Imagine you’re on a team, and together, you score a point. Who helped the most? Was it the person who started the play, the one who set up the final shot, or the last player who scored?
In marketing, figuring out which part of your advertisement got someone to buy something is a bit like figuring out who on the team deserves the most credit. That’s where the U-shaped attribution model comes in – and how it can be especially handy for marketers.
What is a U-Shaped Attribution Model?
First and foremost, what exactly is a U-shaped attribution model?
Going back to the example from our introduction, think of the U-shaped attribution model like a special pair of glasses that helps marketers see which ads or steps (or the players, like the team players in our earlier example) were most important in getting a customer to buy something.
In the U-shaped attribution model, our special pair of glasses focus mainly on two key players: the “first touch” where a potential customer first learns about a product and the “last touch” right before they make a purchase. These two points get extra attention, a bit like giving them gold stars for their efforts.
Imagine drawing a big U on a piece of paper. The starting point at the top is the “first touch,” and the endpoint is the “last touch.”
Both of these get a big chunk of the credit, about 40% each. That leaves 20% that’s spread out over any other steps the customer took in between. That’s why it’s called U-shaped because the most credit goes to the top points of the U.
How Does It Help Marketers?
Enough with the sports metaphors – why is the U-shaped attribution model so helpful to marketers?
First, by knowing which ads are the most important, we as marketers can decide where to spend our ad money better. If you know the first ad a customer sees and the last one before they decide to buy are super important, you might decide to make those even better or show them more often.
It’s also about not wasting money. If there are ten steps a customer takes from hearing about a product to buying it, and you know two of those steps are the most important, you probably won’t spend as much on the other eight steps.
It’s like if you had a team and knew two players were your stars, you’d make sure they were in the best shape and maybe not worry as much about having fancy shoes for everyone else.
Finally, this model also helps make sure customers are happy. By focusing on the most important steps, marketers can make sure those interactions are really good. If the first and last steps make the customer feel great, they’re more likely to finish buying and come back again.
Is U-Shaped Always the Best?
While the U-shaped model is super helpful, it’s not the perfect fit for every single situation.
Sometimes, other steps in the middle might be just as important, or you might be more interested in knowing about every single step a customer takes, not just the first and last.
The U-shaped model might provide helpful insights into the customer journey, but there are other attribution models that may better align with specific marketing objectives.
For instance, the linear attribution model assigns equal credit to each touchpoint in the customer journey, providing a more balanced view of the influence of various interactions. This can be particularly useful in situations where all touchpoints play a pivotal role in driving conversions, such as in long sales cycles or complex purchasing decisions.
Or there’s the custom attribution model, which allows marketers to assign different weights to specific touchpoints based on their unique understanding of customer behavior and preferences.
This tailored approach can be advantageous when certain touchpoints hold disproportionate significance in driving conversions within a particular industry or market segment.
Final Thoughts
For marketers, understanding how customers decide to buy is hard work. At times, you might feel like you’re being asked to do some heavy-duty detective work.
The U-shaped attribution model can be an incredibly helpful tool that assists you in solving the mystery of what really convinces people to make a purchase.
By focusing on the start and finish of the customer’s journey, you can make smarter choices, save money, and keep customers smiling with your marketing and advertising efforts.
Think of it as giving credit where credit is due – to those standout ads (and standout moments) that truly matter.
Andrej Fedek is the creator and the one-person owner of two blogs: InterCool Studio and CareersMomentum. As an experienced marketer, he is driven by turning leads into customers with White Hat SEO techniques. Besides being a boss, he is a real team player with a great sense of equality.
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