Understand attribution reporting

When creating a contact create, deal create, or revenue attribution report, refer to the below guide for information about attribution models, dimensions, asset types, interactions positions and sources, and more.

The purpose of attribution reporting is to help you understand how marketing efforts inspire users to convert and build relationships with your brand. Marketing attribution helps you see patterns and actions that your team can use to improve strategies in the future.

Please note: in attribution reporting, the term lead (e.g., lead create) refers to the contact and not the lead object.

Learn more about attribution marketing on the HubSpot blog.

Interactions

Attribution models attribute credit to the interactions that created contacts, deals, and revenue in HubSpot, and will apportion higher credit to key conversion points in the lead conversion journey. When drilling down your attribution models, you can view interaction types and positions. 

Interaction types

Some of the key interaction types include:

• Ad click: a contact engaged with an advertisement on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Google. Your ad accounts must be connected to your HubSpot account in order to track this information.
• Attended marketing event: a contact attended a webinar, trade show, or other type of marketing event.
• Call connected: a contact had a phone call with someone from your organization. The call needs to be logged to the contact’s account to get credit from the attribution model.
• CTA click: a contact clicked a CTA that is either embedded on your website or in your marketing emails.
• Form submissions: a contact submitted a form on your website.
• Marketing email click: a contact clicked a link in a marketing email that was delivered to them. The marketing email must be sent to the Primary email address of the contact for the click to be attributed. Clicks made from an email sent to the Secondary email address will not be attributed.
• Page view: a contact viewed a page on your website or an external page with your HubSpot tracking code. This includes landing pages, blog posts, website pages, and knowledge base articles. 
• Registered for marketing event: a contact registered for a webinar, trade show, or other marketing event.
• Social post click: a contact clicked on a social post. Your social media accounts must be connected to your HubSpot account to track this information.

Learn more about interaction types.

Interaction positions

Interaction positions are markers for the interaction closest to key events in a conversion path. An interaction type (e.g., lead creation) can have multiple interaction positions (e.g., first interaction, last interaction, lead create) if they are the closest interaction to multiple key events.

For example, a contact may have multiple interactions (e.g., lead creation, form submission, page view). If the form submission was the closest interaction to occur before the lead was created then, the form submission will show the interaction positions of Last interaction, Lead create. 

For contact create attribution reports, the interaction positions are:

• First interaction: the contact's first interaction recorded in HubSpot. This is usually their first visit to your website.
• Last interaction: the contact's last interaction before they were converted to a contact in HubSpot.
• Lead create: when the lead was created. 

For deal create and revenue attribution reports, the interaction positions are:

• First interaction: the contact's first interaction recorded in HubSpot. This is usually their first visit to your website.
• Lead create: the contact's last interaction before they were converted to a contact in HubSpot.
• Deal create: the contact's last interaction before a deal was associated to them.
• Deal closed-won: the contact's last interaction before the deal associated to them moved to a closed-won stage.

For ads attribution reports, Last touch ad is the last ad that was interacted with before a conversion occurred. 

Any interactions that occur between these key conversion points are called middle interactions or other interactions. Keep in mind that each interaction by the same contact is counted separately in the attribution report. For example, if a contact clicks on a marketing email multiple times, each click is considered an interaction and will be considered in revenue attribution.

Attribution models

Attribution models distribute credit to interactions along the customer's journey. Below, learn about the attribution models available in HubSpot and how to choose which one to use.

To preview an example of each attribution model, click Compare model next to the Attribution model dropdown menu in the left panel of the report builder.

Below, learn more about the attribution models available in HubSpot and how to choose which one to use.

Linear

This model attributes the contact credits equally to each interaction in the conversion path.

Choose this model if:

• You want a holistic view of all your marketing channels' performance.
• You want to assign credit to all assets that contacts interact with before they become a contact, have a deal associated with them, or have a closed deal.

This model is not ideal at identifying which campaigns or assets are more effective, because all interactions get credit equally. For example, trade shows or highly segmented email campaigns will receive as much credit as when a prospect visits 20 web pages.

First interaction

This model attributes 100% of the contact credits to the contact's first interaction in the conversion path.

Choose this model if:

• You want to understand how people first discover your brand. For example, if you need to generate net-new business, this report will help you understand how your current customers first interacted with your content.
• You want to generate leads and general brand awareness.
• You close a high volume of deals, and your sales pipeline is about as wide at the top as it is at the bottom.
  
  

Last interaction

This model attributes 100% of the contact credits to the contact's last interaction in the conversion path.

Choose this model if:

• You want to identify the value of actions taken at the bottom of the sales funnel.
• You have a lot of leads but you close a low volume of deals. In this case, the model will show you which interactions are working at closing deals.
• You want to better optimize the process of converting qualified leads into customers.

This model is not ideal for identifying which marketing assets and sales engagements successfully move leads through the entire pipeline.

