Last Click vs. Corvidae: Solving the Attribution Problem

We’ve spent almost a decade getting to grips with marketing attribution from the good, the bad and the ugly. So, it’s safe to say we know the area pretty well.

We first noticed that attribution was severely broken way back then – and have been trying to fix the problem for marketers ever since.

Outdated attribution models are one of the biggest culprits, turning accurate reporting into a minefield for marketers. None more so than the dreaded Last Click.

So, in this blog, we’ll take a look at the infamous attribution model, the issues with it and introduce you to our very own solution.

• What is Last Click?
• What’s wrong with Last Click?
• Introducing… Corvidae
• What attribution model does Corvidae use?
• Corvidae vs. Last Click

What is Last Click?

Last click is a widely used attribution model, which places all credit for a conversion to the last touchpoint in the customer journey.

What’s wrong with Last Click?

Customer journeys aren’t straight lines. They’re not even zigzags.

Interactions with your brand are happening across multiple channels, on different devices and in numerous locations. So, simple attribution models simply don’t cut it.

By only focusing on the last touchpoint before conversion, you’re essentially throwing away all the great work you’ve done to build your brand and attract a buyer’s attention in the first place.

We think you deserve more credit than that – don’t you?

Without an attribution model that can see every touchpoint, and allocate credit across every interaction, you’ll never truly know how a campaign, ad group or even particular creative has really performed.

Introducing… Corvidae

Corvidae is our very own attribution solution.

We’ve been working on it for almost a decade now and we’re pretty proud of it.

We first noticed a problem with attribution when a client from our performance marketing agency asked us to investigate the impact of their marketing on store footfall.

It very quickly became clear to us that there were no suitable solutions available for marketers. And that existing attribution models were just masking a huge underlying issue – broken analytics data.

Simply put, if you’re putting broken data into your analytics tool, you’ll only get broken reporting on the other end. And no standard attribution model can solve that issue.

So, we made our own.

What attribution model does Corvidae use?

Unlike other attribution tools, we don’t try to fit your customer journey into a pre-defined attribution model.

Instead, we created a custom model that works for your business.

We start by fixing the underlying issue – your data.

Our Machine Learning model ingests data from each marketing channel and stitches sessions across devices and data silos. This then allows us to generate a view of individual sessions and unify activity across all touchpoints.  

We can then use this newly rebuilt data to begin assigning value to individual touchpoints that had an influence on the end conversion – allowing you to really understand know what’s working, and what isn’t, across your marketing mix to make better budget decisions.

Corvidae vs. Last Click

So, now you know a little bit about Corvidae. But how does it actually compare to Last Click?

Let’s use a customer journey example to demonstrate the difference between Last Click and our own attribution model.

• Let’s say you’re a clothing retailer.
• Sally is searching for a new pair of shoes, so she uses her laptop to search the best brands for trainers on Google.
• She comes across a blog on your website that she finds helpful so subscribes to your mailing list, then leaves.
• Later that day, she is scrolling through Instagram on her phone and sees an advert for your brand.
• She clicks through but doesn’t make a purchase.
• Next day, she receives an email with a discount code for your website. So, she clicks through but can’t quite decide which pair she wants just yet.
• A week later, after more research, she types the shoe brand into Google on her mobile device and comes across a PPC ad for your online store.
• She clicks through and makes her purchase.

There’s a lot going on in this customer journey – and a lot of touchpoints and devices to consider.

With Last Click, the PPC ad Sally clicked on before making her purchase will be given 100% of the credit for the conversion.

But we know there were a lot of other contributing factors that lead up to the purchase.

What about the initial organic search that brought Sally to your website? Or the paid social touchpoint that reminded her of your brand while scrolling Instagram?

Under Last Click, these marketing touchpoints may as well not have happened.

So, you’re left with an overinflated PPC report – and wasted time and marketing budget across other channels.

How does Corvidae see this journey?

Corvidae considers each touchpoint individually and the influence it had over the user to convert.

So, unlike Last Click, one touchpoint isn’t given sole credit.

Instead, every interaction will be assigned a value based on our Machine Learning algorithm’s process.

With Corvidae, that same customer journey may look more like this:

So, you get much deeper insight into how your marketing has performed – and where to increase spend to boost results.

To wrap things up

The important thing to remember is, every customer journey is different. And every business is different.

So, you need an attribution tool that takes this into consideration and doesn’t apply blanket ruling across every interaction.

If you’re looking to ditch Last Click, the great news is that getting started with Corvidae is easy.

All it takes is 3 steps to move over to a more sophisticated approach to attribution.

Download our guide below, or book a demo to see for yourself.