Quick Summary:
Facebook ad attribution is how your campaigns report results. Different models track these results in various ways. Understanding these models is crucial for comparing campaign performance effectively.
What is Facebook Ads Attribution?
In Facebook and Instagram advertising, attribution is the method used to report the number of results generated by your campaigns and ads.
For instance, if your ad campaign indicates it drove 15 sales, we say that 15 sales are attributed to that campaign.
Attribution models are used to compare the different ways results can be reported across campaigns.
For example, if a user clicks on your ad and then makes a purchase six days later, the sale may or may not be attributed to your ad, depending on the attribution model in place.
Different Attribution Models in Meta Ads
In Facebook advertising, several attribution models are available, each representing a different way of reporting results:
- 7-day click and 1-day view (default)
- 7-day click
- 1-day click
These durations refer to the time frame following a click or view of an advertisement.
For example, selecting the “7-day click” model means that any results generated by a user within 7 days of clicking on your ad will be automatically attributed to that clicked ad.
If the same user clicks an ad but purchases 20 days later, the sale won’t be attributed to the ad because the timeframe exceeds the attribution window.
There’s also a “1-day view” setting, which isn’t linked to ad clicks but to ad impressions. With a “1-day view” attribution model, a conversion occurring within 24 hours of a user viewing your ad can be attributed to the ad’s performance.
Why Facebook Attribution Isn’t Always Accurate
Regardless of your efforts in setting up your tracking and attribution system, there will always be a degree of uncertainty in attributing results.
Your results may be underestimated or overestimated due to various factors.
Despite Meta’s highly effective tracking system, it can’t track transactions if a person switches devices and isn’t logged into their Facebook account on both.
Similarly, “private” touchpoints aren’t tracked in attribution. For example, if someone sees an ad, shares it with a friend, and that friend makes a purchase, it won’t be counted in your ad results.
Likewise, results from shares or visibility from likes or comments on an ad aren’t attributed to ads but are seen as organic results.
Finally, tracking blockers and other anonymization tools hinder ad tracking, potentially leading to underreported results.
On the other hand, some factors can lead to overestimated results.
Most “excess” results come from people who would have converted organically, even without the ad.
For example, if a customer already planned to order from your online store and then sees and clicks a Facebook ad, their sale will be attributed to Facebook campaigns.
Also, depending on your ad tracking setup, the same conversion might be recorded twice.
For instance, if you track newsletter sign-ups by counting visits to the confirmation page, a user revisiting the confirmation page could register multiple conversions, inflating your ad results.
In short, ad results can be both underestimated and overestimated. So, what should you do? Simply take their accuracy with a grain of salt.
Since results are both reduced and inflated, they can be considered a reasonable metric. However, they don’t replace total figures like your contact list size or online store sales.
How to Analyze Results Under Different Attribution Models
Analyzing different attribution models helps you better understand the real impact of your Facebook campaigns on your business growth.
To compare attribution models, go to the “Columns” customization and click “Compare Attribution Models.”
This will display results according to all selected attribution settings.
The most valuable aspect of comparing attribution models is understanding the origin of your results.
If most results come from “1-day view” attribution, it suggests that converting users aren’t necessarily clicking your ads.
The most likely hypothesis is that other marketing channels (SEO, organic social media, press, etc.) significantly impact sales, and your ads aren’t the primary driver.
Many “1-day view” sales would have occurred even if your ad hadn’t been shown. It’s rare for someone with no prior contact with your company to see an ad—without clicking—and immediately take action.
If most results come from “1-day click” attribution, it’s a sign that your market converts quickly, without needing a long consideration period.
This is a very positive sign for your ad campaigns: they generate results quickly, allowing you to increase budgets and make changes while expecting to see rapid results.
If your results primarily come from the “7-day click” attribution model, it means your market needs a short consideration period before converting. Typically, most results will fall within this timeframe.
Finally, if results come from “28-day click” attribution, your market’s consideration time before conversion is longer.
Consequently, budget increases or campaign optimizations might take several weeks to show impact, as the “consideration” period needs to pass.
How to Change the Attribution Model for a Facebook Campaign
The attribution model is set at the ad set level. Once a Facebook ad set is published, you unfortunately cannot change this setting. You must create a new ad set to modify it.
When creating your ad set, you can select the attribution setting on which the Facebook algorithm will optimize your ad set.
Ideally, you want the algorithm to analyze as much data as possible. Therefore, the most frequently used setting is “7-day click and 1-day view” attribution.
However, if your business generates many results outside of ads and you want to avoid “superfluous” view-based attribution, you can select click-based attribution only.
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