Time decay attribution model: What it is and how it helps

Let’s suppose a potential customer discovers your product through a Google ad while browsing online. Later, they click on a Facebook ad to learn more. A week goes by, and they receive an email with a discount code. Finally, they visit your site and make a purchase. Now the question is – how do you decide which interaction had the most impact?

This is where the time decay attribution model comes into play. Instead of giving all the credit to the first or last touchpoint, this model assigns more weight to interactions that happen closer to the conversion. It’s a method that values the immediacy and relevance of each step in the customer journey.

In this blog, we’ll break down how the time decay attribution model works, why it’s useful, and how you can apply it to your marketing strategy. Plus, we’ll share how tools like Usermaven simplify the process, helping you make informed decisions with ease. Let’s dive in!

What is the time decay attribution model?

The time decay attribution model is a method of distributing credit for conversion across multiple marketing touchpoints, with the highest credit assigned to interactions closest to the final conversion. This approach values the immediacy of recent touchpoints, acknowledging their greater influence in driving the outcome.

To put it simply, this model operates on the principle that the closer an interaction is to the purchase or action, the more important it is in the decision-making process. It’s a way to recognize the efforts of your marketing activities without downplaying the significance of timing.

Example of the time decay attribution model in action

Let’s break it down step by step:

1. Touchpoint 1: Display ad
   • A customer sees a display ad introducing your product but doesn’t take any action.
   • This touchpoint is assigned a small percentage of the credit as it’s early in the journey.
2. Touchpoint 2: Social media engagement
   • The customer later clicks on a Facebook ad to learn more.
   • This interaction receives slightly more credit as it moves the customer closer to a purchase.
3. Touchpoint 3: Email Campaign
   • The customer receives an email offering a discount and clicks through to your website.
   • Since this is the final touchpoint before the conversion, it’s assigned the highest credit.

In this scenario, the email campaign might receive 50% of the credit, the social media ad 30%, and the display ad 20%. This distribution reflects the importance of each touchpoint based on its timing and impact on the overall journey.

Key features: Time sensitivity and decay function

The time decay attribution model is built on two core principles: time sensitivity and the decay function, which together determine how credit is assigned to marketing touchpoints.

Time sensitivity

This feature emphasizes the importance of timing in a customer’s journey. Touchpoints closer to the conversion event are given more credit because they have a stronger and more immediate influence on the customer’s decision. Earlier interactions, while acknowledged, are considered less impactful as time passes.

Decay function

The decay function is what sets this model apart. It applies a gradual reduction in credit as the time between the touchpoint and the conversion increases. Essentially, the further back a touchpoint occurs in the timeline, the smaller its contribution to the final result. This ensures that recent actions, which are typically more relevant, are weighted more heavily.

Example of time sensitivity and decay function in action

• A customer’s journey begins with a Google search ad two weeks before purchase.
  • This touchpoint is assigned minimal credit due to the long time gap.
• Five days later, they engaged with a retargeting ad on Instagram.
  • The interaction is assigned moderate credit, as it happened mid-way in the journey.
• Finally, they click on a personalized email on the day of purchase.
  • This touchpoint receives the highest credit, reflecting its proximity to the conversion.

The combination of time sensitivity and decay ensures that the credit assigned to touchpoints aligns with their true impact, providing marketers with a more accurate understanding of the customer journey.

How time decay differs from other attribution models

While the time decay attribution model is centered around the timing of interactions, it’s helpful to compare it with other popular models in marketing attribution to see how it stands out. Let’s look at how time decay differs from first-touch, last-touch, and linear attribution models.

First-touch attribution

First-touch attribution gives 100% of the credit to the first interaction a customer has with a brand, regardless of what happens later. This model assumes that the first touchpoint is the most critical in driving the customer’s decision to convert.

• Difference: Time decay, on the other hand, doesn’t assign all the credit to one touchpoint. It distributes the credit across the journey, placing more emphasis on recent interactions. This makes it a more balanced approach than first-touch attribution.

