Attribution Reporting: The Ultimate Guide — MASS Engines

ATTRIBUTION REPORTING: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE HOW TO TRANSFORM MARKETING INTO A PROFIT CENTRE

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR Zee Jeremic MASS Engines CEO

The role of the marketer has shifted dramatically as buyer behavior becomes increasingly digitized.

Historically, Marketers focused on brand building, design, and product promotions - activities that were difficult to measure in terms of contribution to revenue. Though Marketing was considered necessary to amplify a company’s growth, Marketing departments were generally regarded to be a well understood cost rather than source of revenue.

With the advent of the information age, customers were increasingly able to research their purchases online, excluding Sales from the discovery process. This shift has compelled Marketing to fulfil a critical role of producing digital content for buyers to discover as they search for information to support their purchasing decisions. The growth of Marketing Automation technology has enabled marketers to track their customer’s journey and read buyer’s digital body language, providing insights critical to developing and optimizing demand generation campaigns. Marketing is no longer simply a creative pursuit, but an area of business that can be approached scientifically through the collection and assessment of information.

Despite the new overlap between Marketing and Sales, the two departments remain siloed.

Marketing is typically unaware of whether the leads it sources end in an opportunity or sale.

We have the technology and knowledge today to do so much more with our data. Marketing can connect prospect analytics with CRM data to get a full picture of each customer’s journey.

This is called attribution reporting, and it can make a huge impact in your organization. With attribution reporting, Marketers can judge campaign performance based on lead quality, not just quantity. CMOs can answer meaningful questions about their campaigns’ impact on revenue.

Everyone at the table can use real dollars when discussing both marketing’s costs and impact.

We know any meaningful change in a large organization requires careful planning that considers all the people, processes, and technologies involved. That’s why we’re sharing the process MASS Engines has used to help large Fortune 500 companies like Intel and Samsung build powerful attribution reporting systems. Our eBook will help you understand the basics of attribution reporting, strategic rollout, technical considerations and business adoption so that you get the most impact out of your new WHO WE ARE: system.

MASS Engines enables brands to I’m glad you chose to download this eBook and hope it will be of engage modern buyers. By building tremendous help to you. If you need any support along the way, feel adaptive systems that anticipate free to email us at info@massengines.com and we’ll be happy to needs and influence behaviour, answer any questions you might have. we facilitate productive sales I look forward to “working” with you throughout this eBook. conversations that fuel ongoing revenue growth.

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CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: B2B Marketing Attribution 101...............................................................................................................................................................................................3 What is attribution reporting? .....................................................................................................................................................................................3 What does Attribution Reporting look like in action?.....................................................................................................................................3 Who in your company cares?.......................................................................................................................................................................................4 CHAPTER 2: Common Attribution Reporting Myths and Missteps.............................................................................................................................................5 CHAPTER 3: The Foundational Elements of Attribution Reporting - People, Processes, and Technology..........................................................8 People: Establish governance and clarify roles.................................................................................................................................................8 Process: Connect people with execution tasks...............................................................................................................................................10 Technology: Enable people and process to bring your reporting structure to life........................................................................11 CHAPTER 4: The Stages of Attribution Reporting Implementation........................................................................................................................................... 13 Baseline Attribution (Crawl)........................................................................................................................................................................................ 13 Comprehensive Attribution (Walk)......................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Improved Accuracy (Run)..............................................................................................................................................................................................17 Next Steps: Maintaining and Expanding your Attribution Insights.......................................................................................................19 CHAPTER 5: Designing and Presenting Attribution Reports.........................................................................................................................................................20 Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................23 Appendix........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................24 Planning Worksheet: Groups involved in Attribution Reporting............................................................................................................24 Planning Worksheet: Technologies involved in Attribution......................................................................................................................26

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CHAPTER 1 B2B Marketing Attribution 101 WHAT IS ATTRIBUTION REPORTING? Attribution reporting is used by modern marketers to connect marketing investments to revenue outcomes. An attribution report enables marketers to understand what assets and channels sourced leads that converted to revenue, enabling Marketing departments to develop a deeper understanding of the demand generation tactics that are producing the most leads and sales. Knowing which marketing investments are bringing in the most significant returns is essential to setting priorities, allocating resources, validating Marketing budgets, and ultimately improving Return on Investment (ROI).

As Marketing has entered the digital domain, attribution reporting has shifted from being a mere possibility to an expectation of Marketing leaders looking to redefine their roles in a rapidly changing landscape.

Traditionally, Marketing departments have been primarily concerned with branding and public relations, while Sales departments focused on driving the entire sales cycle. This is no longer the case.

MARKETING ATTRIBUTION: Creating a direct connection between closed revenue and the original marketing campaign that sourced the lead.

Buyers have little reason to interact with salespeople because of the sheer volume of information about products and services available via a simple internet search; buyers are now well-informed by the time they interact with sales. This radical change in buyer behavior has created a void for marketers to fill by providing content that will influence and satisfy the buyer’s voracious appetite for new information. In this context, attribution reporting is an essential tool that enables marketers to show how demand generation campaigns contribute directly to revenue. When properly designed and executed, an attribution report can deliver a true ROI metric that accurately displays Marketing’s impact on a company’s top line.

