Mele’s Musings

Stop the Bad Attribution Habit

Why do people hang onto old habits despite the fact that plenty of evidence exists to the contrary?  For instance, we all know that smoking causes cancer and wearing seatbelts saves lives, but people continue to smoke and drive without seatbelts.  And we know that regardless of the carb, fat, or protein count, what makes us gain weight is lack of exercise and too many calories (I say this as I cram down a microwave pizza and second MGD on my flight from Seattle to Minneapolis.  Oh irony, thy sting is sharp).  Yet people continue to hold onto the belief that it is the type of food, rather than the calories in the food, that matter.

The reason is simple, actually.  Once something becomes a habit, it becomes hard to break.  This is true of almost everything we do.  Breaking habits takes time, energy, concentration, and sometimes a rude, abrupt, and serious change from the past.  And those are really hard to make.

I have no idea who these guys are, but this is an AWESOME picture!

The same is true in digital advertising and our maddening habit of counting the last ad - particularly the last ad clicked - as the causal connection and attribution-counting action in our campaigns.  Despite the fact that much data and many studies have come out - including this latest one from iCrossing reported in eMarketer last week - that display ads boost search and that proper attribution tracking requires a look at the holistic mix of advertising and marketing activities, most marketers continue to cling to an outdated model.

And it is costing them serious money.

But why do they continue to do so?  The same reason we hang onto any bad habit - changing it is painful and difficult.  It means breaking from the past.  It means educating people who don’t have time to be educated.  It often means new infrastructure, new partners/friends, and new rules.

Regardless, changing bad habits is imperative.  It’s just easier said than done.  However, there is an answer.  Like any good therapy, changes have to come in stages.

The first stage is admitting you have a problem.  Accept that your way of attributing conversions is wrong and that you need to make a change.  You can’t change a habit until you are ready to accept that a change needs to be made.   No one can do it for you.  You have to be the one who wants to make the change.  Stop accepting the last click in the past seven days as the pillar on which your ROI is built.  It’s a house of cards and you know it.  Stop blaming others.  Change is a choice.  Now, you just have to speak it.  Out loud.  You can do it.

The second stage is getting help.  And finding help is as easy as asking.  Ask your teams or your agencies if they can help you properly attribute your conversions.  If they say they can’t, or they won’t, it’s time to find new friends.  Sometimes, breaking habits means making a painful break from the past.  But, if your friends won’t help you change, they really weren’t your friends in the first place.

The third stage is creating a plan that you can stick to, one based on steady progress toward creating new habits, and a clear plan when you find yourself falling back on bad habits.  Regardless of the way you approach it, creating a new attribution and conversion optimization system is going to be difficult.  It’s going to take time, it’s going to be messy, and it’s going to have mixed success, particularly at the beginning.   But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong, it just means it’s not going to be easy.  If someone tells you it’s going to be easy, don’t believe them.  Just don’t let anyone stop you.

Once you have gone through these three steps, you are going to be well on your road to recovery.  There will always be excuses, always be people or circumstances or habits to blame.  But the truth is the truth.  You just have to accept it, and be willing to do whatever it takes to move forward.  We’re here to help.  I promise.

If you want to read more about this issue - please see my previous post Is Anyone STILL Using Click-Through Rate.

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