Attribution

Overview

Attribution answers the existential marketing question: which of our activities actually produce revenue? The core principle is that single-touch attribution lies. First-touch attribution over-credits awareness channels. Last-touch attribution over-credits bottom-of-funnel conversion channels. Both lead to systematically bad investment decisions — over-funding channels that appear in the credited position and starving channels that create the conditions for conversion.

The non-obvious rule: the "best" attribution model depends on your GTM motion. Product-led growth companies should weight product-qualified signals higher. Sales-led companies should weight sales engagement higher. Channel-led companies should weight partner influence. There is no universal attribution model — only the model that matches how your customers actually buy.

This skill produces: a Multi-Touch Attribution Model Report comparing 4-6 attribution models on revenue credit allocation, channel ROI calculations with cost and revenue attribution, a UTM governance framework with taxonomy and enforcement rules, a source-of-truth reporting structure, and optimization recommendations for budget reallocation.

When to Use

• User says "attribution" or "attribution model" → activate this skill
• User asks "which channel generates the most revenue" → use this skill
• User says "marketing ROI" or "campaign ROI" → attribution is required
• User mentions "UTM tracking" or "UTM hygiene" or "UTM parameters" → use UTM governance module
• User asks "how do I measure multi-touch attribution" → implement a model
• User says "source of truth reporting" or "marketing and sales disagree on numbers" → use this skill
• Trigger phrases: attribution modeling, multi-touch, first-touch, last-touch, channel attribution, campaign ROI, marketing ROI, UTM parameters, tracking governance