How do you decide which channels deserve credit for a sale? Talk about attribution models.

What the interviewer wants to hear

• Explains last-click limits
• Mentions data-driven or multi-touch attribution
• Explains attribution is not causation
• Mentions incrementality or MMM for budget decisions
• Uses CRM data for long sales cycles

Model answer

Last-click gives all credit to the final touch, which favours branded search and retargeting and undervalues video, social and content that create demand. Data-driven attribution in GA4 shares credit based on observed paths, which is fairer, but it still only sees trackable touches and has gaps from consent and cross-device behaviour. Most importantly, attribution shows correlation, not cause. So for big budget decisions I add incrementality tests, such as geo holdouts or platform lift studies, and for larger budgets a marketing mix model that uses spend and sales over time. For B2B with long cycles, I join ad data with CRM opportunities so credit is based on real pipeline and revenue, not just form fills. I use attribution for daily optimisation and experiments for strategic decisions.

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