Accurate campaign measurement is essential. Third-party attribution partners provide valuable insights and analytics to help you understand campaign performance across your different channels. This article explores common tracking methods used by third-party attribution platforms, along with the implications of each:
Understanding these methods and considerations is crucial for data-driven decision-making. Let's explore the intricacies of third-party attribution and maximize its potential for your campaign strategies.
Important: MNTN is currently exclusively integrated with Google Analytics and Rockerbox, which means these are the only external platforms able to utilize MNTN's Cross-Device Verified Visit attribution. Any other third-party partner does not currently receive cross-device visit performance data from MNTN.
Understanding Third-Party Attribution
Each third-party platform has its own attribution methodology. You'll want to reference the attribution methodology for the particular partner that you are utilizing so you have the best understanding possible of data behavior in that platform.
In order for these platforms to measure performance for your different channels, data can be sent through a few different methods, including visit-based and impression-based tracking. Once that ad data is received, the third party platform is then able to apply its own attribution for conversion events.
➡️ Impression-Based Tracking
Overview
Impression tracking is used by third-party attribution partners to attribute and report on the performance of all ad impressions, including ads from non-clickable channels like Connected TV. This method overcomes some of the limitations of click-based UTM tracking by collecting data through impression tags placed on your ad creatives.
Here's an example of an impression tag:
https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/trackimp/N1262010.4200958MNTN/B30608820.375175790;dc_trk_aid=566183279;dc_trk_cid=197733235;ord=[timestamp];dc_lat=;dc_rdid=;tag_for_child_directed_treatment=;tfua=;gdpr=${GDPR};gdpr_consent=${GDPR_CONSENT_755};ltd=;dc_tdv=1?
Impression Tag Behavior that Informs Attribution
Implementation: Your specific impression tag will need to be applied to your MNTN creative in the "Tracking Parameters" section of your campaign.
Tag firing and data collection: The impression tag is triggered at the time the ad is served and instantly sends the data in line with the impression tag request to the third-party platform.
Attribution and tracking: The third-party platform collects the data defined by your impression tag. This is able to be customized by you and can include details like the date and time, and other identifiable information such as device ID and IP address.
Measurement and reporting: Using the collected data, the third-party attribution partner can measure and report on various performance metrics for the CTV ad campaign. This includes metrics like impressions, viewability (whether the ad was viewable on the screen), completion rates (if the ad was watched fully or partially), and other engagement metrics.
Cross-device attribution: Some third-party attribution partners employ cross-device attribution techniques to understand the impact of CTV ads on viewer behavior across different devices. They achieve this by matching the CTV ad impressions with other device IDs or user profiles. This helps identify subsequent actions taken by viewers, such as website visits, app downloads, or purchases made on other devices.
Data analysis and insights: The third-party attribution partner analyzes the collected data and provides advertisers with insights into the performance of the CTV campaign. These insights help advertisers assess the effectiveness of their CTV advertising efforts and make data-driven decisions for optimization.
Enhance Your MNTN Performance Data with Impression-based Attribution Partners
✅ Implement Impression Tags: Be sure to implement Impression tags on all MNTN creatives
✅ Extend the Lookback Window: Ensure to extend the lookback window in the third-party partner platform to the maximum allowed amount of time, or to align with your MNTN Verified Visit Window
✅ Implement the MNTN-recommended dynamic macros
💡 Resource: You can view our help center article on setting up Impression tags here.
Third-Party Account Level Settings to Consider
👉 Look-back Window
What is the default window at the account level in your third-party platform?
What is the maximum look-back window supported?
How does the look-back window you have set in your account line up with your MNTN attribution windows in the platform?
💡 You'll want to keep your look-back window in line with your MNTN Verified Visits windows. Any misalignment here can result in discrepancies when reviewing performance in your preferred third-party platform.
What metrics does the look-back window compare?
For example: by default, are you measuring the time from impression to visit or impression to purchase? Keep in mind this will dictate how site visits and conversion data are reported on the third-party platform.
Keep in Mind: If the look-back window is much shorter than MNTN’s default verified visit windows (7 days for Retargeting, 14 days for Prospecting), then you should expect to see a large data discrepancy between the MNTN Platform and your third-party platform.
If your preferred third-party platform has look-back windows that better support direct response and clickable channels, you can expect MNTN performance data to be underreported.
👉 Attribution Methodology
Does this partner enable cross-device attribution and household attribution?
Does this partner only use IP matching for attribution?
Does this partner have a multi-touch attribution model?
How is CTV prioritized in their attribution funnel?
Do they have a customizable attribution funnel/waterfall?
Do they have a specific CTV attribution solution?
💡 Note: CTV, especially when running CTV Prospecting Campaigns, typically has a longer purchasing cycle which requires a longer attribution window to give the consumer ample time to take action.
Common Third-Party Platforms that Attribute Performance using Impression Tracking:
Northbeam
iSpot
DCM
Samba
Data+Math
Innovid
MMPs (such as Appsflyer)
➡️ Importing MNTN Performance Data via API or File Upload
Many Third Party Platforms will allow you to import performance data directly from the MNTN platform. This can be achieved a couple of ways, but it is important to consult with your partner to determine the optimal data format for data ingestion.
