We live in a data driven world, but it is dangerous to only look at the data output because it may not mean what you think it does! In Google AdWords, your strategies, budgets, bidding, and targeting efforts all rely on the data that you review from the system so make sure you know what you are measuring!
One of the most important measurements for your campaigns is the attribution model. Whether it is signing up for a webinar or purchasing a product, users generally search and interact with your site several times in different ways before they achieve the goal conversion. Your attribution model controls which marketing effort will be given the credit for the conversion.
Customizing the attribution models is about to get easier. Google just announced that later this month, there will be a simple dropdown menu in the conversion settings for each conversion type that will allow you to pick from the different attribution models. Here is how they work:
- Last Click: 100% of the credit for the conversion will go to the ad and associated keyword that was clicked last.
- First Click: 100% of the credit for the conversion will go to the ad and associated keyword that was clicked first.
- Linear: Credit is distributed equally across all clicks
- Time Decay: More credit given to clicks closer to the conversion within seven days of the conversion.
- Position-based: 40% of the credit goes to the first click, 10% of the credit goes to the last click, and the remaining 20% is spread out across the other clicks.
With this change comes a new public BETA test for a new attribution model. The new model will be data driven and attribute credit based on machine learning rather than a rules based model. This model will automatically adjust credit based on the number of ad interactions, order of exposure, ad creative, and other factors.
With these changes, now is the time to review your data and goals to make sure that you are using the model that makes the most sense for your marketing data. If you need assistance with your AdWords campaign, contact Informatics.
