If you’re tired of arguing with sales about where leads really come from—or you just want to know which marketing efforts actually work—multi touch attribution is worth your time. This guide cuts through the noise and walks you through setting up multi touch attribution models in Orcaforce for advanced analytics. Whether you’re a marketing ops pro or a technically-minded marketer, you’ll find steps, gotchas, and the stuff you can skip.
Who Should Read This
- Marketing and RevOps folks sick of messy attribution
- Data analysts setting up campaign reporting
- Anyone using Orcaforce who wants clearer ROI insights
If you just want to slap a model on your campaigns and call it a day, this isn’t for you. But if you want to actually trust your numbers, read on.
What Is Multi Touch Attribution (And Why Bother)?
Let’s get clear: multi touch attribution means giving credit to more than just the first or last click. Instead of saying “That deal closed because of our webinar!” (which, let’s be honest, is almost never true), you spread credit across all the touches that actually moved the needle.
Why does this matter? Because single-touch models lie. If you’re still using last-touch, you’re missing the full story—and probably wasting money.
Orcaforce lets you build, test, and customize these models, so you can finally answer the “what’s working?” question with something more than a shrug.
Step 1: Get Your House in Order
Before you open Orcaforce, do these things. Skipping prep work is the #1 cause of messy attribution.
- Audit your data sources. Figure out what you’re tracking (website visits, email clicks, ads, events, etc.) and make sure IDs and timestamps are consistent. Garbage in, garbage out.
- Map your customer journey. Write down the main touchpoints you want to credit. Think paid ads, email, organic search, webinars, sales calls, and so on.
- Decide what “conversion” means. Is it a demo booked? A deal closed? Know this up front—Orcaforce needs to know when to stop counting touches.
Pro tip: If your CRM data is a disaster, fix that first. No attribution tool can rescue you from bad source data.
Step 2: Connect Data Sources to Orcaforce
Orcaforce’s attribution models are only as good as what you feed them. Connecting your sources is pretty straightforward, but watch out for these common mistakes:
- Integrate your CRM. Most use Salesforce or HubSpot. Use the built-in connectors, and double-check field mappings.
- Plug in marketing channels. Connect ad platforms (Google, LinkedIn), email systems, and your website analytics. Don’t forget offline sources if you use them.
- Test data syncs. Pull a few contacts and make sure their touchpoint history looks right. Look for gaps, duplicated records, or missing timestamps.
What to ignore: Don’t waste time hooking up every possible source “just in case.” Focus on the 3-5 channels where most of your traffic and conversions happen.
Step 3: Choose Your Attribution Model(s)
This is where most teams overthink it. Orcaforce offers several standard models:
- First Touch: Credits only the first interaction.
- Last Touch: Credits only the last interaction.
- Linear: Evenly splits credit across all touches.
- Time Decay: More credit to recent touches.
- U-Shaped / W-Shaped: More credit to the first and last (or first/mid/last) touches.
How to pick: - Don’t get fancy right away. Start with Linear and W-Shaped. See what the data shows. - Avoid “custom” models at first. Unless you have a really unique sales cycle, standard models are fine. - Run models side by side. Orcaforce makes it easy to compare. You’ll quickly see which model fits your business logic.
Pro tip: If your sales cycle is long and involves lots of touches, time decay is usually more honest than last touch.
Step 4: Set Up the Model in Orcaforce
Here’s how you actually build the thing:
- Go to Attribution Settings. In Orcaforce, find the “Attribution Models” section in your analytics dashboard.
- Create a new model. Pick your base model (Linear, W-Shaped, etc.).
- Define your conversion event. Tell Orcaforce what counts as a win—a form fill, closed deal, whatever matters to you.
- Map touchpoints. Make sure each type of touch (ad click, email open, webinar attend, etc.) is mapped to the right source/channel.
- Set attribution windows. Decide how far back to count touches (e.g., 90 days before conversion).
- Name and save your model.
Gotchas to watch for: - Touchpoint duplication. If your same email click is logged twice, you’ll skew results. - Conversion window too short/long. Too short, you miss early touches; too long, you get noise. - Touchpoint “type” confusion. Make sure Orcaforce knows the difference between a sales call and a webinar.
Step 5: Validate and Test Your Model
Don’t trust the results just yet. Here’s how to sanity-check:
- Spot check a few deals. Pick a handful of recent conversions and inspect their attribution paths. Does the assigned credit make sense?
- Compare models. Run Linear and Last Touch side by side. If the difference is massive, dig into why.
- Look for weird spikes. Did one campaign suddenly get 80% of the credit? That’s usually a sign of bad data or mapping.
What to ignore: Don’t obsess over getting it “perfect.” The goal is “good enough to make decisions,” not to win a data science award.
Step 6: Put Attribution to Work
Now you’ve got models that actually reflect reality (or at least, closer to reality than before). Use them:
- Run regular reports. Orcaforce lets you schedule them. Look at channel, campaign, and content performance.
- Share with stakeholders. Sales, leadership, and finance will all have opinions. Be ready to explain why the numbers changed (hint: your old model was probably wrong).
- Iterate. As you add new channels or change your funnel, revisit your model setup.
Pro tip: Attribution is a tool for direction, not absolute truth. Use it to spot trends and double down on what’s working—not to split hairs over single conversions.
What Actually Works—and What to Ignore
What works: - Keeping models simple at first - Double-checking data quality before blaming the model - Comparing models—don’t just pick one and stick with it forever
What doesn’t: - Over-customizing out of the gate - Obsessing over 100% accuracy (it’s a myth) - Trying to include every tiny touchpoint (noise drowns out signal)
Ignore: - Vendor hype about “AI-powered” attribution (it’s usually just fancy weighting) - Attribution for brand campaigns with no clear conversion event—use different metrics
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple and Iterate
Multi touch attribution isn’t magic, and it won’t instantly solve your marketing debates. But if you set up Orcaforce with real data, pick a sensible model, and resist the urge to overcomplicate, you’ll finally have numbers you can argue about (in a good way).
Stick with the basics, check your work, and improve as you go. Attribution’s a journey—don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.