Multi-Touch Attribution: What Marketers Need to Know
Multi-touch attribution distributes conversion credit across all marketing touchpoints in a customer's journey. Models include: Last Click (100% credit to final click — Google Ads default), First Click (100% to first interaction), Linear (equal credit to all touchpoints), Time Decay (more credit to
Quick Summary
Multi-touch attribution distributes conversion credit across all marketing touchpoints in a customer's journey. Models include: Last Click (100% credit to final click — Google Ads default), First Click (100% to first interaction), Linear (equal credit to all touchpoints), Time Decay (more credit to recent interactions), Position-Based (40% first, 40% last, 20% middle), and Data-Driven (machine learning assigns credit based on actual impact). Each platform attributes differently (Google credits Google, Meta credits Meta), so true cross-channel attribution requires a third-party tool (GA4, Northbeam, Triple Whale) or a custom attribution model.
Overview
Multi-touch attribution distributes conversion credit across all marketing touchpoints in a customer's journey. Models include: Last Click (100% credit to final click — Google Ads default), First Click (100% to first interaction), Linear (equal credit to all touchpoints), Time Decay (more credit to recent interactions), Position-Based (40% first, 40% last, 20% middle), and Data-Driven (machine learning assigns credit based on actual impact). Each platform attributes differently (Google credits Google, Meta credits Meta), so true cross-channel attribution requires a third-party tool (GA4, Northbeam, Triple Whale) or a custom attribution model.
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