I was grabbing a coffee with Aaron the other day, a founder neck-deep in launching his new token. He was visibly frustrated. “My marketing spend’s through the roof,” he sighed, stirring his latte a little too vigorously, “but I can’t seem to figure out what’s actually working!”
That’s a story I hear all too often, especially in the wild west of crypto marketing. Everyone’s chasing the next shiny influencer or platform, but nobody’s sure if it’s translating into actual token purchases. The problem, as I explained to Aaron, often boils down to how we measure ROI – specifically, the fatal flaw of single-touch attribution.
The Single-Touch Trap
Imagine someone stumbles across your token on Twitter, intrigued by a witty tweet. They then head over to YouTube to watch a detailed review, before finally clicking a referral link in your Discord server and making a purchase. With a last-touch attribution model, all the credit goes to Discord. Twitter and YouTube? Invisible. They might have been critical to the user’s journey, but in the eyes of your analytics, they contributed nothing.
Aaron nodded, his eyes widening. “That sounds exactly like what’s happening! We’re pouring money into Discord referral programs, but our Twitter engagement is also high. I just assumed it wasn’t translating.”
Multi-Touch Attribution: Seeing the Full Picture
This is where multi-touch attribution comes in. Instead of giving all the credit to one touchpoint, it distributes credit across multiple interactions. Think of it like this: each platform plays a role in guiding a user to the final conversion.
There are several multi-touch models you can use, each with its own strengths and weaknesses:
- Linear Attribution: This gives equal credit to every touchpoint in the customer journey. If our user interacted with Twitter, YouTube, and Discord, each gets 33.3% of the credit. It’s simple but might not accurately reflect the influence of each platform.
- Time-Decay Attribution: This gives more credit to touchpoints closer to the conversion. Discord would get the most credit, followed by YouTube, and then Twitter. This acknowledges that the final interaction often has a greater impact.
- Position-Based Attribution: This gives a fixed percentage of credit to the first and last touchpoints, with the remaining credit distributed among the touchpoints in between. This is a good option if you believe the first interaction (awareness) and the last interaction (conversion) are most important.
Setting Up Your Tracking System
Choosing the right model is important, but even more crucial is having a robust tracking system in place. This is where things can get a bit technical, but trust me, it’s worth the effort.
- UTM Parameters: Use UTM parameters in all your links. These are short text codes you add to URLs that tell Google Analytics (or your analytics platform) where the traffic is coming from. For example, a link shared on Twitter might look like this:
yourtoken.com?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=launch. Ensure you are familiar with Google analytics and how to use Google Tag Manager. - Pixel Tracking: Implement pixel tracking on your website to track user behaviour. This involves placing a small piece of code (a pixel) on your website that tracks user actions, such as page visits and conversions. This data can then be fed back into your analytics platform.
- Referral Tracking: If you’re using referral programs, make sure you’re tracking referrals accurately. This often involves assigning unique referral codes to each user and tracking which codes are used to make purchases.
- Centralised CRM: Consider using a CRM. This will enable you to track users behaviour across all of the key platforms such as social media and email.
Aaron scribbled furiously on a napkin. “So, I need to tag everything… and then what?”
Analysing the Data & Optimisation
Once you’ve collected enough data, it’s time to analyse it. Look for patterns in the user journey. Which platforms are most effective at driving awareness? Which ones are most effective at driving conversions? Which combinations of platforms are most successful?
Use this information to optimise your campaigns. Allocate more resources to the platforms that are delivering the best ROI. Refine your messaging and targeting on each platform to better align with the user’s stage in the journey. A/B test different campaigns and adjust based on results.
The Takeaway
Aaron left the coffee shop looking far more optimistic. He realised that measuring the ROI of social influence in crypto isn’t about finding a magic bullet; it’s about understanding the nuances of the user journey. By moving beyond single-touch attribution and implementing a robust tracking system, he can gain a much clearer picture of what’s working and what’s not. By analysing this data and optimising the social campaigns, he will be able to maximise the ROI of each and every campaign. Don’t fall into the trap of last-click attribution. Multi-touch attribution, combined with the proper tracking and analysis, lets you see the complete picture.