Today’s consumers navigate a web of different devices and platforms when shopping online. For example, you might browse for products on the go with your smartphone but wait until you’re home to make the final purchase on your desktop computer. Additionally, many popular social media platforms and apps now have shopping features—not every purchase comes from a traditional e-commerce site.
While this multi-platform approach is convenient for customers, it’s difficult for marketers to calculate conversion rates accurately. Cross-device attribution solves this problem by tracking the customer journey across a range of touchpoints, from the customer’s first interaction with your brand to the final purchase. Here’s how to use cross-device marketing attribution to shape your digital marketing strategy.
Exploring the modern and multifaceted customer journey
In the past, online shopping was a simple and linear process. Customers would use search engines or click on ads to find the products they were looking for. They’d make purchases directly from the retailer’s site, and the entire process would happen in a desktop or laptop web browser.
As mobile devices have become more sophisticated, the customer journey has changed drastically. A customer might see multiple marketing campaigns for your brand and even interact with you on social media before making a purchase.
Additionally, the customer might switch back and forth between multiple devices when shopping. It’s normal for consumers to use multiple devices naturally as they go about their day. In the United States, households that use the internet have an average of 16 connected devices.
What is cross-device attribution?
Cross-device attribution is the process of tracking the customer conversion path across multiple devices and platforms. When compared to single-device tracking, this strategy gives you a more holistic look at the user experience and can help you track campaign performance more accurately. It also provides valuable insights as you build a marketing strategy for today’s highly digital consumer.
Cross-device attribution strategies fall into two categories: deterministic matching models and probabilistic matching models. Many marketers use a mix of both strategies to better pinpoint consumer behavior across platforms.
Deterministic attribution models use specific identifiers to match users across platforms. For example, if a consumer is logged into their Google account on their phone and computer, you could theoretically track that user’s behavior across both devices.
Probabilistic models use a wider range of data to match user behavior across different devices. This approach is less precise than deterministic attribution, but it’s often necessary when definitive user IDs aren’t available.
With this approach, you’d use data points like IP addresses, Wi-Fi networks, and device types to match users to multiple devices. You’d also need to track online behavior patterns and use that data to match users. When using probabilistic matching, you need to adhere to digital data collection laws in your area and get appropriate user permissions.
For example, you might be able to match someone using an Apple computer and an iPhone on the same network. Apple users are incredibly brand loyal—one survey found that 93% of Apple users plan to continue purchasing Apple phones in the future. Therefore, you could assume that two Apple devices in the same location and with similar behavior patterns likely come from the same user.
Benefits of implementing cross-device attribution
Since consumers no longer rely on a single device while shopping online, you’ll need to implement cross-device attribution to get the full picture. Here’s why cross-device attribution is so beneficial for your marketing efforts.
Better view of the customer journey
The journey from product discovery to the final purchase isn’t always linear. This is truer now than ever, as consumers have access to such a wide range of products at their fingertips online.
Cross-device tracking gives you a closer look at customer behavior. With this information, you can get a realistic picture of how your target audience interacts with different platforms. For example, even when customers can shop from a mobile device, they might still prefer to finalize their purchase on a desktop computer. There are many reasons why customers abandon their online shopping carts. A staggering 48% of U.S. online shoppers have abandoned carts because they were just browsing. However, this doesn’t mean they’ll never purchase the product, and when they are ready to buy, they might do so on a different device.
If this is the case, single-device attribution would tell you that desktop search results are entirely responsible for that purchase. However, cross-device attribution would help you correctly identify the mobile advertising that led to that purchase. Understanding this consumer behavior can help you plan for more effective future cross-channel marketing campaigns.
Improved ROI for marketing campaigns
Accurate device attribution helps you calculate ROI more accurately for your marketing campaigns. For example, your customers might see a social media advertisement for your brand on their mobile device but make a purchase later on their laptop. With cross-device attribution, you’d be able to link that purchase to the correct social media channel and calculate accurate ROI.
With this data, you can adjust your budget and spend more on high-converting channels. You can also avoid unnecessary ad spend on channels that aren’t converting.