U-shaped

This model attributes 40% of the contact credits to the first interaction and lead conversion interactions each. It then attributes the remaining 20% evenly across all other interactions.

Choose this model if:

• You need to generate qualified prospects at the top of your funnel.
• You want to build an audience of leads to further nurture and qualify later.

This model is not ideal for middle or bottom-of-funnel marketers, as it ignores the interactions a contact took after becoming created.

W-shaped

This model attributes 30% of the contact credits to the first interaction, 30% to the interaction that created the contact, and 30% to the last interaction that created the deal. It then attributes the remaining 10% evenly across all interactions between the first and last.

The W model is available in Deal create attribution and Revenue attribution reports. The W model requires a deal-based interaction.

Choose this model if:

• Your pipeline moves quickly from lead created or deal created to customer.
• You only have a few ways to convert qualified leads into customers, but you have multiple channels for generating and nurturing leads to qualified leads.

This model is not ideal for measuring sales or bottom of the funnel interactions, because they receive no credit.

Please note: when using w-shaped models, if a deal's create date is before any of the create dates of the associated contacts, then the W model will be null. It will have no values because the data is not in a form that fits this model.

Time decay

This model attributes contact credits more heavily to more recent interactions. Credits are distributed using a 7-day half-life. This means an interaction 8 days before a conversion gets half as much credit as an ad interaction 1 day before the same conversion.

Choose this model if:

• You use longer sales cycles, as this model gives more credit to the most recent touchpoints which helped to accelerate the conversion.
• You're an ecommerce business that uses seasonal or "time-boxed" campaigns where there is a known start and end date to the campaign. The most recent touchpoints should then be receiving the most credit for driving the conversion.
  
  

Full path

This model is available only in revenue attribution reports. This model attributes 22.5% of the deal revenue credits to the first interaction, lead creation, deal creation, and last interaction each. It then attributes the remaining 10% of the deal revenue credits to all other interactions equally (i.e., middle interactions).

Choose this model if:

• You're equally concerned with all parts of the funnel and customer journey.
• Your marketing and sales alignment is key to driving revenue.
• You have a large marketing and sales organization, or you have multiple marketing and sales channels to drive conversion.
  
  

Please note: when using full path models, if a deal's create date is before any of the create dates of the associated contacts, then the full path model will be null. It will have no values because the data is not in a form that fits this model.

J-shaped

This model attributes 20% of the credit to the first interaction, and 60% to the conversion. The remaining 20% is spread across other interactions in the conversion path.

Choose this model if you want to give credit to both the first interaction and converting interaction, but with more weight on the conversion.

Inverse J-shaped

Attributes 60% of the credit to the first interaction, and 20% of the interaction that led to the conversion. The remaining 20% is spread across other interactions in the conversion path.

Choose this model if you want to give credit to both the first interaction and the converting interaction, but with more weight on the first interaction.

Dimensions

• Asset dimensions: assign deal revenue credits to the assets that a deal's associated contact interacted with, such as landing pages. You can select the following asset dimensions:
  • Asset title: the titles of your assets. When an asset doesn't have a title, the URL of the asset will be displayed.
  • Asset type: the types of assets.
• Deal dimensions: assign deal revenue credits by the attributes of closed deals. You can select the following deal dimensions:
  • Deal create date: the date that an associated deal was created.
  • Deal close date: the date that an associated deal was closed.
  • Deal: the deal's name.
  • Deal owner: the deal's owner.
  • Deal pipeline: the deal's associated pipeline.
  • Deal type: the deal's type.
• Interaction dimensions: assign deal revenue credits by the interactions that occurred along a customer's journey. You can select from the following interaction dimensions:
  • Interaction position: the position of the interaction along the customer journey.
  • Interaction source: the source of the interaction. Learn more about interaction sources.
  • Interaction date: the date and time that the interaction occurred.
  • Interaction type: the type of interaction. Learn more about interaction types and how you can customize them for your report.
  • Interaction URL: the URL of the interaction.
• UTM dimensions: assign deal revenue credits by the UTM parameters present in the URL where an interaction occurred. You can select from the following UTM dimensions:
  • UTM Campaign: the UTM campaign associated with the interaction.
  • UTM Source: the UTM source associated with the interaction.
  • UTM Medium: the UTM medium associated with the interaction.
  • UTM Content: the UTM content associated with the interaction.
  • UTM Term: the UTM term associated with the interaction.
• Other dimensions: assign deal revenue credits by the following dimensions:
  • Ad keyword: the keyword used that resulted in an ad interaction.
  • Campaign: the campaign associated with your marketing content.
  • Company: the company that the contact is associated with.
  • CTA: the ID of the CTA that an interaction is associated with.
  • Form: the form that an interaction is associated with.
  • Lead source: the contact's source.
  • Social post: the HubSpot social post associated where an interaction took place.

