In parts 1 and 2 of our Attribution is BS series, Beth and Jackie laid out the risks of relying too heavily on your attribution data. Should we throw attribution data out the window and simply rely on anecdotal evidence about where our homebuyers come from? 

No way! 

If we take a strategic approach, we can use attribution data to help us reach our goals. Here are a few ways to use attribution data with a more holistic view of the homebuyer journey.  

Begin with the End In Mind 

Beth and Jackie explained how attribution isn’t always as simple as A (ads) + B (traffic) = C (leads) because you must account for variables such as the quality of the website traffic, the cost-per-click of the campaign, the intent of the lead, etc. So, how do we cut through the variables and complexities of A + B? 

We start even earlier than C (leads) and work backward to determine the steps to get there. Start with your sales goal, then look at your conversion rates and traffic numbers, and figure out where the opportunities for improvement lie. If we look at the conversion data first, we’re starting at the wrong end of the funnel. Zoom out and look at how many sales you need. Then, based on your conversion rates, what do you need to achieve your goals? 

Will adding more website traffic to the top of the funnel make the impact you need or will it be more efficient to improve lead-to-appointment or appointment-to-sale conversions? Starting with sales goals and working backward to the conversion data can help us identify gaps in the homebuyer journey. 

Kevin Oakley and Andrew Peek have been preaching “coffee and analytics,” aka checking your analytics data while you have your cup of coffee first thing in the morning, for years. Why is this so important? It takes those reps and time spent analyzing your numbers to begin seeing patterns and a broader picture of where your traffic is coming from and how home buyers are moving through the funnel. 

If you want to take your understanding of the data to a deeper level, you can dive into the different attribution models. Sarah Simmerman gives some helpful definitions in her blog post “Are My Ads Working? Understanding Lead Attribution for Homebuilders in Google Analytics.” Sarah wrote this before the transition from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4, so keep in mind that the reporting of attribution has changed, but the explanation of how the models differ is still extremely useful to understand. 

When you think about your marketing funnel, different sources will better serve homebuyers in different stages of shopping. Meta might be more effective for general awareness. Paid search is a powerful tool when a home shopper has narrowed down where they want to live. Organic and direct sources bring in more actual leads as homebuyers are in the decision-making stage of their home search. If you can’t clearly see leads attributed to a specific source, it doesn’t necessarily mean it didn’t do its job higher in the funnel during the exploration and consideration stages.

If you need to sell a lot of completed inventory homes with only two weeks left in the month, it may not be the time to add additional traffic from Meta to gain more awareness. Instead, it might be time to focus on email marketing to people who have already become a lead or appointment in the past. Another example would be entering a new market, which might call for a low-cost source that reaches a broader audience, such as display marketing. Whatever the strategy, the goal needs to align with the marketing channel. 

If the only question is, “How many leads did we get,” but none of those leads converted to an appointment or sale, we’re missing the bigger picture. We need to ensure we’re getting high-intent leads that our OSCs can convert. You can do this by communicating well with the rest of your team. Talk to your online sales consultants and onsite sales. Ask them questions about the leads and appointments they’re seeing. Find out what questions homebuyers are asking. These anecdotes, along with the data, can paint a clearer picture of what’s happening in the marketing funnel. 

If one source brought in a lot of leads, ask the following questions to make sure you understand the full picture of those leads:

So you’ve read all the articles, and you’re on board. You agree that attribution can be useful, but the numbers aren’t always straightforward, and you need to look at the whole picture. However, someone in leadership or another department has asked you to present the data on how the marketing sources are converting. What do you do? Requests like this allow you to add value with education and a fuller understanding of how all marketing sources work together to help reach sales goals. It’s a chance to get everyone on the same page. 

While it's important to recognize the limitations of attribution data, dismissing it entirely would be a mistake. Instead, a holistic approach to data analysis is necessary to truly understand the home-buyer journey. By beginning with your end goals, consistently engaging with your data, understanding the purpose of each marketing channel, asking the right questions, and providing context around the numbers, you can gain and share insights into your marketing efforts. When used wisely, attribution data is a powerful tool in shaping strategies and achieving your sales goals. Remember, it's not just about the numbers; it's about the story they tell and how you use that narrative to drive success.