Why Click-Based Attribution is Holding You Back (And How MMM Sets You Free)

Attribution models play a crucial role in decision-making for your business. Many companies still rely on last-click or other click-based attribution because it’s simple and convenient. But here’s the catch: it’s also incredibly misleading.

In fact, 78.4% of marketers still use last-click attribution and web analytics to measure media efficacy, even though most know it’s flawed. As EMARKETER’s vice president of content Paul Verna put it: “[Last-click attribution is] the devil marketers know… It falls well short of representing what’s really going on.”

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The Problem with Click-Based Attribution

Click-based attribution models, whether first-click, last-click or multi-touch, only assign value to touchpoints that generate a click. But in today’s media reality, most of what influences people never gets clicked.

It’s like evaluating a football team by only counting the players who score goals. You ignore defenders, midfielders, the keeper, the build-up play and even the coach. Goals matter, but without the rest of the team doing their job, there would be no goals at all.

That’s the flaw in click-based attribution. It rewards only the visible, clickable actions and ignores everything else that builds demand, mental availability and brand preference.

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This leads to poor decisions:

• Paid search and retargeting look like top performers, not because they create demand, but because they are easy to measure

• TV, sponsorships, social video and audio are overlooked, even though they drive long-term growth

• Marketers end up chasing clicks, not business outcomes

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And they know it: 74.5% of marketers are either moving away from last-click attribution or would like to. As one EMARKETER analyst noted, “It doesn’t give the full picture of the consumer journey. It over-attributes the effectiveness of that last touchpoint.”

Clicks are not a measure of contribution. If your model only values what gets clicked, it’s not telling the full story.

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How MMM Offers a Smarter Solution

Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM) provides a more comprehensive approach by analysing historical data and isolating the impact of different marketing activities. Instead of relying on a single touchpoint, MMM considers the entire customer journey across multiple channels.

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Here’s why MMM is a game-changer:

• Holistic Measurement: It evaluates both online and offline channels, including TV, radio, out-of-home and digital campaigns.

• Incrementality Testing: MMM helps measure the true incremental impact of each marketing activity, ensuring budgets are allocated to high-performing strategies.

• Tactical Support for Performance Teams: MMM provides channel- and campaign-level multipliers that account for external factors like brand activity, seasonality and promotions. These can be used to calibrate ROAS targets in platforms like Google and Meta, ensuring performance decisions are grounded in real-world impact, not just platform attribution.

• Resistant to Data Privacy Changes: Unlike cookie-dependent attribution models, MMM thrives in a world with growing data restrictions.

Time to Step Out of Click-Based Trap

Click-based attribution is like stepping in something unpleasant—you might not notice at first, but it stinks up your entire strategy. As marketers embrace 2025, it’s time to shift towards data-driven models like MMM that reflect the real contribution of all marketing efforts.

Don’t let outdated attribution models hold you back. Embrace Marketing Science. Today.

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Ready to move beyond click-based attribution and see the full picture? Contact us to learn how MMM can transform your strategy.

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