Meta says it drove 60% of your sales. Google claims 70%. Your email tool takes credit for 40%.
Math doesn't work that way. But your budget decisions do.
If you're making spend decisions based on platform-reported attribution, you're probably lighting money on fire.
The Attribution Nightmare
Here's what really happened:
Customer saw your Meta ad (Meta gets the "impression")
Googled your brand name (Google gets the "click")
Clicked your email (Email gets the "conversion")
Bought on your website (Everyone claims credit)
Each platform sees one piece of the puzzle and calls it the whole picture.
The 4 Attribution Models You Need
🎯 Platform Native (What They Tell You) Take it with a grain of salt. Good for optimization, terrible for budget allocation.
🎯 First-Click Attribution (Who Started the Journey)
Shows which channels create awareness. Often undervalues retention channels.
🎯 Last-Click Attribution (Who Closed the Deal) Shows which channels convert. Often undervalues prospecting channels.
🎯 Time-Decay Attribution (Weighted by Recency) Gives more credit to recent touchpoints. Usually the most balanced view.
The Reality Check Framework
Track these weekly to cut through the noise:
Blended ROAS: Total revenue ÷ Total ad spend across all channels
Holdout Tests: Turn off one channel for 2 weeks. Measure impact on total revenue.
New vs. Returning Customer Revenue: Platform attribution is most broken for returning customers.
The Budget Allocation Truth
Stop allocating budget based on who claims credit. Start allocating based on incremental impact:
Which channel would hurt most if you cut it?
Which channel's growth lifts other channels?
Which channel finds new customers vs. harvests existing demand?
The Simple Attribution Audit
For next week, track:
How much each platform claims in revenue
Your actual total revenue
The difference (hint: it'll be massive)
That difference is why you need better measurement, not perfect attribution.
Your move: What's the gap between claimed revenue and actual revenue?
