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    • Campaign Attribution Overview

    Owned by
    Chrissey Trainello
    Last updated: Apr 24, 2024
    4 min read

    What is Campaign Attribution?

    Campaign attribution is the process of determining which marketing campaigns or activities are responsible for driving customer and prospect actions. It helps us analyze our activities and give credit to the first and last touchpoints. This allows us to understand the effectiveness of our marketing efforts and optimize our strategies. By identifying the most valuable campaigns, we can allocate resources efficiently and focus on the channels that have the highest impact on our goals.

    Our attribution model looks at first-touch and last-touch attribution:

    1. First-touch attribution

      1. Initial campaign or activity with our marketing efforts.

      2. Only populated for leads/contacts acquired after implementing our campaign attribution model in May 2022.

      3. Once set, this information will not change.

    2. Last-touch attribution

      1. Campaign or activity the contact did before becoming an MQL.

      2. Once set, the information will only change if the contact re-MQLs.

    Our Campaign Attribution is captured using various tools and techniques, such as utm tracking codes, Pardot forms, marketing automation, etc.

    What are the components of our attribution model?

    We have 8 sets of fields we use in our attribution model that are visible on the Opportunity, Lead, and Contact records in Salesforce.

    Attribution model image - reverse funnel

    Source Fields

    The Source fields are Source, Source Detail, Campaign (Attribution), and GTM ID. These fields are linked to assets, events, webinars, and other similar entities. These items (except the GTM ID) will remain consistent regardless of how someone arrives at the asset, whether through an email or a social post. This means a specific webinar will always have the same Source, Source Detail, and Campaign (Attribution) regardless of the referral source.

    They are set in the following ways:

    • Completion actions on Pardot forms

    • Automations in SFDC

    • Through a list import process

    The GTM ID can be set as a completion action on the form or as a parameter in the URL.

    Field

    Definition

    How is it set?

    Field

    Definition

    How is it set?

    Source

    Department (Marketing, Sales, etc.)

    Completion action on a Pardot form or form handler, or through a list import.

    Source Detail

    Asset Type (Webinar - Live, Research Brief, Demo Request)

    Completion action on a Pardot form or form handler, or through a list import.

    Campaign (Attribution)

    Title of Asset or Parent Campaign

    Completion action on a Pardot form or form handler, or through a list import.

    GTM ID (Go to Market)

    Go to Market ID

    Completion action on a Pardot form or form handler, or through a list import, or as a parameter on the url.

    UTMs

    UTMs (Urchin Tracking Module) are five URL parameters used for effectively tracking marketing campaigns. These bits of tracking code allow us to collect information about our visitors. We can view this information in Google Analytics or as information collected in our attribution model.

    When UTMs are present on a URL, code on the website allows us to capture the information in hidden fields on the form.

    UTMs are also used in cases where a URL may not be present, such as a list upload.

    Example of how UTMs appear on a url.
    Example of how UTMs appear on a URL.

    UTM Parameters and Definitions

    UTM

    Definition

    UTM

    Definition

    utm_source

    What site or program sent the traffic to the link (LinkedIn, Pardot email, BigMarker, etc.)

    Examples:

    • utm_source=pardot

    • utm_source=bigmarker

    • utm_source=linkedin

    utm_medium

    Tactic or item that sent them to the link (the email, ad, etc.)

    Examples:

    • utm_medium=email

    • utm_medium=social

    • utm_medium=webinar

    utm_campaign

    Campaign associated with the link

    utm_content

    Used to split ads that drive to the same URL for A/B Testing or to test buttons in an email

    utm_term

    Optional for search phrases

    Where does this information live?

    Campaign attribution information can be found on the Lead, Contact, and Opportunity objects in Salesforce.

    Lead and Contact Objects

    On the lead and contact object in Salesforce, you can see a section called Marketing Information. In this section you can find three types of campaign attribution:

    1. Current Activity

      1. Location: Left side in Marketing Information of the Lead/Contact record

      2. Indicates the current activity of lead/contact

      3. These fields update and overwritten with any new campaign attribution activity

    2. First-Touch Activity

      1. Location: Top right in Marketing Information of the Lead/Contact record

      2. Initial activity of the Lead/Contact

      3. Fields will be empty for leads created from before May 2022 (give or take a few months)

      4. Once set, this information should not change

    3. Last-Touch Activity

      1. Location: Bottom right in Marketing Information of the Lead/Contact record

      2. Last thing the Contact did before becoming an MQL

      3. Once set, the only time this information will change is if the contact MQLs again

    Opportunity Objects

    The Attribution Tracking on the right side of the opportunity record will show last-touch campaign attribution only.