So, how do you build an attribution culture? The good news: It’s really not that complicated. Even better, it doesn’t require another SaaS in your tech stack. These 5 steps will get you started.
#1 Establish Common Goals: Too often, marketing attribution starts once a campaign ends. That means you’re scrambling for data. Your C-suite wants to know how the ad spend performed after the check’s already cleared, forcing you to build a scattershot dashboard with imperfect data.
To avoid this, start any marketing effort with measurement in mind. Know the specific goal you want to achieve: the exact amount of revenue you’re targeting, or the precise number of qualified leads you hope to earn. Then work backward. What are the major milestones you want to hit along the way? What are realistic starting points for users?
Aligning on goals seems simple, but it’s absolutely critical before launching a new effort.
#2 Keep it Simple: The industry has moved to automation and dynamic tracking. We’d all love a perfect model that aggregates your data and spits out the exact answers. The problem? Automation is complex to set up, and it only provides a rough picture. That’s ok at scale, but in B2B, it’s not enough. You need to get granular.
Ironically, old-school and simple tactics can still be the most effective way for your team to go deep. Build duplicate forms for multiple entry points (one for social and one for email, for example). Hand-code UTM links to ensure accuracy. These methods take more time, but they are foolproof. And they’re easier to adopt–meaning your team is more likely to do so.
#3 Keep Your Data Clean: In B2B, the 80/20 rule always applies. Twenty percent of your tactics are going to net 80% of your results. What does that mean in attribution? You may have to get your hands dirty, updating CRM accounts manually or actually contacting a lead and asking them how they found you.
The bigger the data mess, the more effort that 20% is going to take. So, start with a philosophy of crisp, clear, and updated files. Delete dead accounts, archive campaigns no longer needed, and figure out or scrap the old information from a previous employee. The less noise in your system, the better.
#4 Create a Feedback Loop: Big deals deserve big attention. You can afford some attribution leakage if you sell a $10 product. Not when you close a $100,000 contract.
Tech is fun. Meetings are not. But at B2B’s scale, the latter can often be quicker and more effective than the former. After all, how can tech track the drink your sales rep had at the conference four months ago that turned into a six-figure deal?
Get sales and marketing together on a regular basis to establish beyond a shadow of a doubt how the deal got done, and what that means for the future. A bit of personal forensics goes an incredibly long way to understanding and then replicating successes.
#5 You Still Need Tech–But You Need to Know How to Use it: Modern MarTech is incredible! Set up correctly, it’s going to do a good job. But it will never be 100% accurate. And it will never be close to 100% if you’re unclear about what it’s supposed to do. If you are going to invest in a marketing stack, you also need to invest the time and resources to use it properly. It is not a solution in and of itself. Your people, and their drive to understand results, are a higher priority.