Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA)

Multi-touch attribution distributes conversion credit across several touchpoints in a customer's journey — an ad click, a later email open, a final direct visit — rather than crediting only the first or last interaction. It's generally considered more realistic than single-touch models for purchases that involve multiple exposures before converting.

MTA is more sophisticated than single-touch attribution, but it isn't automatically more accurate — the model still has to make assumptions about how much weight to give each touchpoint, and those assumptions can distribute more total credit than a business actually earned in sales if not carefully calibrated. This is part of why Northbeam's credit-capped approach (ensuring attributed revenue never exceeds real revenue) is treated as more rigorous than looser models.

Our Triple Whale and Northbeam reviews both discuss multi-touch attribution methodology directly, including the meaningful differences in rigor between the two approaches.