Last-touch attribution

Last-touch attribution assigns all the credit to the final touchpoint before the conversion. It assumes that the last interaction is the most significant in influencing the customer to make a purchase or take an action.

• Difference: While last-touch attribution focuses solely on the final step, time decay distributes credit across multiple touchpoints, with more weight placed on those closer to the conversion. This allows time decay to capture a more holistic view of the customer’s journey.

Linear attribution

The linear attribution model evenly distributes credit across all touchpoints in the customer’s journey, assuming each interaction plays an equal role in the conversion process.

• Difference: Time decay gives more credit to touchpoints that happen closer to the conversion, unlike linear attribution, which treats all touchpoints equally. This makes time decay a more time-sensitive approach, reflecting the immediate impact of recent interactions.

In summary, time decay offers a middle ground between models that assign credit to a single touchpoint (like first-touch and last-touch) and those that distribute it evenly (like linear). By factoring in the timing of each touchpoint, time decay provides a more dynamic and accurate picture of customer behavior.

Advantages of using the time decay attribution model

Marketers have long favored the time decay attribution model for its ability to provide deeper insights into the effectiveness of their campaigns. This model helps marketers understand how each touchpoint impacts customer decisions, especially as the conversion gets closer. Let’s explore the key advantages of using time decay to evaluate your marketing efforts.

Highlighting influential interactions

Most marketers love the time decay attribution model because it helps them focus on the most influential touchpoints in the customer’s journey. By giving more credit to interactions that happen closer to the conversion event, marketers can see which touchpoints truly moved the needle. This way, they’re able to invest in channels that actually drive conversions instead of spreading their attention too thin across less impactful touchpoints.

Understanding consumer behavior with time decay

The time decay model offers marketers a more accurate picture of consumer behavior. It reveals that customers don’t usually make a purchase right away; instead, they often engage with several touchpoints over time. By giving more weight to recent interactions, time decay shows how these later touchpoints have a bigger impact on conversions. This helps marketers fine-tune their strategies to focus on the touchpoints that matter most at the right time.

Emphasizing recent high-value touchpoints

One major reason marketers love time decay attribution is its ability to highlight high-value touchpoints closer to conversion. For instance, a promotional email that a customer opens the day before making a purchase will likely have more influence than an ad they saw weeks ago. By emphasizing these recent, high-value interactions, marketers can ensure that their budget and resources are being allocated to touchpoints that truly drive sales.

Offering a comprehensive view of the customer journey

Time decay doesn’t just show the sequence of touchpoints; it gives a clear, comprehensive view of how each touchpoint contributes to the final conversion based on its timing. This holistic approach allows marketers to optimize their campaigns across the entire customer journey, from initial awareness to final decision, ensuring that every touchpoint receives the credit it deserves.

Multi-channel attribution in action

In today’s world, customers engage with brands across multiple platforms—search ads, social media, email, etc. The time decay model is excellent for multi-channel attribution because it assigns credit to each channel while considering the timing of the interaction. By prioritizing more recent touchpoints, time decay offers a complete view of the customer’s path to conversion, helping marketers optimize their strategies across all channels.

Tracking the conversion path

Tracking the customer’s entire conversion path is essential for understanding how they move through different touchpoints before making a purchase. The time decay model not only shows the sequence of these touchpoints but also gives weight to each one based on its proximity to the conversion. This allows marketers to focus on the most influential touchpoints, making it easier to improve marketing ROI by optimizing what truly drives conversions.

Reflecting real-world marketing trends

The time decay attribution model mirrors real-world marketing dynamics, where customers typically take several steps before converting. Touchpoints that occur closer to the final conversion event- like retargeting ads or time-sensitive offers – often play a more influential role. Time decay helps marketers make decisions that align with these real-world trends, allowing for more precise marketing strategies that resonate with actual customer behavior.

Understanding multi-touch engagements

In modern marketing, customers interact with a brand across several touchpoints before making a decision. The time decay model provides marketers with valuable insights into how each touchpoint contributes to the final decision. It evaluates the cumulative effect of all these touchpoints, giving marketers a more nuanced understanding of how each interaction influences the customer’s ultimate choice.

