Measuring attribution for SMS

Marketing attribution measures which channels, touchpoints, and campaigns are contributing to conversions. It helps marketers assess ROI and determine what’s making the biggest impact—so they can make more informed decisions about where to invest their time, money, and resources.

With so many touchpoints to consider along the customer journey, accurately attributing revenue or a conversion to the right channel is becoming more and more complex. Fortunately, there are various marketing attribution models that account for multi-channel selling.

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How do SMS platforms handle attribution?

Most SMS marketing providers follow the last-known touch attribution model, which is based on known touch events within a time window before purchase. A touch event occurs when a subscriber views or clicks a text message. If the last touch (view or click), when known, is within the window for that particular channel, then the conversion is attributed.

Your SMS provider will attribute revenue to SMS when a subscriber makes a purchase after engaging with a text message you've sent through their platform. This attribution helps you track the success of your SMS marketing efforts.

There are three types of conversions supported by SMS:

• Click: A subscriber completed a purchase within the configured attribution window.
• View: A subscriber completed a purchase within the specified view time period.
• Coupon: A subscriber used a unique discount code to complete a purchase, and there are no other touches within the configured attribution window.

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Setting attribution windows

Your SMS provider will likely set a recommended attribution window, but it’s important to make sure they can also provide you with the flexibility to make changes to your attribution model as needed.

As you start sending text messages more often and measuring conversion, you might want to adjust aspects of your SMS attribution window like:

• View-through: The period of time during which your SMS provider attributes a purchase after a subscriber receives a message.
• Click-through: The period of time during which your SMS provider attributes a purchase after a subscriber clicks a message.

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Capturing browser and purchase activity

Your SMS provider should capture your subscribers' browser activities, including their purchases, in the following circumstances:

• A subscriber opts in to receive texts on the desktop browser. Allows you to identify subscribers across their mobile and desktop devices.
• A purchaser inputs a subscriber’s phone number. Allows you to attribute a purchase if it matches a subscriber’s phone number and the purchase falls within one of the attribution windows.
• A purchaser inputs a subscriber’s discount code. Allows you to attribute a purchase using a unique discount code to the subscriber who received that code. Because it takes time for these events to happen, the revenue attribution for desktop purchases improves over time.

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What if multiple touches happen before a purchase?

It’s common for a customer to take multiple actions before completing a purchase, which can make it hard to pinpoint exactly where they were most influenced along their journey. In this case, it will depend on the attribution methodology your SMS provider uses.

For example, with last touch attribution, if a subscriber views Message A in the morning, then clicks Message B in the afternoon, and makes a purchase later that evening, then the conversion is attributed to Message B because it’s the most recent interaction within a valid window.

Make sure you fully understand the attribution methodology being used.

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Attribution with SMS and email

As marketers, creating multi-channel touchpoints is extremely important to make sure you never miss an opportunity to engage your customers. Regular monitoring is necessary to measure your efforts on each channel.

When only one channel is being considered, it’s easy to attribute purchase revenue. With email for example, if your customer makes a purchase within the eligible attribution window for your email channel, then revenue is attributed to email.

But—if your customer makes a purchase and their last touch was outside the given attribution window for that channel (i.e., email), the platform should look at the last touch from another channel (i.e., SMS). If the purchase was made within the eligible attribution window for that other channel (i.e., SMS), then revenue is attributed to that channel instead.

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Last touch attribution with SMS and email:

The most recent touch events are an SMS click, email view, and email click. Even though the purchase is within the SMS-click attribution window, revenue is attributed to email since the purchase falls within the attribution window of the last known touch (email-click, 5 day).

The most recent touch events are an SMS click, email view, and email click. Even though the purchase is within the SMS-click attribution window, revenue is attributed to email since the purchase falls within the attribution window of the last known touch (email-click, 5 day).

Remember: Accurate attribution can be complex, especially with so many possible touchpoints and customer journeys. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach and it’s important to understand how the platform you use is setting up their attribution model.