Secondary attribution model

[HRichthe2nd]

Hello everyone, 

I am exploring ways on HubSpot to record secondary attributions. What are some ways you recommend approaching this problem? 

For more details, I am looking to use it primarily for direct mail campaigns. Because of their non digital nature, the existing attribution reporting on HubSpot doesn't work. Tracking its performance is tricky, because people don't follow the URL to sign up on the letters but prefer to search organically. Or they come through another digital channel (ad words). 

To get around this, I export the deals created on HubSpot from when we send the letters, up to a month after. I then match them with my direct mail audience. If they match, we assume the letter was involved in the person’s decision to sign up. 

Now I am looking for a way to upload this data back into HubSpot, without changing the existing attribution property, so we can record both attribution points. 

I have seen creating duplicate attribution properties, to record both, but I was wondering if there are any other approaches to explore? 

Thanks in advance!

[mudasir_qayyum]

Track and record secondary attribution for your direct mail campaigns in HubSpot without interfering with the existing attribution properties, here are some practical solutions:

Create a Custom Property for Secondary Attribution:
Set up a custom property (e.g., Secondary Attribution - Direct Mail) on the contact, company, or deal level. After exporting and matching your data, import the matched records back into HubSpot and populate this property with the relevant campaign details (e.g., “Direct Mail Campaign Q4”). This keeps primary and secondary attribution separate but still trackable.

Use a Custom Behavioral Event:
HubSpot allows you to create custom behavioral events. You can use this feature to log specific actions (e.g., "Received Direct Mail") or manually tag contacts associated with your campaign. This adds flexibility to analyze the data while preserving your existing attribution model.

Leverage Campaign Tracking in Reports:
Create a new campaign in HubSpot for each direct mail effort. After uploading the matched data with secondary attribution details into your custom property, associate those contacts or deals with the campaign. This allows you to track performance at the campaign level while maintaining primary attribution.

Explore Workflow Automation for Tagging:
Build workflows that automatically tag contacts or deals with your custom secondary attribution property based on your uploaded data. This minimizes manual effort and ensures consistent tagging across your records.

Use Multi-Touch Attribution Reporting:
While HubSpot’s default attribution model may not cover offline sources directly, multi-touch attribution models (such as Linear or Custom) can help allocate credit to multiple touchpoints, especially when paired with the custom property approach.

External Tools Integration:
If you require advanced offline-to-online tracking, consider integrating an external attribution tool like Ruler Analytics or Offline Conversion Tracking. These tools specialize in connecting non-digital campaigns to digital results and can feed data back into HubSpot.

Combining a custom secondary attribution property with workflows or campaigns, you can effectively track and analyze the impact of your direct mail efforts without compromising your existing attribution data.

[PamCotton]

Hey @HRichthe2nd, thank you for posting in our Community!

Your approach of matching deal data with your direct mail audience is a smart workaround! Creating a secondary custom property for "Direct Mail Attribution" is a great way to log this without altering existing attribution properties. Another option could be using campaigns in HubSpot to manually associate deals with your direct mail effort.

If you're comfortable with imports, you can also upload matched data as a custom object or tag deals with a custom field. This way, you can segment and report without disrupting your primary attribution model. Let me know if you'd like more details!

To our top experts, @TomM2 and @Josh do you have any recommendations for @HRichthe2nd?

Thank you,

Pam

[HRichthe2nd]

Hello @Pam 

Thanks very much for your insightful reply, much appreciated!

Could you go into a little more detail on how using campaigns could solve this problem? I am not super familiar with them.

Also, re your point on custom objects, I am quite hesitant to do this, just for secondary attribution. From my expereince, custom objects can get confusing quickly for other HubSpot users, because they are seperate from the vanilla. I'd rather use what's already there than create something completly new.

Thanks in advance