The Uncomfortable Truth

Your attribution model is lying to you. And if you’re making budget decisions based on incomplete data, you’re systematically defunding the very media channels that drive your growth.  

Think about it.  

The customer who converted today didn’t just magically appear and click your branded search ad. They may have first encountered your brand three weeks ago on Connected TV, visited your website after seeing a YouTube ad, researched your competitors, and finally converted after clicking that “final” paid search link. 

But your last-click attribution system? It gives 100% of the credit to that final search click and zero credit to the CTV and YouTube ads that actually started your customer’s journey. 

The result? You’re slowly strangling your own pipeline.

The Hefty Toll Of The Attribution Trap

Most marketing teams fall into the same deadly pattern: 

1. You cut high-funnel media spend based on flawed attribution data.
2. Your brand awareness drops as fewer prospects discover you. 
3. Your low-funnel performance deteriorates because fewer people know to consider you when they enter buying mode. 
4. You panic and cut more brand-building media to “focus on performance.” 
5. The cycle accelerates until consumers simply don’t know your brand anymore. 

This isn’t theory. We’ve watched it happen. Brand after brand. Especially during periods of economic uncertainty when the pressure to show immediate ROI intensifies. 

The cruel irony? The higher-funnel media channels you’re cutting, like TV and streaming audio, are often iest lifting to reach audiences early on and create future demand. But, since they’re not getting credit in your attribution model, they get the axe first. 

How Last-Click Attribution Is Sabotaging Your Growth

Traditional attribution systematically erases the full-funnel touchpoints that actually drive conversions.

Here’s the damage this creates:

Invisible pipeline destruction:
You’re unknowingly cutting off tomorrow’s customers by defunding awareness channels.

Increasingly expensive conversions:
As your funnel narrows, each customer becomes more expensive to acquire.

Competitor advantage:
Brands investing in full-funnel attribution gain market share while you optimize yourself into irrelevance.

the staggering cost

A 2021 Nielsen study revealed the staggering cost of this attribution mistake and how to reclaim growth potential. Brands that added upper-funnel media to existing campaigns saw:

The Full-Funnel Solution That Changes Everything

POWER MOVE #1: Implement Full-Funnel Attribution

Real attribution doesn’t just track the last click. It maps the entire customer journey, revealing how your media channels work together to drive business results.

Think of it as attribution without blind spots. Instead of crediting only the final touchpoint, you see the complete story: the CTV ad that built awareness, the social campaign that drove consideration, the search ad that captured intent, and how they all contributed to the conversion.

What you need:

• A measurement system that tracks meaningful engagement throughout the entire buying cycle
• Integrated technology that connects digital and linear media touchpoints
• Attribution modeling that gives proper credit to awareness and consideration-building activities

The competitive advantage is massive. While rival brands are optimizing for the wrong metrics and cutting the wrong channels, you’ll have a holistic view what actually drives growth.

The Wingman Advantage: Seeing The Complete Picture

Our haloAnalytics® platform does exactly this. It captures practically everything your audience sees, hears, and clicks before converting. From the first impression on streaming audio to the branded search that closes the lead, every meaningful touchpoint is accounted for. 

Your customized haloAnalytics® dashboard gives you clear, near real-time visibility into how all your media channels work together. This is how you uncover what truly drives results and what deserves investment. 

Your Attribution Audit: Three Critical Questions

Before you make another budget decision, ask yourself:

What percentage of our conversions can we trace back to first touchpoints?
–  If it’s less than 60%, you’re flying blind.

Are we giving proper credit to our awareness and consideration channels?
–  Or are we just measuring the channels that capture existing demand?

How many potential customers are we losing because we can’t see their complete journey?
–  The answer might shock you.

The Bottom Line

The brands that will dominate tomorrow are the ones building full-funnel attribution systems today. While competitors make decisions based on incomplete data, you’ll have the complete picture. 

There’s a lot more where this came from. 

This is just the first in a series of five thinking traps that are quietly undermining growth-minded brands. Each trap has a corresponding power move that offers a clear, strategic shift from reactive thinking to competitive advantage. 

Want to discover all five traps and power moves? Our comprehensive guide reveals the complete playbook for building market leadership through strategic media investment—especially when others are retreating. 

REFERENCES 

1. Nielsen. (2021). “How Full Funnel Strategies Fuel Success in an Economic Downturn.” Marketing Week. 

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