If you want better outcomes, stop relying on last-touch attribution

You’ve likely been here: after launching a thoughtful, multichannel campaign — podcasts, CTV, social video, gaming, DOOH — your analytics dashboard credits a single retargeting ad for the conversion.

All the other moments — the podcast that sparked interest, the video that built trust, the game that created connection — vanish from the story. It’s not just frustrating. It’s misleading.

Attribution misses the mark because it oversimplifies behavior. Let’s look at how your customer actually shops.

Sally’s path to purchase

Picture Sally, your customer. She’s 38, works hybrid, juggles screens, listens to podcasts on the go, scrolls through feeds, shops when message and timing align perfectly. Her journey isn’t linear. 

But if you’re measuring by last-touch attribution, you only see the end — not how she got there. For instance, Sally might: 

• First interact with a branded mobile game experience.
• Spend a few minutes engaging with the brand’s message.
• Then hear a podcast ad with a trusted host deepening her interest. 
• A few days later, see a social video offering a timely discount — reminding her to visit your site.
• Finally, a retargeting ad helps close the deal.

Every touchpoint played a role, but last-touch attribution credits only the finish line.

Last-touch attribution tells the wrong story

Today’s buyer journey weaves across channels and devices. Strategies overlap, engagement happens in layers and the real power comes from sequence, not a single moment. Yet, last-touch attribution:

• Over-credits bottom-funnel tactics.
• Ignores higher-funnel influence.
• Points reporting toward what’s easiest to track, not what’s most impactful.

If your investment bets are based only on last-touch, you optimize for visibility — not actual performance.

Understanding only what worked isn’t enough. You need to know why Sally took action. 

• Which creative caught her eye? 
• What touchpoints built trust or accelerated interest? 
• Which mix pushed her through the funnel?

When you reduce the journey to a single click, you lose insight into the combinations that drive results. The risk is underfunding effective strategies or missing out on future growth.

Dig deeper: Measuring the invisible: The truth about marketing attribution

How it skews your marketing mix modeling (MMM)

Marketing mix modeling (MMM) exists to reveal what truly drives business outcomes — linking spend, timing, tactics and brand lift. But feed it last-touch data only and:

• Awareness and brand-building channels look ineffective.
• Long-funnel strategies appear low-value.
• Signals of real impact get lost in the noise of the final click.

Sally’s path gets flattened: you may over-credit a social ad, missing the podcast episode or gaming experience that sparked her interest. Even sophisticated models fail if the inputs are too narrow.

CTV, gaming, podcasts, DOOH — these channels aren’t built for immediate clicks and that’s by design. They drive familiarity and memory, creating long-term brand lift and emotional resonance. 

When measurement only values the last click, it undervalues these moments and discourages long-term investment where it matters most.

Don’t miss assisted conversions

It’s easy to focus on the final act — the channel that “closed” the deal. But assisted conversions tell a richer story. They highlight the tactics and channels that influenced the decision, even if they weren’t the final touch. They’re a crucial part of the story — but rarely get reported.

Ignoring these contributions means missing the cumulative impact of your upper- and mid-funnel activity. To capture real value, analyze assisted and last-touch conversions side by side and include a range of performance metrics such as:

• Conversion rate, CPA, ROI/ROAS.
• Engagement (clicks, shares, interaction rate, quartile plays, etc.).
• Attention metrics, including methods like eye-tracking, facial coding and neuro/physiological response.

This approach ensures you see the direct and indirect drivers that move your audience from interest to action.

Dig deeper: What your attribution model isn’t telling you

5 steps for better attribution — and better measurement

1. Define your hypothesis and business objectives first

Start by clarifying what you want to learn or achieve — whether it’s driving incremental sales or boosting brand awareness. Align these goals with stakeholders across teams so your data collection and metrics directly support cross-channel measurement (XMM) and MMM decision-making.

2. Clarify and document each channel’s role in the journey

Be clear about what every channel is supposed to do (awareness, consideration, conversion or re-engagement). Structure and weight your inputs for MMM and XMM to reflect each channel’s intended purpose and impact across the funnel — not just conversion volume.

3. Measure assisted and last-touch conversions together

Don’t focus solely on what closed the sale. Analyze both assisted and last-touch conversions and feed your models with a diverse set of metrics: 

• Conversion rates. 
• CPA.
• ROI/ROAS.
• Behavioral data.
• Qualitative brand survey results and consumer insights.

4. Segment, structure and enrich your data

Organize data by audience, region, creative and strategy to ensure clean tagging. This helps link exposures to outcomes and gives your XMM/MMM models a more robust, less biased set of inputs.

5. Continuously improve model inputs and activation

Go beyond mere clicks. Enhance your models with data from lift studies, geo experiments and behavioral or brand tracking. Review and update your models regularly and act quickly on insights for smarter budget allocations and long-term optimization.

By blending these strategic and tactical steps, you’ll build an attribution and measurement practice — across XMM and MMM — that reflects how marketing works and empowers smarter, more flexible decision-making.

Dig deeper: How attribution masks what’s actually driving growth

The takeaway: Capture the whole journey

Sally didn’t buy because of a single click. She converted because your messaging, sequencing and exposures worked together to earn her trust over time. If you reduce her path to just the final step, you’ll miss what truly mattered.

Marketers chase outcomes, not just metrics. Connecting the plan, the lived journey and what genuinely moved your audience is how you drive better results.

• Combine quantitative and qualitative insights.
• Seek the why, not just the what.
• Build measurement systems that reflect how today’s buyers behave.

When you move beyond last-touch, you don’t just measure performance. You actively improve it. Start by looking at your next campaign — and ask yourself, where are you still crediting the wrong touch?