Here's Programmatic B2B's most Frequently Asked Attribution Question (FAAQ):
"Why is my digital marketing campaign reporting (clicks) different from what Google Analytics (GA) is showing me?"
First of all, clicks (campaign performance measurement) are not the same visits (or sessions) reported by GA. A click is an action take on an ad, but a visit or session is a block of time a user spends on a site.
Here are 4 main reasons why these counts may be different:
1. The user clicks on your ad multiple times, but GA will only count these as one visit or session. Audit result = GA reporting is lower.
2. A user can click on your ad, bookmark your site, and return at a later time. In this case, the campaign would report a single click, but GA records it as 2 visits or sessions. Audit result = GA reporting is higher.
3. The user clicks on your ad, but leaves quickly by hitting the "back" browser icon before Google Analytics had a chance to load their tracking code and count the visit. Audit result = GA reporting is lower.
4. Did you know that Google Analytics sessions time out after 30 minutes of inactivity? It's true. Therefore, if a user gets distracted and does something else during that time (even if they remain on the site), comes back and browses the site again, it would count as 2 visits or sessions. Audit results = GA reporting is higher.
Our response to transparency on this goes a bit further. New UTM parameters and multi-sourced ABM tracking through our strategic partners enables us to report on both sides of the engagement.
Furthermore, our clients now have the ability to optimize programmatic campaigns for session quality and not just targeted traffic.
Pipeline management and engagement is not connected for sales and marketing teams, because the tracking is now reported at the account level. For example, let's say you negotiating a massive deal with a Fortune 1000 company, and multiple levels of the organization are involved in the decision process. This advanced tracking and attribution enables you to look at the customer journey across all channels for Account-Based Marketing (ABM) impressions, clicks, sessions and leads.
And if that's not enough, consider the matchback process for linking the offline audience data back to conversions at the enterprise level. It's time to change that Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) mindset and think about Return on Ad Spend in the context of big deals. The attribution process for that must include a qualitative review as lower-funnel tactics are often costly when unqualified leads gnaw away at the most valuable asset that sales reps have -- their time!