WHAT DOES ATTRIBUTION REPORTING LOOK LIKE IN ACTION? With an attribution model in place, a Marketing department can generate a high-impact campaign report. The sample attribution report below shows some of the crucial insights that can be obtained from measuring the costs per lead and sale of specific marketing activities and comparing those costs with each activity’s respective revenue.

WHAT MOST MARKETERS LOOK AT Activity

Cost

Number of Leads

WHAT ATTRIBUTION REPORTING GIVES YOU

Cost /Lead

Number of Opportunities

Number of Sales

Cost /Sale

Total Sales

ROI

PPC

$500,000

2994

$167

120

30

$16,667

$300,000

60%

Trade Show

$900,000

500

$1,800

250

200

$4,500

$2,000,000

222%

$30,000

8000

$4

8

1

$30,000

$10,000

33%

Banner Email

$50,000

2000

$25

25

10

$5,000

$100,000

200%

Total

$1,480,000

13494

$110

403

241

$6,141

$2,410,000

163%

Figure 1: Sample attribution report for a specific campaign highlights that while baseline attribution favors banner report for the low cost of lead acquisition, full attribution reporting highlights that tradeshows are generating higher revenue

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CHAPTER 1: B2B Marketing Attribution 101

WHO IN YOUR COMPANY CARES? Though it seems obvious that Marketing teams are the primary drivers of attribution reporting, they are not the only players in an organization that benefit. In fact, key roles in executive leadership, marketing, and sales can leverage the data gleaned from an attribution report.

CEOs, COOs and CFOs can use attribution reporting to validate the ROI of their Marketing investment CMOs and Marketing Directors can increase their success by doubling down on what works, as well as justify the value and budget of their departments Marketing team members can develop more effective campaigns as a result of knowing which channels provide the best sources of leads and revenue Sales teams receive higher quality leads as marketing campaigns become more effective due to insights gained from attribution reports.

ACCOUNTING FOR MULTIPLE MARKETING EFFORTS THAT INFLUENCE A SALE The sample report we shared above only tracks the source of a lead. This may seem overly simplistic to some marketers – why should the initial “source” of a lead get all the credit for a closed sale if multiple touches influenced the purchase?

Influence reporting is used to track the interactions that buyers make with different marketing campaigns, and attribute revenue to campaigns that influenced a sales opportunity.

It is critical to note that a solid foundation of attribution reporting is needed for influence reporting to provide accurate insights. Attribution reporting is essential to setting up the more complicated process of influence reporting and a phased approach is recommended. Ultimately, attribution reporting will give marketers the connection to revenue, and this is the key piece needed to justify continued investment into Marketing initiatives.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF REPORTS AVAILABLE TO MODERN MARKETERS

BASELINE REPORTING:

ATTRIBUTION REPORTING:

INFLUENCE REPORTING:

FUNNEL REPORTING:

Knowing what marketing sources generate Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs).

Knowing what marketing tactic sourced a lead which led to a sale, understanding which marketing investments generated the most revenue.

Insight into the role each campaign and tactic plays in generating a sale.

Lead conversion and velocity through the funnel stages with a full view of the buyer journey.

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CHAPTER 2 Common Attribution Reporting Myths and Missteps Attribution reporting (AR) is an interdepartmental affair: typically, most leads are impacted by four or more teams as they move through the funnel. The complexity of having a variety of stakeholders with contrasting interests, perspectives and functions involved can lead to a number of misconceptions and missteps. Here are a few common mistakes encountered by companies that attempt attribution reporting.

MISTAKE #1:

NOT CONNECTING YOUR REPORTING TO REVENUE RESULTS. Marketing departments often focus on identifying which activities resulted in Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) instead of revenue. Typically, once a prospect becomes an MQL, it becomes the sales department’s responsibility to take those MQLs and convert them to revenue. There is a good reason for this— previously, number of leads created was the best KPI (key performance indicator) that could be reasonably tracked, especially with sales and marketing operating at a distance from one another. The lack of connection between marketing generated leads and closed revenue means that Marketing departments lack critical information that demonstrates exactly how much value they are adding to the business goals of their organization. Today, marketing departments can, and must, connect their demand generation efforts to top-line results.

MISTAKE #2:

UNDERESTIMATING HOW MANY PROCESSES AND TECHNOLOGIES ARE INVOLVED IN IMPLEMENTING A NEW REPORTING FRAMEWORK. Many people, processes, and technologies are involved because attribution reporting touches every part of the Marketing and Sales funnel. One missing link has the potential to skew the results dramatically. As such, underestimating the scope of an attribution reporting project can be a big mistake.

In most organizations, a minimum of four separate teams are involved in impacting a lead as it moves through a funnel. For example, agencies or Demand Generation teams may drive the traffic. The web/IT team, through the web properties they manage, presents marketing collateral and facilitates the initial conversion of a visitor to a prospect.

Marketing and MarkOps nurtures and qualifies the lead. Inside Sales teams validate the opportunity and Field Sales ultimately closes the deal. Each team uses their own systems to enable their work: Advertising networks and social platforms, Content Management System (CMS), Marketing Automation (MA), CRM/Sales Automation, etc. All these systems need to be directly or indirectly connected for Attribution Reporting to be successful.

A typical campaign is complex and has many moving parts (see figure 2 below). To develop attribution reporting successfully, all the various systems and stakeholders need to be connected.

