Attribution Without Tears: A Practical Playbook Leaders Can Trust

Attribution fails for one main reason: companies try to measure before they standardize. The goal isn’t “perfect.” The goal is auditable—so leadership can make decisions without debates.

Step 1: Decide what questions you’re answering.
Pick 3, max:

• Which channels create pipeline?

• What’s the payback by segment?

• Where do deals originate vs. influence?

Step 2: Standardize your taxonomy.
Define a channel model that your CRM can actually store: Source, Sub-source, Campaign, Medium, Content. If you can’t enforce it, it doesn’t exist.

Step 3: Make UTMs non-optional.
Set rules, templates, and validation. Your future self will thank you.

Step 4: Connect web tracking to CRM outcomes.
The “magic” is not GA4 charts—it’s tying activity to leads/contacts, to opportunities, to revenue.

Step 5: Build 3 dashboards that don’t lie.

• Pipeline created by channel + segment

• Conversion rates across lifecycle stages

• Time-to-first-response and routing performance

The honest truth: multi-touch attribution is only as good as your CRM hygiene. Fix the handoffs first, then get fancy.

Want a “minimum viable truth” attribution setup in 30 days? That’s exactly the kind of build we do.