start asking "What was the full story of how they became a customer?"
Getting Started Today
You don't need to overhaul your entire marketing operation overnight. Start with these three steps:
Log into Google Analytics and look at your multi-touch attribution reports
Calculate cost per initiated conversion for your top channels
Test a single optimization based on what you find
The goal isn't perfection. It's improvement. And the beautiful part? Better attribution allows you to drive more revenue without increasing ad spend—you're just investing more strategically in what's already working.
Because at the end of the day, you can't optimize what you can't measure. And you can't measure accurately if you're only looking at the last click.
Want to Dive Deeper?
This blog post covers the key concepts from our full podcast episode on marketing attribution. If you want to hear the complete conversation, including more tactical examples and implementation strategies, check out the full episode of the Click and Order podcast.
And if you're struggling with attribution in your own marketing efforts, we'd love to help. Book a discovery call to discuss how proper attribution tracking could transform your marketing ROI—no strings attached, just a conversation about what's working and what could work better.
Watch the FULL EPISODE on YouTube
for additional insights on how often to update the creative in your digital advertising campaigns.
Listen to the Full Episode on Spotify
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This article is based on insights from the Click and Mortar podcast hosted by Mike Patterson and Dustin Trout, digital marketing experts focused on helping businesses maximize their advertising ROI.