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CHAPTER 2: Common Attribution Reporting Myths and Missteps

NATURE OF A CAMPAIGN Marketing Goals Brief

Ad Nets

Search Engs

Social Nets

Webs/Blogs

Agencies

Budget Display Programmatic SEM Paid Social Events Email Organic Social

CMS

Web

Web Properties / Landing Pages

Marketing MA/Eloqua

Marketing Lead Funnel

Demand Gen Mark Ops

Inside Sales CRM

Sales Lead / Opp Funnel

Field Sales Sales Ops

Revenue

Legend:

Business

Tech

People/Depts

Figure 2: Nature of a Campaign

Connecting teams and systems is an undertaking that requires the realignment of priorities for each group, and a careful change management approach to achieve buy-in at different levels of the organization. Overlooking the challenges inherent in integrating relevant teams and systems can result in adoption failure and ultimately sabotage the initiative.

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IT

CHAPTER 2: Common Attribution Reporting Myths and Missteps

MISTAKE #3:

APPROACHING ATTRIBUTION REPORTING AS AN END GOAL Attribution reporting is the first and most significant KPI for a modern marketing department: contribution to revenue.

Attribution reporting, while critical, cannot be the end goal. This single KPI should be bolstered by influence and funnel reporting as a modern marketing trifecta. While influence reporting provides the depth that would otherwise be missing from attribution reporting alone, funnel reporting enables entirely new metrics like conversion ratio and lead velocity, essential elements for conversion rate optimization through funnel stages (see Figure 3). Taken together, these KPIs empower marketers to build and maintain an effective revenue engine.

Digital Advertising

R VA US

FOCUS: ATTRACT

IO

Marketing Team/ Agencies

SEO/SEM

Email

Events

Social

MA

Web Properties | Landing Pages

S CM

EL Demand Gen Team FOCUS: NURTURE

The lead journey moves from Awareness to Interest to Evaluation and can take different paths and involve various stakeholders

(Personalized & adaptive to persona and buying stage)

UA ING OQ L ET RK N / E MA TIO MA TO AU

NN FU L) I NG N A ET ER R KE X T (

Web Team / IT FOCUS: ENGAGE

Awareness Interest Evaluation

Business Integration Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

L NE UN L) S F NA LE E R SA (I NT

Inside Sales

FOCUS: CONVERT M CR

Sales Accepted Lead (SAL) Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)

Field Sales FOCUS: CONVERT

Opportunity (Opp)

Leads progress (or stall) across different transition points, each providing opportunities to improve lead-torevenue

Revenue Welcome L NE UN L) T F NA IEN ER CL (I NT

Client Service FOCUS: DELIGHT

Onboarding Success Cross Sell / Upsell / Renew

The journey doesn’t stop with the sale.

New clients are supported through each stage as part of a customer experience program.

Figure 3: Funnel reporting, which provides lead conversion ratios and lead velocity, is enabled by fully defining the stages of your marketing and sales funnel.

Attribution reporting enables new insights about the dynamics of a company’s marketing and sales funnel and the journeys their clients take as they familiarize themselves with relevant products and services. Additionally, attribution reporting empowers marketers to drive improvements to strategy and the allocation of time and resources. Avoiding the common mistakes companies often make when implementing attribution reporting will enable you to make meaningful and high-impact decisions that ultimately support increased revenue generation.

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CHAPTER 3 The Foundational Elements of Attribution Reporting: People, Processes, and Technology The implementation of attribution reporting requires involvement of all people, processes and technologies that impact the funnel. If these elements are not leveraged and teams motivated, they may become an obstacle to the acquisition and usage of accurate data. For this reason, it is essential to re-examine the scope of the organization’s entire funnel to ensure that attribution reporting will be set up for success.

When we look at people, processes, and technology in the context of attribution reporting, we are not just referring to your immediate Marketing team and its platforms. The overall goal is to track prospects from first contact to final sale, so everyone from web and demand generation through to sales comes into play.

PEOPLE: ESTABLISH GOVERNANCE AND CLARIFY ROLES Establishing governance over the measurement of marketing activities is essential to the implementation of an attribution reporting system. Who will ensure the right tracking codes are placed within each campaign? Who will check that information is properly flowing through the Marketing Automation systems and CRM? A strong attribution reporting initiative requires a team that is responsible for funnel performance measurement, systems and data, and team enablement.

TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN OWNING THE MAJORITY OF YOUR ATTRIBUTION REPORTING, MARKOPS MUST: Provide a transparent, efficient and accountable view of the funnel and Marketing’s role within it; Work to increase Marketing efficiency and organizational agility; and Define what process and technology MarkOps is responsible for and how they integrate with other teams.

Based on our extensive experience in the field, a team committed to leading the process of attribution reporting is needed to get results.

In most companies, the team in the best position to oversee the implementation and continued support of attribution reporting is Marketing Operations (MarkOps). Regardless of the team selected within the company, for brevity we will refer to this team as MarkOps in this eBook.

Along with MarkOps, there are other teams who will interact with your attribution reporting system. Sales Operations are the next most important group. They must ensure CRM data is accurate and retains attribution IDs as a lead progresses through the funnel.

Additionally, Demand Generation and IT/web teams must make sure new campaigns are synced up to the tracking system. Strategists and Executives will need ready access to KPIs generated via reports and dashboards.

Solid change management and clearly documented governance is needed across the organization for attribution reporting to be implemented and maintained. Use the following planning exercise to get started.

