Why Marketing Attribution Might Be a Waste of Time (And What to Focus On Instead)
I’ve been a loyal listener of the Humans of MarTech podcast for a while now, and I’ve got to say—I love it. The episodes are insightful, practical, and often hit on things I’ve been wrestling with in my own work. Lately, a recurring theme on the show has been rattling around in my head: Why are Marketing Ops professionals so obsessed with attribution? First touch, last touch, multi-touch—so much of our time is consumed by trying to nail down the precise path a lead took before becoming a customer. But what are we actually gaining from all this effort? Are these insights even that reliable—or useful?The Flawed Logic of Attribution
In one episode, Kacie Jenkins, SVP of Marketing at Sendoso, offered a brilliant analogy:Relationships are built over time through many meaningful interactions—buying journeys are the same. So why do we keep pretending a single touchpoint is what seals the deal?“No one falls in love after the first text from a potential partner, and no one agrees to get married based solely on the last one either.”
Attribution Isn’t Driving Revenue—Campaign Performance Is
Constantine Yurevich, CEO of SegmentStream, reminded listeners that revenue growth is the real goal—not attribution models. And honestly, he’s right. I grew up in the Salesforce and Marketo world, where we were told every dollar was trackable. But that’s simply not the reality we work in today. Here are just a few of the issues I’ve personally encountered:- Cookie tracking failures – One cache clear, and poof! All tracking data is gone.
- Broken UTM parameters – A common and persistent source of attribution errors.
- Data overwrites – Whether it’s a BDR or an automation issue, things get messy fast.
- Tradeshow & third-party data uploads – Often come with incorrect or inconsistent fields.
- Misaligned source fields – Lead source, campaign, and UTM data often conflict.
The Mirage of Multi-Touch Attribution
In another standout episode, Moni Oloyede, founder of Mo MarTech, took this further. She pointed out that multi-touch attribution is often just… made up. Why does a webinar get 30% credit and a white paper get 25%? Who decides that? These numbers are based on arbitrary weights, not real buyer behavior. So why are Marketing Ops teams spending so much time trying to assign value to every click or form fill?Sales and Marketing: Not Opponents, but Partners
Let’s stop pitting Sales and Marketing against each other. You can’t close deals without both.- Marketing builds awareness, drives demand, and educates the buyer.
- Sales nurtures relationships, answers tough questions, and closes.
Focus on Campaign Performance, Not Touchpoints
So what should we be doing? Moni’s suggestion is spot-on: Marketing Ops should focus on how campaigns influence pipeline, not which click gets the credit.- How well does this white paper drive webinar attendance?
- Does the webinar drive demo requests?
- Do demos convert to pipeline?
What It Looks Like in Practice
Years ago, I had a manager who prioritized campaign performance above all else. He didn’t care about attribution models. His mantra was:We tested everything—headlines, images, ad copy, colors. We even made it competitive: the loser of each A/B test had to buy lunch for the team. And you know what? It worked. We got better results and actually enjoyed the process.“What can we learn from this campaign to make the next one better?”