The time decay attribution model offers invaluable insights into how touchpoints influence conversions over time. Focusing on recent interactions enables marketers to optimize their strategies, allocate resources effectively, and make more informed decisions that align with real customer behavior.

Related: Understanding revenue attribution: Models, benefits, and strategies

Limitations of the time decay attribution model

While the time decay attribution model offers numerous benefits, it’s important to understand its limitations. Like any attribution model, it has certain drawbacks that marketers should be aware of in order to make the most effective use of it.

Overlooking the value of early interactions

One of the major limitations of the time decay model is that it tends to overlook the importance of early touchpoints. By placing more value on recent interactions, the model may undervalue the role that initial touchpoints—such as the first ad view or email – played in introducing the brand or building initial interest. This can lead to underestimating the influence of these early touchpoints in driving long-term customer engagement.

Potential bias towards recent touchpoints

The time decay attribution model naturally places a heavier emphasis on touchpoints closer to conversion, which can sometimes result in bias towards recent interactions. This bias may not always reflect the true influence of earlier touchpoints that helped shape the customer’s decision or build brand awareness. In cases where a customer’s journey involves multiple touchpoints spread across a longer period, this model may give disproportionate weight to later-stage interactions, potentially missing the broader context of the full customer experience.

While the time decay attribution model offers valuable insights, it’s essential to balance its use with an understanding of its limitations. Marketers should consider supplementing it with other models to ensure a more comprehensive view of the customer journey and the impact of all touchpoints.

Can the time decay attribution model be combined with other models?

Many marketers combine the time decay attribution model with other models to gain a more comprehensive view of their marketing efforts. By using multiple models, marketers can understand different aspects of the customer journey and refine their strategies. Unlike traditional marketing attribution tools, some advanced attribution tools like Usermaven offer a seamless way to view how various models work together, allowing you to compare different attribution models with just a click. This helps ensure that no important touchpoint is overlooked, giving you a complete and nuanced understanding of your marketing performance.

Usermaven and multi-touch attribution

Usermaven takes the complexity out of multi-touch attribution by offering an intuitive platform that supports a variety of attribution models, including time decay, first touch, last touch, linear, first touch, non-direct, last touch, non-direct, and more. With just a few clicks, you can compare how each model assigns credit across the customer journey. Whether you want to prioritize recent interactions with the time decay model or analyze the first or last touchpoints that initiated or closed a sale, Usermaven’s Attribution helps you gain a complete understanding of your marketing performance. The ability to effortlessly switch between models provides you with a holistic view of your campaigns, ensuring that you’re making data-driven decisions for optimal results.

Related: The ultimate guide to B2B marketing attribution for success

Seven attribution models at your fingertips

Usermaven gives you access to seven flexible attribution models, including:

• First-touch attribution model
• Last touch attribution model
• Linear attribution model
• Time decay attribution model
• U-shaped attribution model
• First touch non-direct attribution model
• Last touch non-direct attribution model

With these models, you can easily analyze how different touchpoints influence conversions, helping you make informed decisions based on a full view of the customer journey. Whether you’re looking to prioritize the more recent touchpoints with the time decay attribution model or analyze initial interactions with first touch attribution, you have the flexibility to explore every angle.

Maximize insights with the time decay attribution model

The time decay attribution model in Usermaven places more weight on touchpoints closer to the conversion. This allows you to prioritize recent high-impact interactions, helping you understand how your campaigns influence customers right up to the decision-making point. With just a few clicks, you can seamlessly integrate time decay insights with other models to compare how different touchpoints contribute across the customer journey.

Customizable lookback window for accurate tracking

Usermaven lets you define your own lookback window, ensuring that you can track interactions over the period most relevant to your business. Whether you’re evaluating short cycles (30 days) or longer, more involved journeys (up to 180 days), this flexibility ensures that the time decay attribution model and other models give you the most accurate view of touchpoint performance at every stage.

