Attribution has never been perfect.
Maybe someone saw your billboard. Maybe their friend DMed your link. Maybe they clicked your ad… but only after hearing about you three different ways first.
Marketing data platforms would have you believe every customer journey is neat, trackable, and easy to pin down. It’s not. And if you run a small or midsize business, you probably don’t need 47 touchpoints mapped out. You need to know what’s working, where to keep investing, and what’s driving sales.
Attribution isn’t dead. It’s just overhyped. And if you’re focused on revenue, not vanity metrics, you’re already thinking in the right direction.
Why Traditional Attribution Doesn’t Hold Up
The tools marketers use to track results have always had limitations. But in recent years, things have gotten even harder:
- Privacy updates have reduced how much data platforms can track
- GA4 changed how conversions are counted and reported
- “Dark social” (like DMs and text threads) is invisible to analytics
- Offline influence (like billboards, events, word of mouth) doesn’t show up in digital reports reliably
We’ve all seen it firsthand. A client sees a car with a branded wrap on the highway. Later, they get hit with a Facebook ad. Attribution credits the ad, but the real first impression came from the car. Same goes for billboards, conference swag, or even a well-timed referral.
The truth? People buy based on dozens of moments. Attribution just captures the last one.
So What Do You Track Instead?
For small businesses, it’s not about ditching data. It’s about tracking what matters:
- Revenue, not just reach
Clicks and traffic don’t pay the bills. Sales do. We focus reporting around qualified leads, deals closed, and total pipeline—things you can point to when you ask, “Is this working?” - Conversion source as one signal, not the whole story
We still track where a lead converts. But we treat that source as a support, not the whole strategy. If a lead comes in through a paid ad, we’ll still ask: what really got them to the point of clicking? - Sales cycle, not just touchpoints
We help clients shorten the time between interest and action. That’s a more reliable growth lever than trying to map every click along the way.
What You Can Do Now
- Stop chasing attribution perfection. It’s never been perfect—and now it’s more fragmented than ever.
- Talk to your customers. Ask how they found you. Take notes. Patterns will emerge, even without pixels.
- Build reports around outcomes. Show your team or your investors how many conversations started—not just how many people visited the site.
- Keep doing the work across channels. It all adds up. And sometimes the billboard is what tipped them over the edge.
Attribution Isn’t Dead. But Revenue Is the Point.
If your marketing is generating more qualified leads, creating more hand-raisers, and building a stronger sales pipeline—you’re doing it right. Attribution can help shape where you spend. But it should never be the reason you stop doing what’s working just because it’s hard to track.
33% more pipeline this quarter? That’s the kind of number that actually matters.
Want help building a reporting setup that reflects reality—not just what your platform shows?
We help SMBs get clarity on what’s working so they can grow with confidence. Let’s Chat
