Attribution Report
An analytics report that shows how marketing channels, campaigns, and touchpoints contribute to conversions and revenue under various attribution models, helping teams evaluate marketing performance and allocate budget.
Also known as: attribution dashboard, conversion path report
Why attribution report matters
Attribution reports translate raw touchpoint data into actionable marketing intelligence. They answer the questions that drive budget decisions: Which channels generate the most revenue? Which campaigns have the best ROI? Where should we increase or decrease investment?
The most valuable attribution reports enable model comparison - showing how credit allocation changes under different attribution models. A channel that looks great under one model and terrible under another deserves investigation. A channel that looks strong across all models is genuinely valuable.
Attribution reports also reveal trends over time. A channel that is gaining attribution share might be maturing into a stronger performer. One that is losing share might indicate market saturation or creative fatigue. These trends inform both tactical adjustments and long-term strategy.
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Attribution Report examples
A multi-channel retailer builds an attribution report that compares first-touch, last-touch, and linear models across 15 marketing channels. The report reveals that organic content generates 2x more first-touch attributed revenue than any other channel, while email generates the most last-touch revenue. This clarity leads to a balanced investment strategy.
A B2B platform creates a monthly attribution report for the leadership team that includes attributed pipeline by channel, model comparison, and cost-per-attributed-opportunity. The report consistently shows that customer referrals have the lowest cost per attributed conversion, leading to a formal referral program expansion.
How to Track in Kissmetrics
In Kissmetrics this is the Performance report, on the Growth plan. It shows visitors, conversions and revenue by campaign, and credits each conversion by first touch or by last touch, on the same people. Switch between the two with Give credit to, pick the conversion event and the date range, and export the table when you need it elsewhere.
Common Mistakes
- -Building attribution reports without proper UTM tagging, which results in large "direct/none" categories that hide real channel performance
- -Presenting attribution reports without context about which model was used and what its assumptions are
- -Not including cost data alongside attribution data, making it impossible to calculate ROI
- -Updating attribution reports too frequently (daily) for channels where performance is inherently lumpy
Pro Tips
- +Include a model comparison view in your attribution report so stakeholders can see how sensitive results are to model choice
- +Add cost data to your attribution report to calculate cost-per-attributed-conversion and attributed ROAS for each channel
- +Segment attribution reports by customer type (new vs returning, SMB vs enterprise) to see whether channel effectiveness varies by segment
- +Present attribution reports monthly to leadership with a narrative that explains the "so what" behind the numbers
- +Include a data quality section that shows what percentage of conversions have complete attribution paths
Related Terms
Attribution Model
A set of rules or algorithms that determine how credit for conversions and revenue is assigned to the marketing touchpoints in a customer's journey, shaping how channel ROI is measured and budget is allocated.
Multi-Touch Attribution
An attribution approach that distributes conversion credit across multiple touchpoints in a customer's journey rather than assigning all credit to a single interaction, reflecting the reality that most conversions involve multiple marketing influences.
Channel Attribution
The process of assigning conversion credit to specific marketing channels (paid search, email, social media, organic search, etc.) to evaluate each channel's contribution to revenue and guide budget allocation decisions.
Assisted Conversion
A conversion where a particular channel or touchpoint appeared in the customer journey but was not the final interaction before conversion, indicating it played a supporting role in the purchase decision.
Click-Through Attribution
An attribution method that gives credit to a marketing touchpoint only when the user actually clicked on it before converting, as opposed to merely viewing it.
Further Reading
Revenue Attribution Reports: Connect Every Dollar to Its Source
How to use revenue attribution reports to find the channels, campaigns and segments that produce revenue, with every dollar traced to a person and a source.
GA4 Conversions Don't Match Google Ads: Here's Why and What to Do About It
Why GA4 and Google Ads report different conversion counts: the four mechanisms behind the gap, why consent modelling makes it drift, and which number belongs in which decision.
UTM Parameters: A Taxonomy That Survives to Revenue
A UTM has to survive a redirect, a return visit, a device switch and several weeks before it reaches a payment. A naming taxonomy built for that journey.
How to Build a Marketing Analytics Stack That Proves ROI
A marketing analytics stack proves ROI only if every campaign resolves to revenue. Which tools to connect, which attribution to run, how to read it.
Try it on your own data for free.
First touch and last touch on events tied to people, with signups and revenue per person for each campaign, plus a report for visitors from AI assistants. Both come with the Growth plan.