enewton@brightedge.com

M Posted 7 years ago

t 9 min read

In marketing, understanding the ROI of various strategies and advertising efforts is essential. With the sheer number of channels available, brands must carefully rank what works most effectively with their target customers. The better they understand the places where they best engage their users, the easier it will be to properly allocate resources and bring in more leads and customers.

The problem that many brands encounter when trying to measure the success of their different methods is the increasing complexity of the buyer’s journey. Customers today generally interact with brands in multiple ways before they end up buying. For example, they might land on a site organically, download a white paper, click through emails, engage with PPC, attend a webinar, and then finally end up making a purchase.

When a customer goes through a path this convoluted, it can be a challenged to determine what deserves credit for this customer and revenue.  Should it be the organic efforts since they initially introduced the customer to the brand? The webinar for finally convincing them to convert? Brands want to make their estimation as accurately as possible as a wrong measurement might end up drawing funds and resources away from effective means of engagement and overly investing in methods that did not have as much of an impact.

To solve this problem, marketers have developed several different types of attribution models. Each one emphasizes slightly different points in the buyer's cycle, allowing brands to pick the one that makes the most sense for them and their brand.

EKeep in mind that no attribution model will provide a perfect picture and the importance of different methods and strategies likely differs from customer to customer. The point of the attribution models is to provide a quality estimation and summary that brands can use in their reporting and when planning new strategies.

This post and this companion one will explore the different types of attribution models, helping our community determine the one that will work best for them. In this post, we will discuss the main forms of one-touch attribution models and when they can be useful.

First-touch attribution models

First-touch attribution models focus on the touch that first introduced the new customer to the brand. For example, in the example offered previously, with the customer that found the brand organically, then clicked on email links, and then watched the webinar before converting, only the organic search will receive credit for the customer and the revenue generated.

This model works on the assumption that the strategy that first brought the customer to the brand delivered the most value, and thus deserves the credit. This strategy can be a good one for brands that want to see how well their outreach, top-of-funnel efforts generate profitable prospects. It does not, however, give any insight into how well prospects are nurtured when going through the funnel.

The first-touch attribution model will likely be most helpful for brands that have a short buying cycle. For example, some types of ecommerce stores that have customers who tend to buy quickly and not spend too much time researching or engaging before buying will may find this helpful.

Brands might also find it helpful to use this model if they need to build a case for the ROI for their top-of-funnel activities. For example, if your organic team needs to create a presentation for brand leaders or shareholders and you want to show the strong value of SEO, demonstrating the value of your awareness efforts will bolster the points you make.

Last-touch attribution models

Last-touch attribution models work opposite to the first-touch model. This model measures only the last touch a customer had with the brand before they end up converting. The idea behind this attribution method is that the last channel a customer interacted with is the one that convinced them to convert and should thus receive credit.

Since this attribution model focuses on the last interaction a customer had before they purchased, it is a good means of measuring the end-of-funnel activities. On the other hand, you will not receive any insight regarding what first made the customer aware of the brand or how they were nurtured throughout the funnel before they ended up converting.

This is a conservative approach and emphasizes the importance of the brand. Many organizations do find it helpful to know what ended up giving people the final push to convert, and this does help shape their strategies moving forward.

This attribution model also ends up being the simplest to measure and implement. This makes it a good starting point for brands that have not done much marketing tracking the past.

In addition to the standard last touch attribution models, which looks at the very last interaction people have with the organization before they buy, there is one key variation: the last non-direct touch.

What is a last non-direct click: a variation of the last-touch attribution model?

The last non-direct touch follows a similar format to the last direct touch, but it eliminates any touches that originate with the customer going directly to the website. In other words, if the last interaction the customer has with the brand involves them typing in your company’s web address and navigating directly to the site, this touch will not be counted. This system operates on the assumption that if your customer already knows your web address, all the hard work of attracting them and nurturing them has already been completed. Tracking this touch does not give much insight into how people learned about your brand, and therefore does not provide much information that can be used to build a strategy moving forward.

The last non-direct touch attribution model, therefore, offers much of the simplicity of the last touch model, while eliminating at least one of its shortcomings. It therefore offers greater insight than the standard model.

Which attribution model is right for your business?

