The Importance of Third-Party Attribution Tools for Digital Marketers

The Importance of Third-Party Attribution Tools for Digital Marketers

Introduction

In today’s digital marketing landscape, platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok each have their own ways of attributing conversions. This often leads to overlapping or inflated metrics, making it difficult for marketers to get a true picture of which channels and strategies are driving performance. As a result, understanding where your budget is best spent can be murky, leading to inefficient allocation of resources. This is where third-party attribution tools come in, helping digital marketers gain an unbiased, transparent view of the customer journey.

Real-World Example: Gaining Clarity on Attribution Across Google and Meta Campaigns

Example: Bombas

Bombas, the direct-to-consumer sock and apparel brand, was running successful campaigns across both Google and Meta. However, they began to notice each platform was reporting high conversion numbers that didn’t match their internal data. Google Ads attributed the bulk of conversions to last-click search campaigns, while Meta reported that their ads were driving significant awareness and engagement. The team suspected some double-counting, with each platform overstating its role in driving sales.

This issue is common in digital marketing, as each platform has an incentive to over-attribute conversions to prove its value and increase your ad spend. Google, for example, will attribute conversions to search ads even if customers were first influenced by Meta ads or another channel. Meta, meanwhile, often takes credit for conversions if users interacted with an ad early in the purchase journey, even if they later clicked a Google ad to finalize their purchase.

By implementing a third-party attribution tool like Triple Whale, Bombas was able to see the full customer journey across platforms. They discovered that while Meta was highly effective for brand awareness and driving traffic, Google excelled at retargeting users and closing sales. Using this insight, Bombas adjusted their media mix, investing more in Meta’s upper-funnel campaigns to generate awareness, while using Google for retargeting and last-click conversion efforts. This realignment led to a 15% improvement in overall ROAS and a more efficient distribution of their marketing budget.

Actionable Tip:
Don’t rely solely on the attribution data provided by Google or Meta—each platform has a vested interest in claiming more conversions than it should. Third-party attribution tools offer an unbiased view of how each channel contributes to the customer journey, allowing for smarter budget allocation and improved campaign performance.

Which Third-Party Attribution Tools Should You Use?

There are several popular third-party attribution tools available today, each offering different features, pricing, and levels of insight. Below is a breakdown of a few notable ones, their benefits, and pricing considerations.

1. Triple Whale

Triple Whale is widely regarded for its deep insights into eCommerce brands running paid ads across multiple channels. It consolidates data across Google, Meta, TikTok, and other platforms, allowing for real-time insights into attribution and ROAS. Triple Whale’s focus is on making complex data simple, which is ideal for small-to-midsize brands looking for clarity without getting bogged down in overwhelming details.

• Pricing: Plans start at around $300/month, depending on the level of reporting and features you need. This tool is relatively affordable for brands just starting out with multi-channel marketing and offers great value for eCommerce businesses.

2. Rockerbox

Rockerbox offers more advanced multi-touch attribution (MTA) modeling, helping brands determine how different channels contribute to conversions across the entire customer journey. Rockerbox integrates with over 200 different data sources, making it a strong solution for businesses that use a wide range of digital marketing platforms.

• Pricing: Rockerbox starts at around $2,500/month, which makes it more suitable for larger or more established brands with a need for deeper insights across multiple touchpoints and channels.

3. TrackBee

TrackBee is a user-friendly attribution tool that allows marketers to track and analyze the customer journey across multiple channels without any cost. It offers insights into where your conversions are coming from and how customers interact with your various marketing efforts.

• Pricing: Your First €50K/month is free is you want to get comfortable with the tool, and then prices continuous from $110/month thereafter. Which makes an affordable option for smaller businesses. 

4. Northbeam

Northbeam provides attribution insights by analyzing user behavior across multiple devices and channels. It offers a holistic view of customer journeys, focusing on both early-stage and last-click attribution. Northbeam is a good fit for brands that prioritize customer lifetime value (CLV) tracking alongside attribution.

• Pricing: Northbeam pricing starts at $1,000/month, which makes it an excellent option for mid-sized brands that want a broader view of cross-channel performance without jumping to enterprise-level costs.

5. Hyros

Hyros is known for its accurate tracking of high-ticket items and sales funnels across paid channels. It excels in tracking complex sales journeys, particularly for companies with longer sales cycles. Hyros also claims to improve attribution by tracking hidden customer actions that Google and Meta might miss, like phone calls or deeper email interactions.

• Pricing: Hyros pricing begins around $500/month, with its capabilities particularly suited to brands or marketers running more complex funnels across multiple stages of the customer journey.

Choosing the Right Tool for Your Business

The third-party attribution tool you choose will depend on your budget, marketing complexity, and specific needs. Brands that are just starting to explore multi-channel advertising might opt for an affordable yet robust tool like Triple Whale. On the other hand, more advanced businesses running campaigns across multiple platforms and requiring deeper insights may choose a more premium tool like Rockerbox or Northbeam.

Key Considerations:

• Budget: Small to medium-sized businesses should carefully weigh the cost of these tools, ensuring that the value they provide justifies the expense. Tools like Triple Whale and Wicked Reports are more accessible price-wise, while platforms like Rockerbox cater to larger budgets.
• Integration Needs: TripleWhale only works with Shopify brands. 
• Business Goals: Are you optimizing for CLTV? Need deeper insights into upper-funnel vs. last-click attribution? Different tools offer different reporting strengths depending on your focus.

Conclusion

As digital marketers, relying solely on native attribution from Google, Meta, or TikTok can lead to inaccurate performance insights and inefficient budget allocation. Implementing a third-party attribution tool ensures that you gain a clearer understanding of how each channel truly contributes to the customer journey, allowing you to make informed decisions that improve your ROAS and long-term profitability.

Choose the right attribution tool based on your specific needs and budget, and you'll be able to optimize your campaigns more effectively, just as Bombas and many other leading brands have done.

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