Log #027 | How "good enough" attribution is not enough

Barbara Galiza is marketing analytics consultant helping marketing teams leverage data for better results and founder of 021 Newsletter.

Marketing attribution goes beyond UTMs and MTA—it's about understanding the true business impact of your advertising investments.

This article, by Barbara, explores why traditional attribution methods fall short, how blind trust in "good enough" data leads to costly mistakes, and five key advantages of investing in better measurement: 1) maximizing ROI through smarter budget allocation, 2) justifying brand investments to leadership, 3) preparing for a cookieless future, 4) capturing value in channels your competitors overlook and 5) understanding impact of product.

The Problem with "Good Enough" Attribution

Let's start with what marketing attribution really is. Forget complicated multi-touch models for a moment—at its core, attribution is about understanding which of your marketing efforts are actually driving business results. It's about connecting the dots between your advertising spend and real outcomes like revenue, customer lifetime value, and profit.

Here's the thing: most marketing teams are working with attribution data they know isn't perfect, but they trust it anyway. Why? Because it's better than nothing, right? Well, not exactly.

Making decisions based on flawed attribution is often worse than making decisions with no data at all. 

Here's why:

• When you trust incomplete data, you systematically undervalue crucial marketing activities that don't generate direct clicks 

• Teams end up shifting budgets toward easily trackable channels, even if those channels aren't driving incremental growth

• Marketing leaders struggle to justify vital brand investments because traditional attribution models can't capture their impact 

• Critical channels like word-of-mouth, content marketing, affiliates, and OOH get cut because their value is harder to measure

I see this all the time with clients. A brand notices their paid search campaigns show great ROI in their attribution model, so they shift budget away from "underperforming" brand campaigns. Six months later, their overall acquisition costs have skyrocketed—but by then, rebuilding brand awareness takes twice as long and costs three times as much.

Five Business Advantages of Better Attribution

Ready for some good news? Investing in better attribution isn't just about avoiding mistakes—it's about capturing opportunities your competitors are missing. Let's look at five key advantages you'll gain from upgrading your measurement approach.

1. Maximize ROI Through Smarter Budget Allocation

Measurement strategies like MMM (Marketing Mix Modeling) can be a great asset in understanding the ROI of each individual channel. But attribution i's not just about knowing which channels work—it's about optimizing every dollar within those channels and making smarter decisions about where to invest next.

Think about your paid search campaigns. Basic attribution might show certain keywords have a high cost per acquisition, tempting you to cut spending. But what if those same keywords are bringing in your highest-value customers? I've seen teams slash their most profitable keywords simply because they couldn't connect the dots between acquisition cost and customer lifetime value.

In a recent project for VEED.io, we rolled out granular ROAS reporting at the keyword level. We discovered certain features were attracting much higher-value users than others. This insight led to a 20% growth in subscriptions while maintaining CAC—proof that better attribution can transform both channel-level strategy and within-channel optimization.

The companies getting this right typically: 

• Reduce wasted ad spend

• Identify hidden gems in "expensive" campaigns

• Optimize for long-term value instead of just short-term conversions

• Make budget decisions based on real business impact, not just clicks or conversions

2. Finally Justify Brand Spend to Leadership

Let's talk about everyone's favorite challenge: explaining to the CFO why brand marketing matters. Traditional click-based attribution makes this nearly impossible because, well, brand campaigns usually don’t generate click and certainly not conversions within the lookback window.

But alternative forms of attribution, like MMM, rule-based MTA (using synthetic clicks), How Did You Hear About Us (HDYHAU) surveys and incrementality tests can change the game.

Imagine walking into your next budget meeting with clear data showing how brand investments drive down acquisition costs across all channels. That's the power of better attribution.

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