This guide looks at everything from how to prove ROI on your project to advice on common challenges you may faces.

1. B U I L D I N G T H E
B U S I N E S S C A S E
F O R A T T R I B U T I O N

2. CONTENTS
1. BUILDING THE BUSINESS CASE FOR ATTRIBUTION.........................3
2. DRIVERS FOR ATTRIBUTION.............................................................4
3. WHY BUILD A BUSINESS CASE?........................................................5
4. THE BUSINESS CASE.........................................................................6

3. B U I L D I N G T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E
B U I L D I N G T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E
F O R AT T R I B U T I O N
An increase in marketing channels and devices, coupled with more
complex consumer behaviour, means that a true view of omnichannel
performance for brands is no longer simply a nice to have. Although
multiple touchpoints in customer journeys have resulted in a wealth
of data being available to marketers, the challenge for most is still is
making sense of and taking action from this data.
We recently conducted research in partnership with The CMO
Club, which revealed that 55% of CMOs don’t have an omnichannel
marketing strategy in place. Attribution is a key part of a successful
omnichannel strategy, and despite marketers seeing the value in it,
selling in attribution modelling across the business is still easier said
than done. In this guide, we will look at the importance of a business
case in communicating the value of attribution to your wider business,
how to go about putting the case together and common challenges
and solutions you may face during the process.

4. B U I L D I N G T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E
Drivers for attribution
As we know, there are numerous benefits to gaining the transparent
view of channel performance that attribution provides:
• To optimise marketing performance and budget alloca-
tion
While most standard analytics tools measure channel
performance in isolation, assigning credit for conversion to
the last touchpoint in the user journey, attribution will help you
understand which channels are actually working. This allows
you to optimise your activity accordingly – whether that be
removing ineffective PPC keywords or re-assigning budget from
display to affiliate advertising, for instance.
• Removing inconsistent channel reporting
Many businesses struggle for a ‘single source of truth’ when
it comes to attributing their sales to marketing activity, with
different sets of figures being quoted by different channels
more often than not. With employees responsible for sales
reporting spending up to 50% of their time searching for data,
correcting errors and seeking sources to confirm data they
deem questionable, it’s easy to see why achieving a true picture
of where sales are coming from can be difficult.
• Understanding complex user journeys
Whether joining multiple devices to a universal user, or
understanding how online marketing activity impacts offline
sales, brands are increasingly needing to identify each
touchpoint in the consumer journey and determine what role
each one plays in generating a conversion. For brands who
want a true picture of how their marketing efforts are working,
it’s no longer enough to simply look at each channel or device
in isolation.

5. B U I L D I N G T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E
Why Build a Business Case?
Once you’ve made the decision to go ahead with attribution, you’ll
probably need to convince your boss and sell attribution into the
business as a whole.
A business case offers you the opportunity to pitch what can be a
complex subject, in a way that is identifiable and relevant to your
business. You should focus on the value that attribution modelling will
bring to your brand specifically, rather than losing colleagues trying
to explain the process behind the modelling.
Producing a business case can also help manage expectations for the
attribution project from the wider business (both in terms of timings
and outputs) and help you raise the budget needed to get started.
Ultimately, your business case is your chance to get buy-in from key
stakeholders at the start of your attribution journey and prove why your
business should be investing in it.

6. B U I L D I N G T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E
- James Libor
Marketing Technology Manager, Virgin Holidays
The Business Case
1. Calculate the ROI
If nothing else, the business case needs to justify your spend on
attribution. This isn’t as difficult as you might think. As Marketing
Technology Manager at Virgin Holidays, James Libor puts it:
“Budget is often seen as
a big blockage, but the way
I look at it is just 1% of your
budget can tell you what the
other 99% is doing. With that
perspective the cost doesn’t
seem significant.”
By identifying 1-5% of your media budget that you can re-
allocate to attribution, you will ensure that the remaining budget
is being spent in the right way. Once you apply attributed
insights to the rest of your marketing spend, you’ll usually find
15-20% of ineffective spend (within 12 weeks) which can then
be reallocated to where it will see the best return.
For example, spending 1% of a £2 million marketing spend,
which saves you just 10% of the remaining budget means a
spend of £20,000 on attribution will result in a saving of at
least £198,000 (based on a 10% saving on the remaining
£1,980,000 budget).
Don’t forget to explain the ongoing return from attribution for
your business, across the initial 6 months, first year and beyond.
For instance, attribution modelling may allow you to identify
a cost saving in your PPC budget, by removing ineffective

7. B U I L D I N G T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E
keywords which are not driving conversions, without having any
negative impact on your sales.
2. Address key questions or concerns
Attribution is a cross channel project and all stakeholders must be
on-board. Before you start writing your business case, it is useful
to conduct some research internally. This could take the form of
1 on 1 conversations, or structured meetings with all key people
in a room together. Either way, the aim is to identify any burning
questions that the business is likely to have on attribution.
For instance, there might be concerns from managers of
currently siloed channels about how attribution is going
to affect the perceived success (or not!) of their particular
channel. Or, perhaps your MD wants to know what activity is
driving new customers, or needs to realise the lifetime value of
these new customers.
By capturing and answering these questions in the business
case, you will save yourself a lot of time further down the line.
What’s more, asking key stakeholders for their input can help
reassure them that their concerns are being addressed and
gets them onside at the start of the process.
3. Explain the value that will be achieved, and when
It’s useful to be upfront about what value attribution will uncover
for your business, and specifically when. This manages
expectations, brings others on the attribution journey with you
and ensures transparency about the project. This is important
for gaining trust and buy-in from your stakeholders.

8. B U I L D I N G T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E
Below is an example of the typical timeline for an attribution
project at Rakuten Attribution:
4. Pricing
There is a perception in the marketplace that volume based
pricing is standard. This method means that the more
successful you are, the more you will end up paying. However,
by going for a fixed price model instead, you will not be
penalised for your success! What’s more, you’ll know the costs
upfront at the start of your project, which makes budgeting
far easier. Including these actual costs in your business
case makes getting sign off for easier than having to rely on
projected costs.
5. Remain focused
A lot of people can get hung up on the algorithms and
technology behind attribution modelling. When it comes to
the business case, remember to step back from that and stay
focused on the value it drives. It’s worth reiterating throughout
that a shift in budget from ineffective activity to activity proven

9. B U I L D I N G T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E
to be effective is not only avoiding further wasted spend, but
it will also generate additional revenue at the same time. Your
business case should include a plan that allows you to start
taking action and answering the key questions that you’ve
identified as relevant to your business quickly, rather than being
too preoccupied with the attribution algorithm.
As this guide explains, there are many reasons why building a business
case is a vital first step in any attribution project. A good business
case will address the key points outlined above to help ensure that
any potential detractors or blockages find it difficult to argue with why
attribution should be a priority, now. In short, creating a business plan
should really allow you to focus on the aspects of the project that are
most in need your time as a marketer.