Ruler Analytics: Go Beyond Last Click Attribution

Unless you want Unreliable and Inaccurate Data, Ditch Last Click Attribution in Favour of Visitor Level Analytics

You might not realise it, but there is a good chance that your choice of web analytics software uses a last click attribution model. Although somewhat self-explanatory, this means the last click of a user’s journey is given credit for any conversion.

However, last click attribution only tells you half of the story. If truth be told, it is actually completely flawed and can totally skew your analytics data.

The Problem with Last Click Attribution

In theory, last click attribution seems like the best way to measure the performance of your marketing channels. In reality, this simply isn’t the case.

Say for example an individual found your website while browsing Facebook. They decided to click the link but then left soon afterwards. What would happen if they came back again by typing your URL into their browser and actually completed a conversion this time around?

Well, using the last click attribution model, it would show up as a direct conversion. However, this doesn’t take into account the fact that the individual actually discovered your website on Facebook, meaning the conversion should be attributed as social.

Thankfully, there is an alternative, and it comes in the form of visitor level analytics, which tracks each and every visitor’s entire journey.

Any business that sells a product or service will know that its rather unlikely for customers to convert on their first visit, as they might shop around for the best deal or look up online reviews. Therefore, knowing the steps a customer takes before signing up to a newsletter or completing a purchase is crucial.

How Last Click Attribution is Completely Flawed

If you only pay attention to last click attribution, you are effectively ignoring the performance of your entire marketing activity. To demonstrate this point, let’s borrow the aforementioned Facebook example again.

In this scenario, last click attribution would give Facebook absolutely no credit, even though it was the key driver behind that individual’s conversion. If you were to continue using last click attribution regardless, you might stop dedicating as much time to social media endeavours too, as it clearly isn’t generating much traffic to your website.

To add insult to injury, by reducing the resources you had dedicated to social media, you will probably see conversions decline as well, because you are getting rid of a potent publicity and promotional tool – Facebook.

A Better way to Measure the Performance of your Marketing Channels

So, now that we have identified and established the pitfalls of last click attribution, how can you accurately measure the performance of your marketing channels? Also, how can you use analytics to understand the role each component of a campaign plays when conversions are achieved?

The answer is visitor level analysts software, which enables you to see how each individual uses and interacts with your website.

If you were to use Ruler Analytics with our earlier example, you would know that the visitor had actually visited your website twice; first through social media and secondly by typing the URL into their browser.

As a consequence of this, you would also be able to make more effective, better-informed decisions about your marketing activity and with any luck, increase website traffic and boost those all-important conversions.

Ruler Analytics currently has a free demo promotion, giving you a first-hand look at how visitor level analytics works.