Planning Exercise 1 (Page 10) – Identify the groups that will touch your attribution reporting; anyone who plays a role in your marketing and sales funnel. Along with MarkOps, this may include Executives, Web Development teams, Demand Generation team(s), various Sales departments, external agencies and more.

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CHAPTER 3: The Foundational Elements of Attribution Reporting: People, Processes, and Technology

Planning Exercise 1: DEPARTMENT MARKETING /AGENCY

Identify the roles and responsibilities

ROLE IN ATTRIBUTION REPORTING PROJECT • Share key information about campaign processes and execution • Attach a campaign ID to every tactic

PITFALLS TO AVOID (THREATS) • May not understand their need for involvement and why attribution reporting is critical • May not see that attribution reporting ultimately benefits them and will enable them to optimize their efforts • May have a vested interest in not exposing campaign ROI as they are likely successful by current measurements

WEB TEAM / IT

• Play an essential role as owners of CMS, through which all digital marketing activities flow • Report on level of engagement audience has with digital marketing assets

MARKETING OPERATIONS

• Oversees attribution reporting

• May not see what benefits they gain from attribution reporting • Resist reporting because it is seen as an add-on to their jobs

PLAN TO ENSURE ROLE IS MET • Communicate the benefits to involvement, especially larger budgets • Ensure they commit to a change in process that will add slightly more time to campaign execution • Apply strong change management to highlight the importance of transformation and minimize resistance

• Enable Web Team to see how their participation in attribution reporting will raise their profile • Connect this team to revenue

• Failure to align with other departments involved

• Tests campaign data flow (forms, CRM integration, etc)

• High degree of responsibility for one department means high risk of knowledge loss in the event of turnover

• Consults with marketing team to create a plan for tracking attribution in new campaigns

• Possible power struggle as all teams must look to it as an authority on measurement

• Develops regular attribution reports

• MarkOps must position themselves authoritatively as leaders of implementation to stakeholders • Hold monthly meetings with sales and marketing stakeholders to review campaign measurement • MarkOps to test all campaigns before they go live • Cross training and manuals must be developed to ensure continuity through any turnover

INSIDE SALES / FIELD SALES

SALES OPERATIONS

• Support a change in sales process that will see leads converted to opportunities, instead of new opportunities created for existing qualified leads

• May not understand how the current process is preventing attribution reporting

• As owners of CRM, SalesOps plays a critical role in insuring marketing leads are connected to revenue outcomes.

• Not defining WIIFM (What’s In It For Me)

• Inside Sales/Field Sales do not support • Define what’s in it for them (stronger the change in process and continue marketing with larger budgets to to create net new opportunities (as create more qualified leads) opposed to converting the leads), • Facilitate change management thereby giving Sales full credit and discussions with an aim of erasing the tracking (note the vested understanding the greater goal interest you will need to overcome)

• Potential for “source of truth” tension with MarkOps as reporting process is established • Failure to align with other departments involved

A blank worksheet is available for your use in the appendix of this eBook

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• Understand what drives them – their concerns and why they always create a new opportunity

• Identify common goals that unite SalesOps with MarkOps and all other stakeholders • Focus on building inter-department relationships through team-building activities • Provide SalesOps with data and insights that empower them to improve their efforts

CHAPTER 3: The Foundational Elements of Attribution Reporting: People, Processes, and Technology

PROCESS: CONNECT PEOPLE WITH EXECUTION For attribution reporting to provide accurate information, the lead must be tracked all the way through the funnel.

Process codifies how the teams should work together, clarifying what role each person and team that touches a lead must perform so attribution reporting can function. Developing a process for tracking leads keeps teams accountable and enables execution. Figure 4 illustrates some of the processes used to set up attribution reporting.

Foundation Phase

1

DEFINE KPIS FOR EFFECTIVE REPORTING

2

IMPROVE DATA & DATA MANAGEMENT

LAUNCH MARKETING OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT

3

CAMPAIGN 4

IDENTIFY TRUE LEAD SOURCE

5

ESTABLISHED A DATA INPUT PROCESS Integration Phase

TAG ON ENTRY

6

ENABLE MARKETING FUNNEL TRACKING Marketing Lead Funnel

8

7

INTEGRATED MARKETING & SALES SYSTEMS

ENABLE SALES FUNNEL TRACKING Sales Lead Funnel

CONVERSION Figure 4: Diagram of Process for Tracking Leads

KEY ACTIONS REQUIRED FOR ATTRIBUTION REPORTING TO FUNCTION: Share the big picture vision of an Attribution Reporting framework with all stakeholders so they understand the role they will play in optimizing the marketing and sales funnel. Some of these stakeholders may be agencies, web team, demand generation, internal sales, sales ops, and field sales Map out every stage in the buyer journey, as well as every step of campaign development. This will help you visualize the alignment of the key teams and technologies involved. Document how your company will tag and follow a lead at each stage.

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CHAPTER 3: The Foundational Elements of Attribution Reporting: People, Processes, and Technology

KEY ACTIONS REQUIRED FOR ATTRIBUTION REPORTING TO FUNCTION (CONTINUED): Be clear about what specific actions are required from each team, for every campaign and initiative.

Document these expectations. For example, every ad must have an attribution ID stamped into the link, every form must be able to capture that ID and pass it along to your Marketing Automation system, and so on.

Use Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to guarantee prompt execution and to ensure that campaigns can launch on schedule. The length of time it takes to schedule and execute defined actions needs to be codified and committed to. Execution timelines also must be built into the campaign launch process.