Days-to-convert analysis

Using the days-to-convert analysis in Usermaven, you can assess how long it takes for customers to convert after their first interaction. This feature works hand-in-hand with the time decay attribution model, offering insights into how recent interactions, closer to the conversion, affect sales cycles. It helps you understand the role of each touchpoint in accelerating or slowing down conversion timelines.

Conversion path visualization

Usermaven’s conversion path analysis gives you a clear picture of how touchpoints unfold over time, providing a visual representation of the customer’s journey. When combined with the time decay attribution model, this feature helps you identify which recent interactions play the most significant role in conversions, allowing you to fine-tune your marketing strategies.

Detailed source/channel analysis

Usermaven provides deep insights into cross-channel marketing attribution. By analyzing how the time decay attribution model applies to interactions on each platform, you can better understand the effectiveness of each touchpoint and optimize your content and channel strategies accordingly.

AI-driven recommendations for smarter strategy

Usermaven’s AI capabilities take your analysis further by identifying patterns in your data and offering actionable insights. With the time decay attribution model, the AI recommendations help highlight which recent touchpoints are driving the most conversions so you can adjust your strategies to focus on the right channels and interactions.

Custom channel mapping for deeper insights

You can create custom channel groups within Usermaven, which enables you to analyze specific campaigns like paid ads, organic social media, or influencer marketing in greater detail. When combined with the time decay attribution model, this feature provides a clearer view of how each channel’s performance evolves over time and influences conversion.

Track content and paid ad attribution

Usermaven’s paid ads and content attribution tools give you a comprehensive view of how your content and ads contribute to conversions. Whether you’re analyzing blog posts, videos, or paid campaigns, the time decay attribution model helps identify how recent touchpoints in these channels drive customer decisions.

With Usermaven, you’re not just tracking conversions; you’re gaining detailed insights into how each marketing touchpoint influences customer decisions over time. By combining the time decay attribution model with other powerful tools, Usermaven helps you optimize your strategies, track your ROI, and make data-driven decisions that maximize profitability.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the time decay attribution model allows marketers to focus on the interactions that matter most – those closer to the conversion – helping to prioritize strategies that drive tangible results. By leveraging this model, businesses can gain a clearer understanding of the customer journey, optimize touchpoints, and improve conversion rates. With Usermaven, you can seamlessly integrate time decay attribution and other models into your marketing strategy, giving you the tools to make smarter, data-driven decisions that enhance your ROI and overall marketing performance.

FAQs about the time decay attribution model

1. What is the time decay attribution model?
It’s an attribution method that assigns more credit to marketing touchpoints closer to the conversion event, emphasizing their immediate impact.

2. Why is time decay better than first-touch or last-touch attribution?
It provides a balanced view by recognizing all touchpoints while prioritizing those closer to the conversion.

3. Can the time decay attribution model be combined with other models?
Yes, combining models can provide a broader perspective, especially with tools like Usermaven’s multi-touch attribution.

4. What types of businesses benefit most from time decay attribution?
Businesses with long customer journeys, such as B2B companies and e-commerce platforms, benefit greatly from this model.

5. How does Usermaven simplify time decay attribution model?
Usermaven offers easy-to-implement multi-touch attribution models, providing actionable insights in an intuitive interface designed for small teams.

6. Are early-stage touchpoints undervalued in time decay attribution model?
Yes, this is a limitation, but it can be mitigated by combining Time Decay with other models, like Linear Attribution.

7. Is time decay attribution model useful for multi-channel campaigns?
Absolutely! It’s ideal for campaigns involving multiple touchpoints, as it accounts for the timing of each interaction.

8. How can I measure the success of using time decay attribution model?
Track KPIs like conversion rate, ROI, and the performance of channels or campaigns after applying the model.

9. Why should I consider Usermaven for multi-touch attribution?
Usermaven provides a cost-effective solution with advanced attribution capabilities, including time decay attribution model, making analytics accessible for startups and small teams.