Understanding which marketing activities genuinely drive revenue is crucial for Australian SMEs. Multi-touch attribution (MTA) moves beyond simply crediting the last click before a sale, recognising that customers often interact with multiple touchpoints before converting. But how do we actually calculate return on investment (ROI) when so many factors are at play? It’s a common challenge, and thankfully, increasingly solvable.
The core principle remains the same as single-touch ROI: (Revenue – Cost) / Cost. However, with MTA, we need to allocate revenue *across* those touchpoints. Here’s how we approach it.
- Fractional Attribution: This is the most common method. We assign a percentage of the sale’s value to each touchpoint. For example, the first ad view might get 20%, a blog post read 30%, and the final email click 50%. This requires a model – first touch, last touch, linear, time decay, or a data-driven approach – to determine those percentages.
- Cost Allocation: Accurately tracking the cost of each touchpoint is vital. This includes ad spend, content creation costs, email marketing platform fees, and even the time your team spends on each activity. Don’t underestimate labour costs!
- Attribution Modelling Matters: The model you choose significantly impacts ROI calculations. A linear model distributes value evenly, while a time decay model favours touchpoints closer to the conversion. Data-driven models, using machine learning, are becoming more accessible and offer the most accurate, but require sufficient data.
- Incrementality Testing: Attribution tells you *what* touched a customer, but not necessarily *what made* them convert. Running controlled experiments – like pausing a channel for a segment of your audience – helps determine the incremental revenue generated by each touchpoint. This refines your attribution weights.
Many marketing automation platforms and analytics tools now offer built-in MTA capabilities. Investing in these tools, and ensuring accurate data integration, is a key step. Don’t aim for perfect accuracy immediately. Start with a simple model, track your results, and refine it over time. As data volumes grow, and more sophisticated modelling becomes available in 2026 and beyond, you’ll be able to optimise your marketing spend with increasing confidence.
Ultimately, calculating ROI with MTA isn’t about finding a single ‘magic number’. It’s about gaining a more nuanced understanding of your customer journey and allocating your marketing budget to the activities that deliver the greatest return. Your next step should be to audit your current tracking setup and identify gaps in your data collection.