Use a structured rollout with an emphasis on training and enablement. Prioritize change management to solidify each new process and promote adoption across your organization.

Continuously monitor process effectiveness with regular committee meetings and reviews focused on improving and refining the system.

Carrying out these key processes and recommended actions is critical to the success of an attribution reporting initiative. We recommend a phased rollout, which is one of the reasons we have differentiated attribution reporting from influence reporting in this eBook.

When implementation is complete, you should have the processes in place to support an attribution reporting framework that keeps tactics, teams, and tools accountable, allowing for ongoing monitoring and improvement.

TECHNOLOGY: ENABLE PEOPLE AND PROCESS TO BRING YOUR REPORTING STRUCTURE TO LIFE The technology your Sales and Marketing teams use will influence how your attribution reporting is set up. For example, it’s important to consider what’s needed for deployment (how the platforms integrate, how data is collected and stored), as well as any limitations or restrictions of the technologies being used. We recommend MarkOps take a leadership role in identifying and overseeing each technology in play. SalesOps will play a role in ensuring the CRM is capturing the necessary data to develop an effective attribution report.

TECHNOLOGIES TO CONSIDER MAY INCLUDE: Marketing Automation Platform CRM (to be integrated with your Marketing Automation Platform) Customer database/contact list, which should be clean, standardized and enriched so both Marketing and Sales data can be consolidated and utilized Content Management System (CMS) and any other technology related to your web properties (analytics tools, cookies, and so on)

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CHAPTER 3: The Foundational Elements of Attribution Reporting: People, Processes, and Technology

Planning Exercise 2: Work with Sales, Marketing, and any other stakeholders to clarify which technologies will be involved in gathering, storing, or presenting data needed for attribution reporting: TECHNOLOGY

ADVERTISING PLATFORMS, 3RD PARTY SITES, SOCIAL MEDIA

CMS

WHO USES IT

• Marketing/Agencies

• Web team/ IT

ROLE TO PLAY IN ATTRIBUTION REPORTING

• Serve as the origination point of most web traffic

• Implement process – No campaign can launch without a campaign ID

• Critical to ensure the campaign ID is attached to every link/point of origination

• Marketing/Agency/MarkOps should double check any campaign before launch to ensure every origination link has a valid campaign ID for each campaign

• Holds all web properties and digital content

• Web Team/ IT to ensure all the scripts necessary for attribution reporting are functional

• Captures the tracking and conversion occurring at this critical juncture – most web traffic flows through here

MARKETING AUTOMATION PLATFORM (ELOQUA, MARKETO, ETC) CRM

• Marketing teams

PLAN TO ENSURE ROLE IS MET (GOVERNANCE)

• Gathers all performance data related to demand generation campaigns

• MarkOps to lead regular testing and oversight related to attribution.

• MarkOps to lead regular testing and oversight related to this platform

• Tracks prospects through the funnel to sales conversions

• Sales teams

• Tracks leads through to opportunity creation and revenue conversion

• SalesOps to ensure all the attribution elements in CRM are functional

• Holds the revenue data that you want to connect with different marketing activities

• MarkOps to lead regular testing and oversight related to attribution.

A blank worksheet is available for your use in the appendix of this eBook

Whenever you look to add new tools to your MarTech stack (such as predictive analytics, video marketing, etc.), the MarkOps team should ensure it integrates effectively with your attribution reporting system.

IN SUMMARY, KEY FUNNEL TECHNOLOGIES USED IN ATTRIBUTION REPORTING SHOULD: Allow you to better understand and demonstrate how leads are moving through your funnel; Be as automated as possible to ensure efficiency and continuity Be implemented only after a thorough MarkOps review has confirmed that it can integrate into your reporting system.

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“WHAT GETS MEASURED, GETS MANAGED” — Peter Drucker

CHAPTER 4 The Stages of Attribution Reporting Implementation When it comes to deploying Attribution Reporting, a phased approach is critical to speed up time to results, securing continued management support and investment. In addition, phased deployment minimizes errors, supports change management, and creates a system that will be sustainable in the long term. One approach is to use a “Crawl, Walk, Run” methodology (see Figure 4 below).

CRAWL

WALK

RUN

1. Use existing systems - MA, CRM

6. Build out desired Campaigns Hierarchy

10. No lead left behind!

Fully optimized funnel

2. Use CRM Campaigns as anchor, and keep structure simple

7. Every campaign channel and asset assigned unique ID

11. Tactical ID/BI provides detailed breakdown of attribution by subchannels, content types

3. Basic process to ensure lead ingress points stamp correct Campaign ID 4. Fortify conversion points to follow

8. Optimize conversions at funnel entry and Opportunity creation 9. CRM Reporting provides detailed attribution insights by campaign/prod/vertical

12. CLR/BI/App provides influence reporting breakdowns for the real measure of campaign success

Gain insight into funnel dynamics and lead performance to evolve and drive measurable results EXPECTED OUTCOMES INCLUDE:

• Higher lead quality resulting in improved lead conversion • Improved lead velocity resulting in increased lead volume • Improved reporting capabilities through lead tracking enablement

5. Use CRM Reporting Elementary attribution reporting will showcase what is possible and guarantee additional funds/exec support to move to Walk stage

Comprehensive attribution reporting provides insights into direct spend outcomes across the spectrum of marketing investments.

