It used to be that asking about attribution for traditional forms of media was met with a bit of a shrug.
Some brands started adding call tracking numbers, QR codes and/or ad tags along with the hopes that google analytics could tell them something.
Google was of course more than happy to take credit (many might say more than it deserved) for web traffic with PPC and organic search that landed on a site.
That “last touch” attribution has been what’s turned google from a million dollar idea to a billion dollar company.
Outside of Facebook, most other media players were remiss to invest in developing the technology to try to take more credit for their work.
While certain other forms of “attribution” have emerged over the last several years, the next two years should be transformative.
The technology is now there to much more precisely measure ad exposure across multiple channels in a full funnel environment.
Media strategy companies like Connectivity Strategy are developing systems like their Matchibution product that helps pull the disparate attribution platforms together. This should help create better predictive modeling across all media channels, giving each the appropriate credit, while also allowing their media planners to optimize media placements in ways that simply weren’t available previously.
Emerging AI and blockchain integration should only help in ensuring that teams put media dollars where they truly deliver the best return.
For once finally taking the shrug out of “is it working?”