More accurate performance management
As digital marketing changes, traditional campaign metrics become less and less relevant. After all, click-through rates won’t tell you much if most of your customers aren’t clicking on your ads directly to make a purchase.
Cross-device attribution is a more modern way to determine which marketing campaigns are resonating with your audience. This strategy provides more context for your traditional marketing analytics and will help you determine which channels to focus on.
Better customer experiences
Cross-device attribution gives you a wealth of data about each customer’s online purchasing behavior. You can use this information to create more personalized, responsive online shopping experiences.
For example, you might notice that a certain segment of your customers makes purchases through your mobile app. You can use personalized push notifications, email updates, and mobile retargeting ads that link directly to the app to encourage future purchases. You can get creative with personalization based on the unique behavior patterns you see among your customers.
Competitive advantage
Cross-device attribution is a sophisticated and agile way to look at your marketing campaigns and conversion rates. By tracking the user journey across a range of devices, you’ll have access to a huge amount of data, which can give you a competitive advantage. Not all companies are using this approach yet, so this gives you a chance to get ahead.
Essential elements to build and implement a cross-device attribution model
Building a successful cross-device attribution model can be tricky, particularly if you need to rely on probabilistic models. The variability of consumer behavior makes it difficult to capture the buying journey with total accuracy. However, there are some essential elements you can implement to make cross-device attribution easier.
Unified customer profiles
Aggregating data from multiple sources will help you create an overarching profile for each of your customers. This is easiest to do when customers are logged into an account on each device they use.
For example, you can have your users create an account for your app and website using their name and email address. You can then use this information to match them with their social media profiles. Regardless of which platform you’re interacting with them on, you’ll be able to use this information to see all the ways they interact with your brand.
Advanced attribution models
When a customer makes a purchase, you’ll need to attribute that purchase to a specific marketing strategy or platform. This will help you correctly calculate the ROI for each of your marketing efforts. You’ll need to decide which attribution model you want to use.
Attribution modeling in marketing determines which marketing tool gets “credit” for a purchase. Traditionally, many marketers used last-click attribution, which gave 100% of the credit for a purchase to the last touchpoint the customer interacted with.
For example, if the customer Googles your brand right before making a purchase, you would credit the ROI to your SEO strategy. Some marketers also used first-click attribution, which attributes the purchase to the first touchpoint in the customer journey. However, neither of these metrics account for multi-device usage.
More nuanced attribution strategies include linear, position-based, and time-decay models.
- Linear attribution gives an equal amount of credit to each touchpoint.
- Position-based attribution gives the most credit to the first and last touchpoints a consumer interacts with and less credit to touchpoints in the middle of the customer journey.
- Time-decay models credit all touchpoints, but the most recent ones get the most credit.
While these methods are more nuanced than first-click or last-click attribution, they still don’t account for the complexity of multi-device shopping. Data-driven attribution is a more advanced approach that aggregates data from multiple sources to calculate accurate conversion rates. Google Ads now offers data-driven attribution tools as part of its ad campaigns, making this attribution method more accessible.
Integration with other marketing platforms
When building out your cross-device attribution system, make sure that your attribution tools integrate with the marketing platforms you’re already using. This will make it much easier to aggregate your marketing data and ensure that you don’t overlook important touchpoints. For example, you can integrate your attribution models with Bitly to see how shortened links and QR Codes fit into your broader marketing strategy.
Continuous data analysis
Consumer behavior patterns are fluid and bound to change over time. Your team should be continuously collecting and analyzing data to identify new consumer patterns so you can stay ahead of the curve.
When a new smart device hits the market, this creates a new possible touchpoint in the customer journey. For example, VR headsets could become a new device worth tracking as they become more widely available. Ongoing data analysis will help you identify these trends and adjust your marketing strategies accordingly.
Explore the future of digital marketing with cross-device attribution
One of the most exciting things about smart technology is the ability to connect with your target audience in so many different ways. As technology continues to evolve, cross-device attribution will only become more important in understanding the customer journey. Adopting cross-device attribution strategies now will help you stay ahead of the game in a crowded market.
Bitly’s array of marketing tools and analytics features can help you build a comprehensive cross-device attribution strategy. Get started with Bitly for free today to understand and improve your customer journey!