Improved accuracy, finer granularity and insight into areas of most benefits for continued investments.

Targets & Objective

Figure 5: Crawl, Walk, Run Methodology

BASELINE ATTRIBUTION (CRAWL) – SHOWCASING WHAT IS POSSIBLE At the start, we do not advise bringing in new software or aggressive process changes. Instead, use the systems already in place to build the foundation of your attribution reporting system, testing out an elementary report for straightforward campaigns.

Campaigns functionality in your CRM will serve as the backbone of reporting in this phase. Most CRMs have campaign tracking built-in, making it a helpful anchor for a pilot attribution report.

The first campaign tracked should be simple in structure and have a clear conversion path; for example, a PPC campaign that connects to a landing page with a lead form.

Once the campaign is selected, ensure that ingress points stamp the correct Campaign ID at the funnel entry.

Documenting the source of a lead from the first action taken is essential to tie the investment into that particular channel/asset back to revenue (see Figure 6: Step 1).

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CHAPTER 4: The Stages of Attribution Reporting Implementation

Next, fortify all conversion points throughout the funnel. An attribution report requires the campaign ID to be tracked all the way through the funnel, as the lead moves through each conversion point (i.e. Web to Marketing, Marketing to Sales, and Inside Sales to Field Sales). Since each conversion point is where the data trail is most frequently cut off, it is important to pay attention to this stage in the campaign journey and ensure that Campaign-tagged leads can be tracked after being transitioned to a new department (see Figure 6: Step 2).

CAMPAIGN 1 C1 ID1 PPC

C1 ID2

C1 ID3

C1 ID4

Tradeshow

Banner

Email

LEADS

Landing Page with Form

Lead 1 – C1 ID1

MARKETING AUTOMATION PLATFORM

GN AI E MP UL CAMOD

STEP Lead 1 – C1 ID1

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CRM

Opportunity 1 – C1 I D1

REVENUE Figure 6: Implementing elementary attribution reporting

STEP

WEB/CMS

2

1

CHAPTER 4: The Stages of Attribution Reporting Implementation

Before launching the campaign, use a series of test leads to ensure data is flowing properly through the system, then monitor the campaign as it executes for consistency.

When the campaign is complete, pull a report from the CRM showing how many opportunities and closed sales were sourced from that campaign (see Figure 1). At this stage, it is best not to worry about elaborate reporting or attractive visuals – the built-in reporting from your CRM will demonstrate both the value and feasibility of attribution reporting, increasing buy-in from executives and key stakeholders.

With increased support and resources, it will be easier (to confidently) move into the “Walk” stage.

COMPREHENSIVE ATTRIBUTION (WALK) – GET DIRECT SPEND OUTCOMES You can now invest more into expanding attribution reporting across different campaign sets. The goal is to obtain a high-level understanding of how each marketing investment is performing.

To start, develop a comprehensive Campaign Hierarchy for each vertical/product/campaign category. This is an opportunity to categorize all demand generation and lead generation investments your organization makes. Campaign Hierarchies will ensure each channel is organized under the right vertical/product/campaign, resulting in the ablility to interpret results effectively.

GRANDPARENT (CATEGORY)

Q1 Webinars

PARENT (EVENT)

CHILD (TACTIC)

Thought Leadership

New Product Launch

Event

Social

Web

E-mail

Social

Web

Figure 7: Example of Campaign Hierarchy

Once in place, develop and codify a Campaign ID system that allows identification of the campaign, channel, and asset (also known as the “grandparent, parent, and child”) for each lead source. Since different verticals often utilize the same channels and assets, it is important that each have a different Campaign ID to differentiate which particular effort generated specific results.

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CHAPTER 4: The Stages of Attribution Reporting Implementation

OVERALL META DATA COMPANY META DATA Year

Based on your requirements, have a Tactic ID constructed in a way to capture all of the following elements in a single string and then use BI to create any type of reports/analysis you’d like.

Theme

unifying or primary idea across all business units

Business Unit

CAMPAIGN META DATA Campaign

BU Marketing initiative that supports the theme (e.g. nurture, product promotion, etc.)

Program

Asset or activity carrying a message that moves a prospect through the funnel (e.g. infographic, white paper, tradeshow)

Tactic

vehicle for getting a contact to a program asset through a CTA (e.g. email, radio, website, etc)

SAMPLE TACTIC ID: Campaign-Program-Tactic, 4 digits each, XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

Tactic 1 [2001]

ID C100-1001-2001

Tactic 2 [2002]

ID C100-1001-2002

Tactic 3 [2003]

ID C100-1002-2003

Program 1 [1001]

Campaign 1 [C100]

Program 2 [1002] Figure 8: Sample campaign/tactic ID

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CHAPTER 4: The Stages of Attribution Reporting Implementation

Creating and maintaining distinct campaign IDs is one of the most challenging aspects of setting up attribution reporting. It takes time to develop and codify a clear process with roles, responsibilities, and systems to ensure that every marketing tactic is provided with a corresponding ID, and that these IDs are correctly deployed along with each campaign.

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO ACHIEVE THIS: 1) Automate and expose the ID creation process to those responsible for executing the campaign (this is the best solutions for most organizations); or 2) Instruct Marketing Operations to own ID creation, then require each person/entity executing a campaign to acquire an appropriate set of IDs for their campaigns before they can launch.