Identifying the best attribution model can help brands better understand how their revenue has been generated and what they need to know to build a better strategy moving forward. Consider how these two models might serve your organization, and read our next post where we will explore the other major attribution models to help you make the best decision for your organization.

A BrightEdger

M Posted 7 years ago

t 9 min read

Find a company that allows you to grow as an individual

By Rylie Miller

Falling in love with a job description and going through the internship application process produces a variety of mixed emotions. Rapid-fire emailing, preparing for interviews, hopeful responses inviting you to the next round of the application process, and devastating rejection letters can summarize the progression of the internship search.  

After months of applying to countless positions and only hearing back from a handful, one particular position and one specific company stayed at the top of my list: BrightEdge. 

Out of all the companies I applied to, BrightEdge was not only one of the friendliest, but kept me completely in the loop about my application status. I was ghosted by a few companies, leaving me in the dark about where I stood. With BrightEdge, I was constantly aware about where I was throughout the entire process.  

When I found out the position was mine, I was overjoyed. I finally saw the results of my hard work and patience show and was eager to begin working and learning more about and alongside BrightEdge. Though I did have my hesitations about entering the office and putting my skills to the test, I knew I was on my way into something great.  

In just one month as an intern at BrightEdge, I have not only learned about the SEO marketing industry, but I’ve learned more about myself as an individual. Throughout all the projects I have been assigned and completed, the people I have encountered, and the knowledge I have acquired every day has pushed my limits and helped me set new goals for myself. This experience has already taught me so many lessons that will always stick with me.  

Making the most of your internship

• Give yourself some credit. Something I have always struggled with was giving myself the recognition I deserve. I’ve learned to celebrate the small achievements that occur daily. It gives me a sense of belonging knowing that I am succeeding in the work I do, especially if it was challenging. The position was given to you for a reason.  

• Take on new challenges. Expand your knowledge and learn new skills. Internships are learning opportunities; take advantage of the people you will meet and what they will teach you. I’ve been handed a variety of different assignments in my short time at BrightEdge, some I had prior experience with and others were completely foreign to me. Accepting these challenges and navigating them on your own will not only help you grow as an employee but serve as lessons that will stick with you for the rest of your career.  

• Appreciate constructive criticism. It’s never a good feeling knowing you did something wrong or didn’t meet the right guidelines. But again, internships are learning experiences. Instead of taking criticism the wrong way, manifest it into something greater. Have an open mindset when it comes to getting your work analyzed or having to follow new guidelines you may not necessarily be accustomed to or familiar with. This will allow more room for growth and versatility in your work. Asking for help can never hurt you, only set you closer to achieving your goals.  

• Make friends. Waking up early and commuting to the office is already a process in itself. Coming into an office and keeping to yourself makes the time seem like it’s only going slower. Forming new relationships with those you encounter in the workplace will not only make the day go by faster but make coming into the office more enjoyable. They make great brainstorming partners, advice givers, lunch company, and moral supporters.  

“Coming in as an intern to BrightEdge was super intimidating and sitting in the back corner didn’t help with meeting people,” Digital Marketing and Events Intern, Hollie Mocsiran said, “Through my job as the Events Intern, I had the opportunity to work on the Corporate Challenge. At first, I was just seeing names of employees but had no idea who they were until I started talking to everyone to put face to the names. I got to participate in one of the events as well! Since then, the office has felt so much more welcoming” 

• Make the most of your time. Show up and stand out. Invited to sit in on a meeting? Go. Have the opportunity to network with employees or executives? Go. Time is precious, and it moves quickly. Take the time to get the absolute most out of your summer and time with whichever company you’re with. BrightEdge has created and implemented a work-hard, play-hard mindset that allows employees to perform to the best of their abilities but also to bask in the fun, positive office culture. 

gregalbuto

M Posted 7 years ago

t 9 min read

Why track social media? Social infiltrates and impacts nearly every aspect of the modern consumer's life. Forty-one percent of users report that they use the social media platforms to keep in touch with friends and family, 40 percent say that they use it to get their news.

Not only does it impact social relationships and the spread of news but retail as well. Forty percent of people in the same report also said that they use social media to follow their favorite brands, and one in four report that they have purchased a product they saw on social media.

