In a world where consumers can shop from their iPhones, iPads, Droids and access their favorite store or service with the touch of an app – marketing attribution has become increasingly more important – and increasingly more convoluted.

Understanding how to identify consumer behavior, knowing what to do with that information and utilizing that data to positively impact revenue is essential in today’s consumer and digital age. The goal of Marketing Attribution is effectively spending your budget and optimizing revenue – know where to spend your money and what channels are the most effective marketing tools for your business.

Consumer behavior must be tracked in order to make the most effective marketing decisions. Outside factors affect consumer behavior, including individual personality, financial status, demographics, etc.

There are six stages of the buying process, they included:

• Problem recognition: Identifying the need. If a consumer is hungry, they will search for lunch or dinner options. If they are going on vacation and are in search of a new swimsuit, they will check out online and local options that fit their style and price point.
• Information search: Searching for a product or service that solves the problem they’ve identified. In this search, a consumer is comparing quality, price points, etc.
• Evaluation of alternatives: Consumers perform an evaluation of all alternatives – price point, quality, reviews, and then make an educated decision that satisfies their initial problem.
• Purchase decision: After comparing all options, consumers will pick the option that best suits their budget and need.
• Purchase: The act of buying after considering all options.
• Post-purchase evaluation: At this point the consumer has used, ate, experienced the product or service. This is a crucial point because consumer satisfaction will turn a one-time buyer into a dedicated customer.

Google analytics is a great tool to determine consumer behavior and marketing attribution. Through the proper analytics, you can Identify your consumer profile, understand their behavior and identify what channels they use most. This will allow you to build a powerful marketing strategy.

Testing is essential in identifying what works best within your marketing strategy. You may be able to capitalize on something that is already working for you – but you won’t know unless you test. Use Google Analytics to track the data within each channel that you are using. Within these channels you want to pay attention to key performance indicators. Google Analytics lets you track the users that visit your site, shows you where they originated and presents statistics on how they are engaging in your site.

Understanding this information is crucial to customer relation management – if the data you collect isn’t satisfying, you can change your marketing strategy to accommodate what your customers are telling you through analytics. Once you understand these numbers, you can make decisions on an ad photo or content that affect conversion rates.

Marketing attribution is essential. You must know where you are spending your budget and what is working. Digital technology is constantly advancing. As a business, you must understand how your consumers are making decisions and what they are using to take action. There are hundreds of different channels consumers can take. Once you identify the right ones, you will see undoubtedly see the results through an increase in revenue and an increase in your business’ success.