Multi-Touch Attribution
Multi-touch attribution distributes credit for a conversion across the several marketing touchpoints a customer interacted with, rather than giving all credit to the first or last click, aiming for a fairer view of each partner's contribution.
Where last-click and first-click assign 100% of the credit to a single interaction, multi-touch models spread it — linear (equal weight), time-decay (more to recent touches), or position-based (more to the first and last). This better reflects journeys involving several partners.
Multi-touch is harder to implement and reconcile, so most affiliate programs default to last-click for simplicity. But brands that want to reward top-of-funnel partners — reviewers and influencers who create awareness — lean toward multi-touch or hybrid credit rules.
See also
- Attribution
Attribution is the process of determining which affiliate or marketing touchpoint should receive credit — and the commission — for a conversion.
- Last-Click Attribution
Last-click attribution credits the entire commission to the final affiliate or link the customer clicked before converting.
- First-Click Attribution
First-click attribution credits the commission to the first affiliate or link that introduced the customer, even if other partners were involved later.
- Incrementality
Incrementality measures how many conversions a marketing channel or partner truly caused that would not have happened otherwise, separating genuinely driven sales from those that would have occurred anyway.
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