Glossary

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Glossary / Evaluation and implementation guide

Attribution Model

An attribution model is the explicit rule set that decides how much credit each touchpoint receives for a conversion.

First-touch gives everything to the first interaction, last-touch to the final one, linear splits evenly, time-decay favors recent touches, and position-based models weight the first and last touches more heavily.

The model is a reporting convention you choose, not a measurement of true influence.

A practical example

Example: for the same deal, a first-touch report credits the original ebook download, while a time-decay report credits the demo request most heavily; both are views of the same journey.

What to evaluate before investing

  • Confirm the platform lets you document and label the active model, so reports are never misread in leadership reviews.
  • Check whether custom weighting is possible, since standard models rarely match a specific sales cycle.
  • Ask how the tool handles journeys with a single touchpoint, where model differences disappear but reporting still matters.

Limitations and tradeoffs

No model is objectively correct; the practical test is whether your team can explain the chosen rule and its blind spots to finance and leadership.

Plan your next step with MeshLine

Connect this decision to your automation, organic marketing and customer lifecycle management. In a MeshLine demo, discuss your existing tools, the scope you need and how to measure the result.