Marketing Attribution: It’s harder than you think.

I was reading a report on how marketing teams are using (or misusing) data. It caught my eye as I've been digging into our August and September numbers, looking for insights on what worked and what didn't work. And I'm anticipating the question: What marketing channels are bringing in MQLs?

The report caught my eye because I'm not a data scientist. I'm a strategic, data-informed marketing leader who helps technology companies translate complex innovations into clear customer value with integrated marketing programs.

This statement particularly caught my eye:
"Did the customer purchase because of our great white paper? Or because of that LinkedIn post? Or because of the ad? Or because they saw all three, in a specific order? Or because the sun was shining, or because their boss’s daughter likes our brand, or because their friend told them in a DM that they had a good experience with one of our customer service reps?"

I believe some of our prospects are taking action in a methodical way. I think most are driven by intuition and passion who then investigate to confirm if they want to take the next steps.

Yet, I need to talk about return on investment and what that report highlighted is that we are really talking about proving causation. But proving ROI is how we secure budget, buy-in, and frankly keep our jobs.

Marketing community - share - how are you collecting data and reporting? Have you purchased a tool? Or are you doing this, as I am, with multiple data sources and Google sheets?