How Can Multi-Touch Attribution Improve Sales Campaign Performance?

Let’s take a closer look at a pilot project with airBaltic, which clearly demonstrated the value of using Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA) to measure marketing effectiveness.

Why Does Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA) Matter?

To support airBaltic’s expansion and sales strategies, it was important to understand how each marketing channel contributed to sales results. Previously, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) was used – a solid tool for tracking sessions and website visits, but one that didn’t provide a full picture of how different advertising channels influenced purchasing decisions.

In addition, recent privacy-related changes have impacted the accuracy of data available through Google Analytics. This prompted us to look for a more precise measurement solution – one that could analyse the full customer journey, from initial ad impressions to final conversion.

MTA – A Complete View of the Customer Journey

The solution was to build a Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA) ecosystem that considers the entire customer journey and the impact of different marketing channels. With MTA, it’s possible to track how various ads and touchpoints influence a customer’s decision throughout their path to purchase.

MTA also accounts for how quickly a purchase is made after seeing an ad. This leads to a significantly more accurate understanding of channel effectiveness and enables more informed marketing decisions.

Results That Exceeded Expectations

Introducing MTA into sales campaigns led to several key insights that allowed for a much more precise optimisation of marketing spend:

1. The impact of social media was significantly underestimated. In fact, social’s contribution to campaign success was several times higher than suggested by Google Analytics data.
   
2. Local media proved more effective than expected. While initial reports showed a negative ROAS from local portals, MTA revealed that their actual contribution was in line with expectations.
   
3. A decline in direct traffic. What previously appeared as direct conversions often turned out to be influenced by earlier ad exposure – something only MTA could uncover.
   
4. Organic search is closely influenced by paid activity. MTA made it clear how organic performance improves when campaigns are running in parallel, helping shape a more integrated approach to paid and organic marketing.
   
5. The impact of paid media channels increased by 800%. Paid activity played a much bigger role in driving sales than GA had been able to reflect.

A Win Worth Millions

Planning based on MTA gave airBaltic a significant competitive advantage, helping generate hundreds of millions of euros more in annual sales compared to previous strategies reliant on Google Analytics. With MTA, we were able to precisely measure the impact of each channel and make optimisation decisions that directly supported airBaltic’s expansion plans.

Multi-touch attribution has proven to be a critical tool in modern marketing, enabling a clear understanding of how different channels and strategies contribute to outcomes. Thanks to MTA, we’ve taken airBaltic’s marketing investment to the next level, ensuring that every euro is allocated where it creates the most value.

If you’re ready to uncover the real value of your marketing activity, get in touch – we are happy to explore how MTA could support your growth too.