Marketers using multi-touch attribution models generate 10-30 per cent more value from Facebook advertising compared to those using Last Ad or Last Click measurement techniques, a new study said.

The research paper, "Quantifying the Impact of Multi-touch Attribution," released by Kenshoo, a leader in premium digital marketing technology, assesses the value of Facebook in the context of multi-channel advertising campaigns by comparing various attribution models to the still widely used Last Ad single-point measurement.

According to the study, the Last Ad model undervalues Facebook advertising by 12-30 per cent, compared to five industry-standard alternative attribution models: First Only, Prefer First, Divide Equally, Prefer Last and U-Shaped.

"Marketers relying on Last Ad attribution to optimize their campaigns could be making million-dollar decisions based on flawed data; so they can expect to achieve flawed results," said Josh Dreller, director of Marketing Research at Kenshoo.

"Multi-touch techniques better reflect the reality of consumer behavior and enable marketers to improve budget allocation and campaign performance. Our study found the Last Ad model often discounted Facebook from conversions it helped drive, to the tune of being undervalued by as much as 30 per cent."

In order to determine the variance in value allocation, Kenshoo analysed the campaign performance data for their clients managing ads across multiple digital marketing channels during March, April and May of this year.

The brands included in the study spanned a wide range of industries including retail, home improvement and financial services, with the total data set covering millions of clicks and direct online sales conversions.

As not all marketers define conversions the same way, Kenshoo used a Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) metric across all advertisers in the sample. CPA was calculated by aggregating all recorded conversions and dividing that number in the total media cost of the ads which drove them.

"As Facebook continues to become even more of an essential component of the marketing mix, it's critical that all advertisers be aware of the costly oversight inherent in the Last Ad model," added Dreller.

"The use of multi-touch attribution helps to accurately quantify the value of Facebook ads within a cross-channel campaign and helps marketers optimise spend to boost ROI." – TradeArabia News Service