For the past two decades, digital marketing has been defined by a relentless quest for precision. Every click, view, and interaction could be tracked, measured, and attributed back to a specific campaign or content. This level of granularity was once the holy grail for marketers, offering the ability to prove ROI with near-perfect accuracy. But that era is quickly ending.
From the early 2000s, tools like Google Analytics and Facebook’s Pixel revolutionized the way brands interacted with their audiences. Digital channels could attribute conversions directly to a specific touchpoint. However, now, in 2024, the ability to track and attribute sales with that same degree of certainty has become a moving target.
Not a Golden Bullet — But Nothing Is
The truth is, the systems we once relied on for attribution were never perfect to begin with. In the past, we lived under the illusion that by tracking everything down to the last click, we could control the results and generate user-specific content from what the data was telling us. But this view was always overly simplistic. There were always factors at play that couldn’t be captured — human behavior and emotional triggers, media consumption patterns, and, of course, privacy considerations.
Now, as data privacy laws tighten globally and the rise of ad blockers continues to stifle tracking efforts, we're realizing that "perfect attribution" was never a golden bullet. We need to adapt and rethink how we measure success in a world where clicks and last-touch attribution are increasingly unreliable.
2024 Attribution Issues: It’s Getting Worse, Not Better
Attribution in 2024 faces a unique set of challenges. Privacy regulations and restrictions on third-party cookies have made it harder to follow users across different touchpoints. Furthermore, the rise of ad blockers — now reported by various sources that around 31.5% of internet users utilise ad blockers — means that even if you can track the user’s behavior, much of that data may be blocked.
The problem has worsened because of the growing prevalence of "zero-click content." Whereby social media platforms, news apps, and video services keep users within their ecosystems, reducing the need for users to click on links. These native formats, designed to keep users engaged without leaving the platform, make it nearly impossible to track who viewed, interacted with, or even considered your content.
In other words, while we may still get valuable engagement, attributing it to a specific campaign or ad becomes significantly more challenging.
The Problem with Digital Sales Attribution
Let’s take a real-world example: picture an advertisement for a mattress that you see on a social media platform or a website. You may see it, like it, and even share it with a friend. But the purchase you make could happen days, weeks, or even months later, after you’ve forgotten the original source of inspiration. In the world of digital attribution, proving that this particular interaction influenced the purchase is virtually impossible and the attribution platforms won't register that interaction.
In this scenario, the data looks like the mattress ad had no impact, but we know that’s not true. This challenge is pervasive across all digital marketing and leads to the broader question: Is perfect attribution even possible anymore?
The Value of Flyers: Trackable and Effective
In contrast to the digital landscape, more traditional forms of marketing, like print ads or flyers, might seem like a blast from the past. While these may not offer the precision that digital channels once did, they offer a form of measurable engagement: offering insight into effectiveness through tracking codes, special promotions, QR codes, or even custom URLs.
The key is to look at the broader influence and the total lift that these campaigns bring: the act of creating awareness and nudging the consumer still holds value. People may not directly attribute a mattress purchase to seeing an ad in a local magazine, but that doesn’t mean the exposure wasn’t valuable.
In a World Where Attribution is Dying, Are Real-World Ads the Answer?
If digital tracking has become unreliable, then are offline ads — print, TV, radio, outdoor billboards, delivery bike box advertising — the real answer for marketers in 2024? In many ways, they could be considered the smartest option. Why? Because they don’t face the same attribution challenges that digital channels do.
Real-world ads allow brands to engage with consumers in ways that digital platforms are now restricting. They build trust, influence decisions, and increase brand recall. While we may not be able to perfectly attribute these interactions, the lift in brand awareness, loyalty, and overall customer sentiment can be immense.
Bikes and the Benefits of Attribution in OOH Marketing
Here’s where many marketers struggle: they’re presented with an objection that often sounds like this — “But if I can’t prove that seeing an ad led to an immediate sale, then why invest in it?”
The answer to this is simple: the goal of marketing is not just to achieve one perfect touchpoint that leads to a direct sale. It’s about creating a constellation of touchpoints and interactions that influence the customer over time. Your brand needs livability. Long-term thought patterns. Your on-demand delivery bike advert may not result in an immediate click or purchase, but it may seed an idea or create a brand association that results in a purchase later down the line.
Moreover, there are countless studies showing the long-term effect of brand awareness, even when short-term conversions are untraceable. And this is why marketers must evolve and stop relying on old attribution models that were never meant to account for the complex, multi-channel customer journey we see today.
Can Influencers, Google, SEO, Affiliates, and Ads Properly Attribute?
One of the most significant challenges of modern marketing is the question of attribution across various channels. Can influencers properly attribute the value they bring? Can SEO efforts, through organic search rankings, properly show their influence on a purchase? How about affiliates or paid ads? The answer is increasingly “no.”
Even Google’s own tools can only measure so much, and often not in a way that can offer full transparency on how users move through the purchase funnel. Whether it’s an affiliate link, a sponsored post from an influencer, or an ad click, the challenge remains the same — we often can’t draw a straight line from exposure to purchase in a reliable way.
This doesn’t mean that these tactics don’t work. It means that marketers need to shift their mindset from "perfect tracking" to "effective influence."
Moving Forward: Influence Over Attribution
Ultimately, the solution to the attribution crisis in 2024 is to shift our focus. Instead of spending energy trying to attribute every click, view, and interaction, marketers should focus on understanding their audience’s journey and the touchpoints that influence their decisions. The goal should be to reach the right people in the right places at the right time with the right message, not necessarily the "last click" that drove a sale.
This means moving away from attribution models and focusing on lift-based measurement, influence, and brand awareness. It’s about creating an ecosystem of influence, where every touchpoint, whether direct or indirect, builds towards a larger outcome. That’s the future of marketing in 2024 and beyond.
At MotionAds, we leverage innovative technology to deliver highly targeted campaigns nationwide. As the official advertising partners for Uber Eats, advertising on their fleet of delivery bikes, we not only enhance brand visibility but also bring interactive features like QR codes that engage consumers directly. Additionally, our in-home flyers allow us to connect with audiences in their own spaces, ensuring that our clients' messages resonate where it matters most. This comprehensive approach aligns perfectly with our focus on influence and brand awareness.
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