Attribution Models: First-Touch

Angie C. Updated by Angie C.

What is a "First-Touch" Model?

CaliberMind First Touch Attribution Model

The "first-touch" attribution model gives 100% of weight to the first marketing activity or touchpoint that leads to conversion. It's a single-attribution model where credit is given to the first channel a user has interacted with before converting.

For example, a customer or prospect has completed an inbound form, attends a webinar, and replied to an email campaign where they accepted a sales demo meeting. With the first-touch model, the inbound form marketing channel will get 100% of the credit.

Why use a First-Touch Model?

Single-Touch attribution models are used when the goal is to understand the most effective sources of new leads or revenue, or when looking to determine which touchpoints are instrumental to sales qualifying a lead. The first-touch model highlights the engagement of the top of the funnel that provides awareness and sets the stage for the following activities after the first touch along the customer's buying journey. This model simplifies the attribution process and the reporting, making it easier to explain to others in the organization. They are commonly used among Demand Generation teams looking to evaluate top-of-the-funnel performance, highest performing sources, and where to focus their budget and efforts.

It is typically useful to make quick directional decisions around stand-alone, short customer journeys (B2C, B2C2B, etc.) or when attributing in-product behavior (i.e. activating a feature via pay-gate). Due to the over simplicity of single-touch attribution models, using this model can overlook additional touchpoints that may occur in a buyer's journey that contribute to the final conversion, which is why we typically recommend this model be used in tandem with other more sophisticated models to see the fuller picture.

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