Adobe Marketo Consulting · Reference
Marketo Measure Attribution Glossary
Attribution has a vocabulary problem. Two people can say “first touch” in the same meeting and mean two different things, and the reporting argument that follows is really a definitions argument. These are the terms we use with clients on Marketo Measure engagements, defined plainly.
The four milestone touchpoints
Every Marketo Measure model is built on the same four moments. What changes between models is how much credit each one gets.
FT
First Touch
The very first interaction, before any contact information exists.
LC
Lead Creation
The form fill. An anonymous visitor becomes a known lead.
OC
Opportunity Creation
The lead is qualified and sales opens an opportunity.
CW
Closed Won
The deal closes. The prospect is officially a customer.
Everything in between these four moments is an intermediary touchpoint. Multi-touch models still pay them a share of the credit.
How the six models split credit
Same deal, same revenue, six different answers. Choosing a model is choosing which part of the journey you want to reward.
| Model | First Touch | Lead Creation | Opp. Creation | Closed Won | Intermediary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Touch | 100% | — | — | — | — |
| Lead Creation | — | 100% | — | — | — |
| U-Shaped | 50% | 50% | — | — | — |
| W-Shaped | 30% | 30% | 30% | — | 10% |
| Full Path | 22.5% | 22.5% | 22.5% | 22.5% | 10% |
| Custom | You define the touchpoints and the percentages | ||||
The terms
Eighteen definitions, grouped so related ideas sit together and alphabetical within each group.
Core concepts
The vocabulary everything else is built on- Attribution Credit
- The portion of revenue from a closed deal that gets assigned to a specific marketing touchpoint, based on how much that touchpoint is judged to have influenced the buyer’s decision.
- Attribution Model
- A structured framework for distributing revenue credit across touchpoints in a customer journey. Marketo Measure offers six models, each reflecting a different view of which stages in the journey matter most.
- Marketing Attribution
- The practice of assigning revenue credit to marketing touchpoints by tracking a prospect’s full journey, from their first interaction with a company through to a closed deal.
- Touchpoints
- Any interaction a prospect or lead has with a company’s marketing efforts, online or offline, across the full customer journey.
Touchpoints
The moments a model can credit- Closed Won CW
- The milestone touchpoint marking the moment a deal closes and a prospect officially becomes a customer. It’s the final of the four major touchpoints.
- First Touch FT
- The milestone touchpoint representing a lead’s very first interaction with a company, before they’ve provided any contact information.
- Intermediary Touchpoints
- Interactions that occur between the milestone touchpoints in a customer journey. These aren’t major turning points on their own, but multi-touch models still allocate a portion of credit to them to reflect their contribution.
- Lead Creation LC
- The milestone touchpoint marking the moment a prospect submits their contact information and converts from an anonymous visitor into a lead.
- Milestone Touchpoints
- The four major touchpoints considered foundational to a customer’s journey: First Touch, Lead Creation, Opportunity Creation, and Closed Won. These form the structural basis for all of Marketo Measure’s attribution models.
- Opportunity Creation OC
- The milestone touchpoint marking the moment a lead becomes a qualified sales opportunity.
Model families
Single-touch versus multi-touch- Multi-touch Models
- Attribution models that distribute credit across two or more milestone touchpoints rather than concentrating it on a single moment. These models tend to suit longer or more complex sales cycles, particularly when several people from an account are involved in the buying journey. Includes U-Shaped, W-Shaped, Full Path, and Custom.
- Single-touch Models
- Attribution models that assign all revenue credit to a single milestone touchpoint. Includes First Touch and Lead Creation.
The six models
How Marketo Measure divides the credit- Custom Attribution Model
- A configurable model that lets users define which touchpoints or custom stages to include, along with the percentage of credit each one receives. If an opportunity has no dedicated middle touches, credit is distributed evenly among the remaining positions.
- First Touch Model
- A single-touch attribution model that assigns 100% of revenue credit to the First Touch touchpoint, crediting whatever channel introduced the prospect to the company.
- Full Path Model
- A multi-touch model that includes all four milestone touchpoints. First Touch, Lead Creation, Opportunity Creation, and Closed Won each receive 22.5% of revenue credit, with the remaining 10% split equally among intermediary touches.
- Lead Creation Model
- A single-touch attribution model that assigns 100% of revenue credit to the Lead Creation touchpoint, crediting the channel or content that drove the form fill.
- U-Shaped Model
- A multi-touch model that splits revenue credit evenly between the First Touch and Lead Creation touchpoints, with each receiving 50%.
- W-Shaped Model
- A multi-touch model that assigns 30% of revenue credit to each of three milestone touchpoints (First Touch, Lead Creation, and Opportunity Creation), with the remaining 10% distributed proportionally among intermediary touchpoints.
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