building the business case for attribution guide

B U I L D I N G T H EB U S I N E S S C A S EF O R A T T R I B U T I O N

CONTENTS

1. BUILDING THE BUSINESS CASE FOR ATTRIBUTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2. DRIVERS FOR ATTRIBUTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3. WHY BUILD A BUSINESS CASE? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4. THE BUSINESS CASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

B U I L D I N G T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E

B U I L D I N G T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R AT T R I B U T I O N

An increase in marketing channels and devices, coupled with more

complex consumer behaviour, means that a true view of omnichannel

performance for brands is no longer simply a nice to have. Although

multiple touchpoints in customer journeys have resulted in a wealth

of data being available to marketers, the challenge for most is still is

making sense of and taking action from this data.

We recently conducted research in partnership with The CMO

Club, which revealed that 55% of CMOs don’t have an omnichannel

marketing strategy in place. Attribution is a key part of a successful

omnichannel strategy, and despite marketers seeing the value in it,

selling in attribution modelling across the business is still easier said

than done. In this guide, we will look at the importance of a business

case in communicating the value of attribution to your wider business,

how to go about putting the case together and common challenges

and solutions you may face during the process.


Drivers for attr ibution

As we know, there are numerous benefits to gaining the transparent

view of channel performance that attribution provides:

• To optimise marketing performance and budget alloca-tion

While most standard analytics tools measure channel

performance in isolation, assigning credit for conversion to

the last touchpoint in the user journey, attribution will help you

understand which channels are actually working. This allows

you to optimise your activity accordingly – whether that be

removing ineffective PPC keywords or re-assigning budget from

display to affiliate advertising, for instance.

• Removing inconsistent channel reporting

Many businesses struggle for a ‘single source of truth’ when

it comes to attributing their sales to marketing activity, with

different sets of figures being quoted by different channels

more often than not. With employees responsible for sales

reporting spending up to 50% of their time searching for data,

correcting errors and seeking sources to confirm data they

deem questionable, it’s easy to see why achieving a true picture

of where sales are coming from can be difficult.

• Understanding complex user journeys

Whether joining multiple devices to a universal user, or

understanding how online marketing activity impacts offline

sales, brands are increasingly needing to identify each

touchpoint in the consumer journey and determine what role

each one plays in generating a conversion. For brands who

want a true picture of how their marketing efforts are working,

it’s no longer enough to simply look at each channel or device

in isolation.


Why Build a Business Case?

Once you’ve made the decision to go ahead with attribution, you’ll

probably need to convince your boss and sell attribution into the

business as a whole.

A business case offers you the opportunity to pitch what can be a

complex subject, in a way that is identifiable and relevant to your

business. You should focus on the value that attribution modelling will

bring to your brand specifically, rather than losing colleagues trying

to explain the process behind the modelling.

Producing a business case can also help manage expectations for the

attribution project from the wider business (both in terms of timings

and outputs) and help you raise the budget needed to get started.

Ultimately, your business case is your chance to get buy-in from key

stakeholders at the start of your attribution journey and prove why your

business should be investing in it.


- James Libor Marketing Technology Manager, Virgin Holidays

The Business Case

1. Calculate the ROI

If nothing else, the business case needs to justify your spend on

attribution. This isn’t as difficult as you might think. As Marketing

Technology Manager at Virgin Holidays, James Libor puts it:

“Budget is often seen as

a big blockage, but the way

I look at it is just 1% of your

budget can tell you what the

other 99% is doing. With that

perspective the cost doesn’t

seem significant.”

By identifying 1-5% of your media budget that you can re-

allocate to attribution, you will ensure that the remaining budget

is being spent in the right way. Once you apply attributed

insights to the rest of your marketing spend, you’ll usually find

15-20% of ineffective spend (within 12 weeks) which can then

be reallocated to where it will see the best return.

For example, spending 1% of a £2 million marketing spend,

which saves you just 10% of the remaining budget means a

spend of £20,000 on attribution will result in a saving of at

least £198,000 (based on a 10% saving on the remaining

£1,980,000 budget).

Don’t forget to explain the ongoing return from attribution for

your business, across the initial 6 months, first year and beyond.

For instance, attribution modelling may allow you to identify

a cost saving in your PPC budget, by removing ineffective


keywords which are not driving conversions, without having any

negative impact on your sales.

2. Address key questions or concerns

Attribution is a cross channel project and all stakeholders must be

on-board. Before you start writing your business case, it is useful

to conduct some research internally. This could take the form of

1 on 1 conversations, or structured meetings with all key people

in a room together. Either way, the aim is to identify any burning

questions that the business is likely to have on attribution.

For instance, there might be concerns from managers of

currently siloed channels about how attribution is going

to affect the perceived success (or not!) of their particular

channel. Or, perhaps your MD wants to know what activity is

driving new customers, or needs to realise the lifetime value of

these new customers.

By capturing and answering these questions in the business

case, you will save yourself a lot of time further down the line.

What’s more, asking key stakeholders for their input can help

reassure them that their concerns are being addressed and

gets them onside at the start of the process.

3. Explain the value that will be achieved, and when

It’s useful to be upfront about what value attribution will uncover

for your business, and specifically when. This manages

expectations, brings others on the attribution journey with you

and ensures transparency about the project. This is important

for gaining trust and buy-in from your stakeholders.


Below is an example of the typical timeline for an attribution

project at Rakuten Attribution:

4. Pricing

There is a perception in the marketplace that volume based

pricing is standard. This method means that the more

successful you are, the more you will end up paying. However,

by going for a fixed price model instead, you will not be

penalised for your success! What’s more, you’ll know the costs

upfront at the start of your project, which makes budgeting

far easier. Including these actual costs in your business

case makes getting sign off for easier than having to rely on

projected costs.

5. Remain focused

A lot of people can get hung up on the algorithms and

technology behind attribution modelling. When it comes to

the business case, remember to step back from that and stay

focused on the value it drives. It’s worth reiterating throughout

that a shift in budget from ineffective activity to activity proven


to be effective is not only avoiding further wasted spend, but

it will also generate additional revenue at the same time. Your

business case should include a plan that allows you to start

taking action and answering the key questions that you’ve

identified as relevant to your business quickly, rather than being

too preoccupied with the attribution algorithm.

As this guide explains, there are many reasons why building a business

case is a vital first step in any attribution project. A good business

case will address the key points outlined above to help ensure that

any potential detractors or blockages find it difficult to argue with why

attribution should be a priority, now. In short, creating a business plan

should really allow you to focus on the aspects of the project that are

most in need your time as a marketer.