The most frequent question I hear is: how do you correctly distribute value between channels? It's a very important question, and teams often get frustrated not just in choosing a specific attribution model but even in figuring out how and with what tools to calculate it. Currently, there are only 2.5 attribution models left in Google Analytics.
This means that right now, someone (possibly you) is spending a lot of time, money, or nerves trying to accurately calculate attribution using the remnants of what Google Analytics once offered.
However, I am familiar with several solutions that differ from GA for ranking channels based on their contribution to the final conversion. I can even recommend some of them. For example:
Adobe Analytics: An enterprise solution that provides deep data analysis and powerful visualization tools.
Mixpanel: Focuses on user interaction and conversion analysis, making it ideal for mobile and web applications.
Matomo: An open-source alternative with an emphasis on data privacy and the option to host on your own servers.
HubSpot: A CRM and marketing platform with rich CDP functionality for marketing and unusually powerful attribution features.
Rick.ai: A specialized tool for multi-channel attribution with highly engaged Russian-speaking support.
Yandex.Metrica: The go-to option if you're buying ads on Yandex Direct. The latter only understands Metrica events for optimization.
Triple Whale: A comfortable UI, a favorite among Shopify owners who believe it attributes Facebook more accurately.
When choosing an alternative to GA for calculating attribution, consider the following:
1. Flexibility: Does it allow for more detailed tracking and reporting tailored to specific business needs?
2. Integration Capabilities: How easily does it integrate with other marketing and CRM systems?
3. Specific Traffic Source Alignment: This can be an advantage for more accurate attribution or a drawback for being too "greedy" with attribution.
4. Documentation and Support: You need to know exactly who to contact and what to ask if issues arise.
When a team chooses the right attribution model, they start saving almost immediately—not just on acquisition costs but also on operational expenses: avoiding useless meetings, reducing decision-making time, and saving managers' sanity.
If you work with GA4 to BigQuery exports, be sure to check out my SQL cheat sheet.
