If I could say this honestly, one reason attribution is so difficult is that some executives just don’t get it. Not all, of course, but generally, there’s a misunderstanding of how content works.
I’ve had awkward conversations with executives who ask, “Show us the value of this blog post.” My reaction is, what?
- You don’t ask that about every department
- You don’t ask customer service to prove the ROI of every single phone call
- You don’t demand that the finance team show the revenue impact for every spreadsheet
But for some reason, content is held to this unrealistic standard where every piece is expected to have a direct, measurable return.
I think this comes down to a few systemic problems:
Obsession with attribution
First, digital marketing has made us obsessed with tracking everything down to the click. We want perfect attribution, where we can say, “This blog post generated X amount of revenue,” and we assume that’s possible, but it’s not.
Internal politics
Second, attribution is often tied up in internal politics. Other teams like demand generation or paid media use similar metrics, so when a conversion happens, there’s a fight over who gets the credit.
The demand gen team might say, “That lead came from our landing page,” ignoring the fact that the customer initially found us through a blog post or social content. That creates a situation where content isn’t properly valued, even though it plays a crucial role in the buyer journey.
Inaccurate tracking
Then there’s the issue of inaccurate tracking. Dark social is a huge problem because traffic from sources like Facebook DMs, Instagram messages, Slack, and WhatsApp often gets lumped into “direct” traffic in Google Analytics. So, even when content drives conversions, it might not be properly attributed.
What can we do differently?
Instead of obsessing over ROI, we must shift the conversation to value on investment. What value is the content providing across different business functions? How is it supporting sales, customer service, and brand awareness?
For example, content isn’t just about lead generation. It can also:
- Help customers get more value from a product, reducing churn
- Support sales by answering common objections and improving conversion rates
- Reduce the burden on customer service by addressing frequent questions in blog posts or help documentation
When we start framing content this way, it becomes easier to see how it contributes to the broader business goals.
Dr. Pete Meyers:
I want to add to what Amanda just said.
Years ago, at Moz, we found that getting people to sign up for a free trial wasn’t a one-touch process. It was a three-touchpoint sale.
Most of our conversions came from people who had engaged with multiple pieces of content. Usually, they might read a blog post, check out the beginner’s guide, or watch a Whiteboard Friday before signing up.
Once we recognized that, we stopped treating content as a one-step conversion tool. Running an ad that takes someone directly to a landing page doesn’t work if they don’t already know and trust you. But when content is part of a multi-touch journey, it builds trust and moves people toward conversion.
The problem is that many marketers are so focused on bottom-of-funnel conversions that they ignore the journey that got the customer there. The conversion rate will be much lower if someone lands on a page with no prior exposure, brand trust, or content to guide them.
Attribution needs to reflect that journey. Don’t just assign value to a single blog post or tweet. Instead, recognize how all the different pieces work together to create a pipeline of engaged, ready-to-convert customers.
