Learn what attribution modeling is, why it matters for real-time bidding (RTB), and how to choose the best model for your online advertising goals.

When selecting the best attribution strategy for RTB campaigns, it’s crucial to align the approach with the specific objectives of your campaign. If the goal is direct conversions, a last-click model may work well, while longer sales cycles or awareness-focused campaigns benefit from more advanced models like multi-touch or data-driven attribution. Additionally, the complexity of your customer journey plays a big role—if it spans multiple devices and channels, a more nuanced model provides better insights. The availability of clean, comprehensive data is another factor to consider; if data is limited, simpler models such as first-click or linear attribution might be more practical.

Last updated on Sep 7, 2024

How does attribution modeling impact your RTB bidding strategy?

If you are using real-time bidding (RTB) to buy online advertising space, you need to know how to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. Attribution modeling is a way of assigning credit to different touchpoints along the customer journey, such as impressions, clicks, conversions, and more. How you choose your attribution model can have a significant impact on your RTB bidding strategy, as it can influence your budget allocation, optimization, and performance evaluation. In this article, we will explain what attribution modeling is, why it matters for RTB, and how to choose the best model for your goals.

1 What is attribution modeling?

Attribution modeling is the process of determining how much value each interaction with your ads or website contributes to your desired outcome, such as a sale, a sign-up, or a download. There are different types of attribution models, such as last-click, first-click, linear, time-decay, position-based, and data-driven. Each model has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on your objectives, data availability, and analytical capabilities. For example, last-click attribution gives 100% credit to the last touchpoint before the conversion, while linear attribution gives equal credit to all touchpoints. Data-driven attribution uses machine learning to analyze historical data and assign credit based on the actual impact of each touchpoint.

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Md Rizwanullah

Business Manager - Publicis Global Delivery
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Attribution modeling is a method used to determine how different marketing channels and touchpoints contribute to a conversion. It helps in understanding the customer journey and assigning credit to various interactions that lead to a sale or desired action. This insight allows businesses to optimize their marketing strategies, allocate budgets more effectively, and improve overall campaign performance. Common models include last-click, first-click, linear, time-decay, and position-based attribution. Each model offers a different perspective on how credit is distributed among touchpoints.

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2 Why does attribution modeling matter for RTB?

Attribution modeling matters for RTB because it affects how you allocate your budget across different channels, platforms, publishers, and ad formats. Depending on your attribution model, you may want to bid more or less on certain impressions that have higher or lower chances of leading to a conversion. For instance, if you use last-click attribution, you may want to bid more on impressions that are closer to the bottom of the funnel, such as retargeting or remarketing ads. On the other hand, if you use first-click attribution, you may want to bid more on impressions that are more likely to generate awareness and interest, such as display or video ads.

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Tom Limongello
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When I first was grappling with attribution modeling, it seemed like overkill because there was really only desktop attribution which a story of just sites and search. Now there are RTB auctions for a wide range of media channels, such as mobile, desktop, DOOH and CTV, and while the first two channels can get clicks easily, the last two don't get many clicks but they have a lot of 'real estate' in terms of size and attention to develop awareness and brand messaging. If we then layer on whether the advertiser has strong purchase data for targeting, the approach to attribution modeling can reflect whether the brand is really looking for performance advertising or higher funnel awareness, & then we can adjust the bidding strategy to our goals.

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Md Rizwanullah

Business Manager - Publicis Global Delivery
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Attribution modeling is crucial for Real-Time Bidding (RTB) because it helps advertisers understand which ads and channels are driving conversion and leading to: Optimized Ad Spend, Improved ROI, Performance Insights and Transparency In shorts, attribution modeling ensures that every dollar spent on RTB is used effectively to maximize conversions and ROI.

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3 How to choose the best attribution model for your RTB bidding strategy?

Choosing the best attribution model for your RTB bidding strategy is not a straightforward task. It depends on your goals, industry, audience, and data quality. However, some general guidelines are to use a multi-touch attribution model to capture the complexity and diversity of the customer journey, a data-driven attribution model if you have enough data and analytical resources, a consistent attribution model across all campaigns and channels for comparison and optimization purposes, and a dynamic attribution model that can adapt to changing customer behavior and market conditions. This can help you respond to new opportunities and challenges.

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Aamir Sohail

Head of Digital - India Center of Excellence at Havas Media Network
(edited)
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When selecting the best attribution strategy for RTB campaigns, it’s crucial to align the approach with the specific objectives of your campaign. If the goal is direct conversions, a last-click model may work well, while longer sales cycles or awareness-focused campaigns benefit from more advanced models like multi-touch or data-driven attribution. Additionally, the complexity of your customer journey plays a big role—if it spans multiple devices and channels, a more nuanced model provides better insights. The availability of clean, comprehensive data is another factor to consider; if data is limited, simpler models such as first-click or linear attribution might be more practical.

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4 How to implement attribution modeling for your RTB bidding strategy?

Once you have chosen your attribution model, you need to implement it for your RTB bidding strategy. This requires setting up tracking and measurement tools, such as pixels, tags, cookies, and analytics platforms, to collect data on impressions, clicks, conversions, and other metrics. Additionally, you must integrate data sources such as ad exchanges, DSPs, SSPs, DMPs, and CRM systems to create a unified view of the customer journey and attribution. After applying the attribution model to your data and calculating the value of each impression and touchpoint based on your criteria and weights, you can adjust your RTB bidding strategy accordingly. You should also monitor your RTB bidding performance and ROI based on your attribution model and metrics. Finally, it is important to test different attribution models and scenarios to find the optimal combination for your RTB bidding strategy and goals.

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5 What are the benefits and challenges of attribution modeling for RTB?

Attribution modeling for RTB can offer several benefits, such as improving budget allocation and optimization, enhancing performance evaluation and reporting, and increasing ROI and customer loyalty. However, there are some challenges that come with attribution modeling for RTB, such as data quality and reliability issues, data privacy and compliance regulations, the complexity of the customer journey and the RTB ecosystem, and choosing the right attribution model and parameters. These challenges must be addressed in order to make the most of attribution modeling for RTB.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How does attribution modeling impact your RTB bidding strategy?

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1 What is attribution modeling?

2 Why does attribution modeling matter for RTB?

3 How to choose the best attribution model for your RTB bidding strategy?

4 How to implement attribution modeling for your RTB bidding strategy?

5 What are the benefits and challenges of attribution modeling for RTB?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Real-Time Bidding (RTB)

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