Splits the value of each customer path across its channels under four rule-based attribution models (first touch, last touch, linear and time decay) and shows how much credit each channel gains or loses between them, with every step shown. For marketers and founders who want to see how much the choice of model changes the story.
How to use it
Enter your own customer paths. The result updates as you type, and nothing leaves your browser.
- Pick your currency and add one row per customer path. Write the channels in the order the customer met them, separated by >, for example Paid social > Organic search > Email.
- Enter the value of the conversion each path ended in. Enter 1 if you only want to count conversions.
- Optionally enter how many days before the conversion each touch happened, one number per channel. Leave it blank and touches are treated as one day apart.
- Set the half-life for time decay if you want something other than 7 days, then compare the four models in the tables and read the findings.
How Reavlo tests this
The calculator applies four fixed rules to the paths you enter, run in your browser. Every step is listed under Show the math. Nothing is learned from data: these are rule-based models, not data-driven ones.
- Total value = the sum of the values of all paths. Every model hands out exactly this amount.
- First touch gives 100% of a path's value to its earliest touch.
- Last touch gives 100% of a path's value to its latest touch, the one closest to the conversion.
- Linear splits a path's value equally across its touches. A channel that appears twice in a path gets two shares.
- Time decay weights each touch by 2 raised to the power of minus its days before the conversion, divided by the half-life. A touch one half-life before the conversion counts half as much as a touch on the day of it. The step shows the share of weight kept after one day.
- Time decay then splits a path's value in proportion to those weights.
- Spread = the largest gap between two models in the credit of a single channel.
Touches are ordered by their days before the conversion, and touches on the same day keep the order you entered. Channel names that differ only in capital letters or spacing are one channel. Amounts are in major units of the currency you pick (ISO 4217) and rounded to 2 decimals, so a column can differ from the total by a cent or two.
Findings. Two rules run on the result.
- ATM-01, no multi-touch paths (info). Every path has a single touch, so all four models give the same answer. This is not an error, but there is nothing to compare.
- ATM-02, top channel changes with the model (info). Different models put different channels first. Treat the ranking as dependent on the model before moving budget.
Reavlo shows no "right" model and no typical half-life, because no source we could cite supports one.
Limits. These models share credit by position and timing only. They cannot tell whether a touch caused the conversion, they ignore people who never converted, and they see only the paths you enter, not the ones your analytics could not track. Use them to see how sensitive your conclusions are to the model, not to prove which channel works.
Questions
What is the difference between first touch and last touch?
First touch gives all the credit to the channel that started the path, last touch to the one that came just before the conversion. They answer different questions: what brings people in, and what closes them.
What does the half-life in time decay mean?
It is the number of days after which a touch counts half as much as a touch on the day of the conversion. A shorter half-life favors the most recent touches more strongly.
Which attribution model should I use?
None is correct for every business. Compare them: a channel that earns credit under every model is a safer bet than one that only looks good under one.
Where do I get customer paths?
From the conversion path or user-journey report of your analytics tool or CRM. You can also type a handful of typical paths to see how the models behave.