The rise of social media has driven marketers to consider carefully the importance of using these platforms in marketing campaigns as a means of engaging users. Considering that 77% of Americans have at least one social media account, its ability to reach target consumers should be clear.

As marketers work to build a social strategy, however, you want to make sure that you understand how to appropriately track social media with the rest of your strategy and know how to measure your results. It is only through this careful analysis that you will be able to accurately determine the success of your efforts and know how to modify and improve them moving forward.

How to use & track social media in conjunction with the rest of your marketing strategy

Social media can provide a powerful means of learning more about your target consumer and capitalizing on new trends and opportunities. The constant conversation and the use of trending topics to track social media can give brands insight into what their customers are most interested in at that moment, which can complement standard keyword research. Producing content that speaks to these trends while they are popular can help brands increase their rankings and grow their reputation.

You can also use social media to get another window in the strategy and content of your competitors. Track social pages to see what they produce and what the target audience responds to best. You can see what types of material gets shared and promoted within your sector and develop a strategy that will help you position yourself better against your competitors.

Finally, social media can be used to promote content and build personal relationships with users. You can let your followers know when you publish new material and make it easier for them to share interesting content with their own connections.

In an era of constant communication, customers rely heavily on personal relationships with brands they do business with. The ability to track social media and provide a platform for people to speak with their favorite brands directly helps to nurture this connection between customers and brands. This boosts loyalty and helps customers feel as though this brand truly cares about them and their pain points and wants to help.

To build this strong social media strategy, brands also want to take the time to establish their tracking metrics.

Measure & track social media success

There are a number of social KPIs you can monitor, both on and off the platforms themselves. Knowing what you want to accomplish from your social media strategy will help you determine which metrics matter the most to you. Here are a few ways you can monitor your strategy.

Track social media metrics in platforms

You can track social media platforms and a number of different metrics that will lend insight into how people respond to your material and your profile overall.

• Track social engagement with the content you post. Look at how many likes, shares, comments, and other types of engagement your material receives. This will help you see how people respond to your content and how well it captures their interest.
• Look at how people engage with your profile in general in response to your posts. See how many followers you have on your profile and the rate at which that number grows. When people interact with your content and profile, that activity automatically appears on the feeds of their connections. This means high engagement numbers will get your profile in front of even more people, and encourage interested people to engage with you further.

Track social on your internal site

The key to your social media profile is to generate traffic and attention to your site and capture more leads. Track social media activity on your site to help you better understand how the social platforms impact your buyer’s funnel.

• Track social traffic sources on your website. This will give you a better idea of how people find your content. If, for example, you see a considerable amount of traffic coming from your social media pages, you know that your content has attracted the interest of many people who follow your brand. As you track social media clicks, check also the bounce rate that occurs from these users. This will provide valuable insight regarding not only if your content headings catch people’s eyes, but also how well the content itself engages them.
• As you see your traffic start to generate on your site, you can then see how well these new visitors follow through with the rest of your sales funnel. Analyze the percentage of your social media visitors that become leads and how many of them then progress through each stage of the buyer’s journey through journey maps.
• Look also at the percentage of social traffic who end up making purchases and how large those purchases are. This provides insight into the quality of the leads you gather through social media and the ROI they provide your business. You can then start to gather data about the financial benefit of your efforts, which will then influence future strategy decisions.

Track your position on the SERP

Finally, in addition to seeing how your social strategy helps you build relationships with people on the platforms and generate traffic for your site, you also want to track how your social efforts impact the rest of your SEO. Namely, you want to see if your social media efforts have helped your page improve in the SERP rankings.

Keep in mind that Google reports that they do not track social media signals, specifically. However, marketers have noticed that sites receiving large amounts of traffic and quality engagement numbers tend to see higher rankings--and social media can help you in both areas.

As you promote content on social media, mark this event on the BrightEdge platform. You can then determine if your content sees growing traffic and engagement numbers following promotion. You will also be able to see if this increased engagement then helps to lead to higher rankings.

Boosting rankings can help your material earn more clicks, and therefore more revenue.

Social media can provide you with a powerful means of engaging with prospective customers and building personal relationships with them. No brand, however, wants to waste time and money on efforts that do not bring in a discernible ROI. Learning how to track your social strategies both within the platform, on your site, and on the SERPs can help you better understand your progress and make the optimal decisions for your brand moving forward.