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    What is attribution in marketing?

    Reviewed by Taylor Moses, Co-Founder, Strategy & Web·

    Direct Answer

    Attribution is the practice of crediting which marketing source produced a lead or sale. Common models: first-touch (credit the first ad/page), last-touch (credit the final ad/page), linear (split credit equally), and time-decay (more credit to recent touches). Most service businesses run last-non-direct touch as a default.

    Voice answer (≤30 words)

    “Attribution is crediting which marketing source produced a lead. Common models are first touch, last touch, linear, and time decay.”

    Use UTM parameters on every paid and email link. Without UTMs, attribution falls apart inside GA4.

    For phone-driven businesses, use a call-tracking platform (CallRail, Whatconverts) to attribute calls to the source page or ad.

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