Data Ingestion Methods
CSV File
Some platforms allow you to import data via CSV or JSON file. MNTN has 2 options for sharing CSV or JSON files:
Download the report from the MNTN platform which has the metrics you want to import, and upload directly into the third-party platform.
Schedule Automated Emails with Attachment - This allows you to automatically send CVS, XLSX or JSON files directly to the third-party platform via an email endpoint.
API Endpoint
Some platforms can also ingest data from MNTN through our API (Application Programming Interface) endpoint. APIs allow different software systems to communicate and exchange data in a structured manner. By integrating with APIs, analytics platforms can fetch real-time or scheduled data directly from the MNTN data warehouse.
💡 Note: This method provides a more dynamic and automated way of accessing and visualizing data in comparison to a periodic CSV file upload.
🧠 Pro tip: Reference our Customizing and API Request article for more information on how to create custom API calls or access the automatically generated API calls available in the platform.
➡️ Visit-Based Tracking via UTM Tags
Overview
UTM-based tracking is a commonly used method for assigning credit to traffic sources based on UTMs or referrer URLs. This method is often associated with paid search, social media, and other clickable digital advertising channels.
🛑 Since UTM tracking is typically a click-based method, it is not recommended for MNTN CTV campaigns. 🛑
Here's an example of a URL with specific UTM tags:
https://mountain.com/demo-landing/request-demo-v2/?utm_source=google&utm_campaign=15023966842&utm_medium=paid&utm_content=128409174373&utm_term=mntn&gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzevL3KOPgAMVIxGtBh2Jcgy3EAAYASAAEgLm_PD_BwE
UTM Behavior that Informs Attribution
UTM-based attribution works by assigning credit to traffic sources based on UTMs or referrer URLs. UTMs are parameters added to the destination URL that provides information about the source, medium, campaign, and other custom parameters defined by you at the campaign or creative level for each channel. When a user clicks on an ad with UTM tags appended to the URL, the information is captured and used for attribution.
Here's a breakdown:
Creating UTMs: Advertisers define UTMs with specific values to track various aspects of their campaigns. Common UTM parameters include:
Source: The specific platform or website where the ad was placed.
Medium: The type of advertising medium, such as CPC (cost-per-click) or social media.
Campaign: The specific campaign or promotion being run.
Term: Optional parameter used for keyword tracking in paid search.
Content: Optional parameter used to differentiate different versions or elements of an ad.
Appending UTMs to the URL: Ad platforms or advertisers append UTMs to the destination URL of their ads. When a user clicks on the ad, the URL with the appended UTMs is triggered.
Capturing UTM data: When a user lands on the website or landing page through the UTM-appended URL, the UTM parameters are captured. This data is typically stored in web analytics platforms like Google Analytics.
Attribution based on UTMs tags: The UTM data is used to attribute the site visit and site behavior to the specific traffic source, medium, campaign, creative, etc. For example, if a user completes a purchase after clicking on an ad with UTMs, the visit and conversion attribution is assigned to the corresponding source, medium, and campaign based on the UTM values.
Analyzing and reporting: The captured UTM data allows the advertiser analyze the performance of different traffic sources, campaigns, creatives, etc. Advertisers can track metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and return on ad spend (ROAS) for each UTM parameter.
UTM Tracking: Limitations
One crucial limitation of UTM-based tracking is the inability to capture cross-device impact through attribution modeling. This means that actions taken after seeing a non-clickable ad, such as CTV ads from MNTN, cannot be attributed since a direct ad click did not occur and UTMs were not appended at the time of the site visit.
Note: When tracking MNTN data in non-GA platform through UTM tags, you can expect to see a high discrepancy, as this type of measurement will only capture direct clicks from your Multi-Touch ads, and no data from your CTV ads.
🛑 For this reason, we do not recommend using this method of tracking MNTN data into third-party attribution platforms. 🛑
Common Third-Party Platforms that Attribute Performance using UTM Tracking:
Salesforce
Shopify
TripleWhale
Heap
Most Order Management Systems or Internal CRMs
Non-UTM (Non-Click based) Tracking Alternatives:
✅ Implement Impression Tags: Work back with your measurement provider on alternative solutions for view-through measurement. Typically this would require you to implement impression tags for your campaigns (see below for more details!).
✅ Leverage our API: Most third-party platforms are able to accept Verified Visit data via data ingestion using custom API calls created by you, or the automatically generated API calls available in the platform.
✅ Utilize MNTN's Reporting Suite: If alternative solutions are not feasible, leveraging the MNTN dashboard as the main source of truth is recommended to capture all campaign performance accurately
✅ Work with one of MNTN's Integrated Attribution Partners, like Google Analytics or Rockerbox.
➡️ Visit-Based Tracking: MNTN Integrated Partners
What attribution partners is MNTN integrated with?
At the current moment we are integrated with:
Google Analytics via the GA Measurement Protocol API
Rockerbox Attribution Platform
This means we are able to directly pass all Cross-Device Verified Visits to these platforms for your MNTN campaigns. From there, the attribution platform will assign conversion and revenue credit based on the attribution settings in place. ✅
💡 Note: For more information on our direct integrations with 3rd party attribution platforms, check out the below articles:
MNTN is also able to send visit data via our Macro-Enabled Visit Tracking solution. This allows you to seamlessly integrate MNTN’s Verified Visit reporting with your third-party measurement platform that can accept webhook URLs. Reach out to your MNTN team to learn more.
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