The channel that gets credit for a sale is rarely the channel that deserves it. Most analytics platforms default to last-click attribution, which means the final touchpoint before conversion receives one hundred percent of the credit. In practice, this systematically undervalues the channels that create awareness, build trust, and move customers through the middle of the funnel.
The consequences are real and expensive. Brands that allocate budgets based on last-click data consistently underfund top-of-funnel channels and overfund the closers, which are often retargeting and branded search, channels that capture intent created elsewhere rather than generating it. Over time this hollows out the pipeline.
This tool lets you build your actual customer journey, define your channel touchpoints in order, and compare four attribution models simultaneously: last click, first click, linear, and time decay. Seeing all four at once is the insight. The channel that looks like a hero in one model often looks very different in another, and that gap tells you where the real budget conversation should be happening.
Build your customer journey by adding touchpoints in order. The last channel added is assumed to be closest to conversion.
Methodology
Last click attribution assigns one hundred percent of conversion credit to the final touchpoint in the customer journey before conversion. It is the default model in most analytics platforms because it is simple to implement, but it structurally favours lower-funnel channels.
First click attribution assigns one hundred percent of credit to the first touchpoint. It is useful for understanding which channels generate initial awareness and introduce customers to your brand. It systematically undervalues nurturing and closing channels.
Linear attribution divides credit equally across all touchpoints in the journey. If a customer touches four channels before converting, each receives twenty-five percent of the credit. It is the most neutral model and a reasonable baseline for multi-touch analysis.
Time decay attribution assigns more credit to touchpoints that occur closer to the conversion event. The weighting uses an exponential function where each earlier touchpoint receives half the credit of the next one. This model reflects the intuition that recency matters, and is commonly used in longer sales cycles.
How to use this tool
- Add channels to the journey in order from first touch to last touch before conversion
- Enter spend, conversions, and revenue for each channel in the table
- Review how credit is distributed across all four models simultaneously
- Read the insight section to understand what the differences mean for your budget
- Use the findings to challenge last-click assumptions in your next budget review