Asset types

• Marketing:
  • Website pages: website pages in HubSpot.
  • Landing page: landing pages in HubSpot.
  • Knowledge article: articles in your HubSpot knowledge base.
  • Blog post: blog posts in HubSpot.
  • Listing page: blog listing pages in HubSpot.
  • External page: a page not hosted on HubSpot. 
  • Misc. HubSpot page: a HubSpot-built page that is not categorized, such as meeting links and subscription pages.
  • Ads: ads tracked in HubSpot.

• Sales:
  • Call: calls made from or logged in HubSpot.
  • Meeting: meetings set up or logged in HubSpot.
  • Sales email: one-to-one email replies sent through an integration, tracked by, or logged in HubSpot.
• Conversation: conversations in HubSpot. 

• Contact create:
  • Contact import: importing contacts.
  • Integration: interactions logged on a contact record through an integration (e.g., contact created in Salesforce, Zoom, custom API).
  • Other lead creation: contact was created by other means not stated (e.g., manually created in HubSpot, created through the HubSpot Sales extension).
• Marketing email: marketing emails in HubSpot.
• Marketing event: marketing events in HubSpot.
• Media bridge: media bridge in HubSpot.
• Custom event: custom events in HubSpot. 

Interaction sources

Interactions are bucketed by the traffic source of the session where they occurred (e.g., a page view during a session that started through an AdWords ad will be an interaction categorized under Paid Search).

Where the interaction doesn't occur during a session, they will be categorized based on the type of interaction:

• Meeting, Call, Sales email reply, and Conversation interactions are categorized as Sales. For deal create and revenue attribution reports, sales activities should be associated to the contact record and its relevant associated deal records. For example:
  • A contact record is associated to a deal record.
  • When a HubSpot user calls the contact about a deal and logs it to the contact record, the call activity will automatically be associated to the deal record if it is one of the contact record's five most recent open deals. Otherwise, the user should associate the call manually to the deal record.

  Please note: manually logged call engagements do not count toward Deal create or Revenue attribution. Calls must be made through the CRM or a HubSpot supported third-party calling provider.

  
  
  • Because the call is associated to both the deal and the contact, the report will assume it relates to the deal and can take it into account for deal create attribution.
  • If the call is not associated to the deal, it will not be taken into account for the deal create attribution report as it may not be relevant to the deal but for other purposes.

• Marketing email click interactions are categorized as Email marketing.
• Social post click interactions are categorized as Organic social.
• If the interaction was the creation of the contact and this occurred offline, they are categorized under Offline sources. Learn about what offline sources can mean.

Bucket credits from your externally-hosted pages to a specific asset type

If your website isn't hosted with HubSpot, and is instead managed externally, you can still create attribution reports for your pages. However, by default, any credits attributed to an externally-hosted page will be bucketed under the asset type Pages without asset type.

To assign a specific content type to a page, you can request that your developer team add the following code to those pages:

var _hsq = window._hsq = window._hsq || [];
_hsq.push(['setContentType', 'CONTENT_TYPE']);

Replace the CONTENT_TYPE text in the code with the expression for the content type you want the credits to be attributed to.

• To attribute credits to the Website page content type, use the expressions standard-page or site-page.
• To attribute credits to the Landing page content type, use the expression landing-page.
• To attribute credits to the Blog post content type, use the expression blog-post.
• To attribute credits to the Knowledge article content type, use the expression knowledge-article.

Learn how this code works in HubSpot's developer's documentation.

Please note: when you add the above code to your pages, only new page interactions will be attributed to the specific content type. HubSpot will not retroactively update previous interactions to the new content type, and those interactions will still be attributed to Pages without content type.

Revenue attribution calculation

If you're not seeing the expected data in your report, understand what data the report uses. The report will not take into account:

• Any revenue or customer interactions outside of HubSpot that does not use tracking URLs (UTMs) with the campaign leading to a landing page with the HubSpot tracking code;
• Any revenue or customer interactions from deals that do not have known property values in the Amount property, Create date property, and Close date property; and
• Any sales activities (i.e., calls, meetings, conversations, and one to one emails) that are not associated to both a contact record and a deal record with the above property values. 
• Any one to one emails that have been sent but have not received a reply.

Only deals that meet all following conditions will be included in the report:

• The deal needs to be in a closed-won stage.
• Check your deal pipeline to identify if there's a closed-won stage.
• If it doesn't exist, create a new deal stage or edit an existing deal stage to be closed-won.
• Update your actual won deals to be in this stage.
• The deal needs to have at least one contact associated to it.
• The report is based on the contact's interactions that HubSpot tracked. Without an associated contact, the revenue will not be attributed to any interactions.
• If a deal has no associated contact, you may want to identify the most appropriate contact for the deal and associate the contact with the deal.
• The deal needs to have known property values in the Amount property, Create date property, and Close date property. These property values are required for the report. If they are empty, add the correct value to the deal properties.

If a deal meets all the above conditions, the main data that will be used for the report include:

• Revenue from the deal's Amount property.
• Common interactions and activities associated with the deal record and a contact record.