Discover three methods of tracking attribution in Marketo Engage with Adobe Champion and customer AJ Navarro's comprehensive guide. Learn how to configure tracking for Person Source Attribution, First-Touch Attribution, and Multi-Touch Attribution to obtain insights into your marketing campaigns and measure their ROI impact.

A foundational attribution tracking guide for admins

I have spent the past seven years working with Marketo Engage, diving deep into how it can help marketers not just run campaigns but measure what’s driving real impact. I have seen firsthand how powerful Marketo Engage can be when it’s set up for clear, actionable attribution tracking—and that’s exactly what I’m here to help you with in this article.

Attribution is the key to understanding what’s working in your marketing efforts. Without it, you are left guessing which campaigns are driving engagement, generating persons, and ultimately contributing to revenue. For marketers, this strategy isn’t just about reporting; it’s about ensuring that your marketing activities are measurable, meaningful, and aligned with your business goals.

In this article, I break down the steps of setting up Marketo Engage to track attribution, even if Marketo Engage is the only technology you are using. I then walk you through the use cases for tracking Person Source, First-Touch, and Multi-Touch. Watch the videos to follow my practical workflows step-by-step. Along the way, I share my tips to help you capture the right data and avoid common pitfalls.

Prerequisites: Create a parent controller

Why do you need this parent controller?

Before you dive into the use cases, I recommend setting up a centralized operations controller. This foundational default program acts as the orchestrator for your lead source and attribution workflows, ensuring everything is triggered in the proper sequence as you follow my demo videos. It also serves as a scalable operations hub that continues to support your Marketo Engage instance as it grows in complexity.

What steps do you take to configure this parent controller properly?

Use case 1: Person Source Attribution tracking

Tracking Person Source is essential for understanding where your prospects are coming from. It helps you track the original source that brought a prospect into your database, whether that’s a paid ad, an organic search, a webinar, or a tradeshow.

Why is this method important?

Without clear Person Source tracking, it’s hard to know which marketing channels are generating the highest-quality persons. In the absence of this information, it's challenging to allocate budget effectively or prove the ROI of your campaigns.

Here’s an example:

1. Imagine a prospect clicking on a Google Search Ad and filling out a demo request form.
2. A few weeks later, they engage with an email nurture program and attend a webinar.
3. Eventually, they become an opportunity.

While all those touchpoints are valuable, Person Source Attribution ensures that the Google Search Ad gets credit as the original source of that person.

Simple Analogy:

• Person Source Attribution  is like asking, “How did this person find us?” (For example, via Google Search, LinkedIn, or a webinar).
• First-Touch Attribution is like asking, “What’s the first thing they did when they found us?” (For example, downloaded an eBook, attended an event).

In the following video, I am going to show you how track Person Source data in Marketo Engage.

Use case 2: First-Touch Attribution tracking

Understanding where a person’s journey begins is critical to marketing attribution. First-Touch Attribution tracking helps answer that question.

First-Touch attribution assigns credit to the very first marketing interaction that introduces a person to your brand. This methodology is especially valuable for marketers who want to identify which channels, campaigns, or programs are driving most new people.

Why is this method important?

Without the First-Touch Attribution tracking data, it’s easy to overlook the campaigns that generate initial awareness, like paid ads, social media promotions, or top-of-funnel content. These touchpoints often don’t convert people to immediate conversions, but they play a huge role in filling your pipeline.

Here’s an example:

Imagine a prospect clicking on a LinkedIn ad promoting one of your webinars. They register, attend the webinar, and respond to an email weeks later, eventually becoming an opportunity.

• With a First-Touch Attribution tracking campaign in place,  that LinkedIn ad gets the credit for introducing the person to your brand, even though several other touchpoints followed.
• This data value is meant to help you clearly see which channels are most effective at generating new people in Marketo Engage, so you can optimize your budget and strategy accordingly.

Let me show you exactly how to set up this tracking campaign in Marketo Engage.

Use case 3: Multi-Touch Attribution tracking

When it comes to understanding the full impact of your marketing efforts, tracking Multi-Touch Attribution is key. Unlike First-Touch Attribution, which only credits the very first interaction, Multi-Touch Attribution spreads the credit across multiple touchpoints that influence a person’s journey.

Why is this method important?

The average buyer doesn’t convert after just one interaction with your brand. They might click an ad, attend a webinar, engage with nurture emails, and download content before making a purchase decision. Without the Multi-Touch Attribution tracking in place, you risk missing the value of those mid-funnel activities that keep prospects engaged.

Here’s an example:

1. A person downloads an eBook from a paid ad.
2. Then, this person attends a webinar two weeks later.
3. Finally, this person clicks on a nurture email and requests a demo.

With the Multi-Touch Attribution tracking campaign in place, each of these interactions is recognized. This method helps you understand not just what started the conversation but also what kept the interest going and ultimately drove conversion.

Now, let me show you how to set up tracking for Multi-Touch Attribution in Marketo Engage.

Key Takeaways

I have covered 3 methods that you can use to track attribution in Marketo Engage:

1. Tracking Person Source Attribution identifies where your people are coming from.
2. Tracking First-Touch Attribution tracks initial engagement.
3. Tracking Multi-Touch Attribution captures the full customer journey.

By setting up tracking Smart Campaigns, using Custom Fields, and maintaining consistent data practices, you can gain clearer insights into which efforts are driving your marketing success.

Now, it's your turn—review your campaign setup, apply these methods, and start optimizing your campaigns in Marketo Engage based on data that truly reflects your marketing impact.