When developing the process, careful attention to governance is needed. Before deploying a campaign, MarkOps should be tasked with confirming that each campaign has the appropriate IDs coded.

Now that campaign ID creation and tagging are enabled, we recommend reinforcing the major conversion points in your funnel to ensure the tags remain in place as a lead travels between teams and systems. MarkOps should take a lead role here, stress testing all conversion points to ensure that Campaign IDs are transferred through. Special attention should be paid to major handover points from Marketing to Sales (Marketing Automation to CRM system) and from Inside Sales to Field Sales (Lead to Opportunity conversion).

TECH TALK

HOW TO ENABLE URL TAGGING AND TRACKING:

1. Use query strings to embed the

campaign ID and any other relevant meta tags.

2. Develop a custom script and use it on

each landing page to capture and store the query strings in a custom cookie or browser’s local storage.

3. Each form page should have a script

that extracts the value from a custom cookie or browser’s local storage and stores it in a hidden form field to be passed along with the submission.

Once again, CRM Reporting can be used to pull detailed attribution insights. Visualizations may be developed at this stage, but they are often not necessary. The main focus should be on producing comprehensive reports that can clarify direct spend outcomes across several different channels and campaigns, allowing stakeholders to compare Marketing investments.

IMPROVED ACCURACY (RUN) – FINER GRANULARITY FOR EXPANDED INSIGHTS At this point, all building blocks for attribution reporting are in place, and pulling advanced reports from the CRM is possible. It’s now time to connect attribution data to a Business Intelligence (BI) system or reporting platform to develop more granular and compelling reports.

A dedicated platform for reporting and/or BI enables a more detailed breakdown of attribution by sub-channel and content type. In addition, improved visualization and wider access to reporting allows attribution results to be communicated effectively to stakeholders throughout the organization.

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CHAPTER 4: The Stages of Attribution Reporting Implementation

Figure 9: Compare Figure 1 to this improved report

This is the stage where implementing influence reporting can begin. For Influence Reporting to work, a lead/ opportunity must be tagged each time an interaction occurs with marketing materials. A system should be in place for understanding interaction data in terms of revenue results. Influence Reporting involves implementing “rules” for what percentage of revenue should be attributed to which marketing interaction throughout the buyer’s journey.

FOR EXAMPLE, THE MODEL COULD: Equally split revenue across all campaigns the lead/opportunity interacted with prior to sales engagement; Associate revenue based on campaign types or priorities; Attribute 1/3 of revenue to the first Marketing touch, 1/3 to the final Marketing touch, and split the remaining 1/3 between the Marketing tactics that influenced the sale in between.

There is no broad consensus on the ideal revenue split for influence reporting. Defining it internally, and adjusting as needed is recommended.

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CHAPTER 4: The Stages of Attribution Reporting Implementation

NEXT STEPS: MAINTAINING AND EXPANDING ATTRIBUTION INSIGHTS Attribution Reporting is not a “set it and forget it” system. Ongoing process of analysis, refinement and optimization is needed to ensure continued relevancy and effectiveness.

Develop a system to regularly review the attribution data, identify any anomalies and work to improve results. The way in which reports are presented, as well as the granularity of data, can also be improved on an ongoing basis in order to further the effectiveness of the attribution reporting system.

The project plan should not end once the first advanced attribution report is pulled – it should account for ongoing improvement and analysis. Additionally, prioritize developing and codifying processes for testing and maintenance to ensure Campaign IDs and tracking systems are in working order across all campaigns.

HAVING IMPLEMENTED THE ABILITY TO MAINTAIN AND OPTIMIZE ATTRIBUTION AND INFLUENCE REPORTS, ORGANIZATIONS CAN EXPECT TO SEE: Improved usage of marketing funds against optimal channels and audiences, resulting in higher lead volumes Higher lead quality resulting in improved lead conversion Accelerated lead velocity resulting in increased revenue Collecting attribution data will ultimately give any organization the tools to build a Marketing strategy around revenue results.

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CHAPTER 5 Designing and Presenting Attribution Reports

There are many different ways to showcase attribution and influence data. How an organization presents these reports will depend on a few factors: Who is looking at the information; What insights are they seeking to obtain (for example, individual campaign performance versus overall marketing contribution to revenue); The length of time being considered (for example, a quarterly overview will look different than overarching annual reporting).

Irregardless of design or layout, any visualization developed using attribution data needs to highlight Marketing’s success through the presentation of revenue results.

A baseline campaign attribution report would be developed at the end of each campaign to clarify which channels produced the best ROI:

WHAT MOST MARKETERS LOOK AT Activity

Cost

PPC

$500,000

Trade Show

Number of Leads

WHAT ATTRIBUTION REPORTING GIVES YOU

Cost /Lead

Number of Opportunities

Number of Sales

2994

$167

120

30

Cost /Sale

Total Sales

$16,667

$300,000

60% 222%

ROI

$900,000

500

$1,800

250

200

$4,500

$2,000,000

Banner

$30,000

8000

$4

8

1

$30,000

$10,000

33%

Email

$50,000

2000

$25

25

10

$5,000

$100,000

200%

Total

$1,480,000

13494

$110

403

241

$6,141

$2,410,000

163%

Figure 10: Sample Campaign Attribution Report – with ROI highlighted

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CHAPTER 5: Designing and Presenting Attribution Reports

You can also utilize attribution and influence reporting on a more consistent basis through high-level weekly campaign reports:

CAMPAIGN REPORT EXECUTIVE Weekly Summary

Inquiries

118

Marketing MQLs

Opportunities #

Sales MQLs

Opportunities $

27

10

22

Figure 10: Sample Weekly Campaign Report

$1.2M

A tactical report can provide a more visual representation of which channels resulted in the highest number of MQLs, Opportunities, and Won Sales across time.

