Attribution – a Sales & Marketing Director’s view

Colin Whaley Center Parcs UK

NMA Live – May 20th 2011

Why attribution?

Source: Forrester Research: The State Of Consumer Technology Adoption 2005

Introduction to Center Parcs

Our Marketing Challenge

Our approach to Online Attribution

Where next with Attribution?

Today’s Presentation

Family short break destination

4 holiday resorts in England, each set within 400 acresof forest

Over 100 indoor and outdoor activities

Introduction to Center Parcs UK

100% direct sell - no affiliate activity

Limited spare capacity – 95% occupancy

Aggressive sales and profit targets

Strict limits on marketing budget

It’s all about improving Return On Investment

The Marketing Challenge for Center Parcs

Only accurate tracking was ‘last click’, …

Limited visibility of the consumer click path

Multiple platforms tracking various channels

Conversions were not being de-duped

Insights were retrospective

Our reality in 2009

65% of paths had more than oneclick or exposure

50% of customers were interactingon more than one media channelbefore converting

The average number of exposuresbefore conversion was 3.2

Average length of consideration period – 17.2 days

Was attribution a path worth pursuing?

The way we were… legacy ‘last-click’ model

PPC

0% 0% 0% 100%

Attribute revenue across all online channels

Minimise wastage and duplication on overlapping channels

Optimise online campaign in real-time

Have one fluid budget pot (channel agnostic)

The Vision – increase ROI

Multiple touchpoints working together

CORE IDEA

We need to ensure our channels are working for each other,

not against each other.

SEOPPCDISPLAY SocialE-CRM

The right team, the right platform

Initially 5 channels measured: Paid Search (PPC) Display click Display view Organic search (SEO) Paid inclusion

Ability to re-process 60 days worth of data to visualisedifferent scenarios

Flexibility to apply custom business rules to predictivemodelling and optimisation algorithms

Getting started

1. Analyse touchpoints

2. Select channel prioritisation

3. Customise weight of each channel

4. Customise Distributionacross click path

5. Analyse and apply insights for optimisation of spend

Live November 2009

5 Step Methodology:

2009/10 Attribution Model

10% 15% 25% 50%

14% decrease in cost-per-click

35% increase in bookings

43% increase in revenue

54% increase in ROI

2009/10 Campaign results

Year 2 – Broadening the model

One budget pot across search and display

Reduced spending on Paid Search

Increased spending on SEO and Display

Investment in a Social Strategy

Further YOY 19% increase in bookings

Further YOY 27% increase in revenue

Further YOY 29% increase in ROI

Year 2 (2010/11) results

Overall marketing costs have been held over 3 years,whilst achieving:

Record occupancies in each of the last 3 years

Record Revenues in each of the last 3 years

Record Profits in each of the last 3 years

And the bigger picture at Center Parcs?

Where Next with Attribution?

How can our Social Media activity be measuredwithin the sales funnel?

Social Media integration

What effect does device type have on attribution?

What is the Connection Between Device Type and Conversion?

Keep it simple – take ‘baby steps’

Get all the key stakeholders to collaborate (ensurethe client understands!)

Be open-minded and channel agnostic

Be patient and willing to continually test and learn

Stay focused (or lose touch and waste money)

In Conclusion.. the main lessons learned

Thank you - @ColinWhaley