CAMPAIGN REPORT Weekly Summary 25

20

15

10

5

0 Blog

Inquiries 0

MQLs (Mktg) 0

MQLs (Sales) 0

SAL 0

SQL 0

Opps Created # 0

Opps Created $ 0

Opps Won # 0

Opps Won $ 0

Display/Video

2

2

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

Email

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Organic Search

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Organic Social

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0 0

Programmatic

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

SEM

4

4

4

5

1

0

0

0

0

Social

5

2

2

21

0

0

0

0

0

Figure 11: Sample Tactical Campaign Report

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CHAPTER 5: Designing and Presenting Attribution Reports

Finally, a Funnel Report can offer an Executive Summary of how a particular campaign or the overall organization is performing.

EXECUTIVE S U M MARY

TOTAL SUMMARY

Sample Weekly Funnel Report Y E A R TO DAT E

FUNNEL STAGE

COUNT (#)

VALUE ($)

MQLs Opps Created Opps Won Opps Dropped

32 852 721 142 214

N/A 88 M 12 M 25.8 M

MARKETING COUNT (#)

COUNT (#)

(Current Week)

(Prior Week)

Inquiries (TOTAL)

12 458

11 027

N/A

Marketing MQLs

1 204

1 042

10%

CONVERSION %

SALES COUNT (#)

COUNT (#)

(Current Week)

(Prior Week)

Sales MQLs

1 112

1 022

92%

SAL

238

58

21%

SQL

20

5

9%

CONVERSION %

OPPORTUNITIES COUNT (#)

COUNT (#)

VALUE ($)

VALUE ($)

(Current Week) (Prior Week) (Current Week) (Prior Week)

CHANGE %

(of Value)

Opps Created

4

8

456K

539K

-(8%)

Opps Won

0

1

0

26K

N/A

Opps Dropped

0

0

0

0

N/A

Figure 12: Sample Full Funnel Campaign Report

There is no need to present a highly sophisticated report right away. An elementary version of the above reports pulled from a CRM can suffice until methodologies are established to bring in additional tools.

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Conclusion

It’s not easy to connect Marketing investments to revenue, especially when it comes to top-of-funnel or demand generation efforts. Doing so can be transformative for any organization.

At the core of any major change effort are the people, process and technologies involved.

When it comes to reporting, taking a phased and disciplined approach will help organizations move from existing baseline reports to a robust attribution and influence reporting system.

Allowing the value of all campaigns and departments to be highly visible will change how any organization approaches Marketing.

Connecting marketing investments to revenue allows for better campaigns and more focused use of time and resources. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of specific tactics functions as a checkpoint from which the business can make constructive campaign improvements. Thus, attribution reporting engenders a self-repairing system that enhances marketing activities over time and helps marketing grow their contribution to revenue on an ongoing basis.

Attribution reporting will give management more reasons to double down on investment in Marketing leadership, teams and revenue-focused strategies.

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Appendix

PERSON /DEPARTMENT

ROLE IN ATTRIBUTION REPORTING PROJECT

MARKETING /AGENCY

WEB TEAM / IT

MARKETING OPERATIONS

INSIDE SALES / FIELD SALES

SALES OPERATIONS

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PITFALLS TO AVOID (THREATS)

PLAN TO ENSURE ROLE IS MET

Appendix

TECHNOLOGY

WHO USES IT

ADVERTISING PLATFORMS, 3RD PARTY SITES, SOCIAL MEDIA

CMS

MARKETING AUTOMATION PLATFORM (ELOQUA, MARKETO, ETC)

CRM

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ROLE TO PLAY IN ATTRIBUTION REPORTING

PLAN TO ENSURE ROLE IS MET (GOVERNANCE)

EXPERIENCE DRIVEN RESULTS FOCUSED WE’RE MORE THAN JUST TECH

Our team is comprised of change management agents, MarTech strategists and marketing automation technicians with 35+ years of consulting experience.

WE SEE THE SUM OF THE PARTS

We work across all critical departments to ensure they have a seat at the funnel transformation discussion table from day one.

WE BELIEVE IN EMPOWERMENT

WE USE A PROVEN METHODOLOGY

WHY

MASS ENGINES

We’re only as good as your ability to own the solutions we implement. We support your funnel revolution with change management, training and governance.

WE KNOW MARTECH

Our 4 step framework is based on a proven academic model for technology adoption and is supported by a disciplined adoption pathway.

WE UNDERSTAND CHANGE

We help you motivate meaningful change in your organization by putting people and information at the center. Our process identifies challenges, communicates solutions and ensures long-term adoption across your organization.

We are laser focused on marketing automation & CRM as essential building blocks of the revenue engine.

Our experienced team knows the ins and outs of key platforms and common adoption challenges.

We’ve built our business on referrals and are proud to have worked with:

2876 Dundas Street West Toronto ON M6P 1Y8

info@massengines.com 647.952.8240

www.massengines.com