Demystifying Marketing Attribution: Asking the Right Questions with Drew Smith, Attributa

“Attribution isn’t about proving marketing’s worth—it’s about doing better marketing,” says Drew Smith, Founder and CEO of Attributa

In this episode of The Content Cocktail Hour, Drew Smith, Founder and CEO of Attributa, talks about the real secrets behind marketing attribution—beyond the hype and LinkedIn hot takes. Drew shares why most companies struggle with attribution, the biggest misconceptions about multi-touch tracking, and why the credit game between marketing and sales is a losing battle. He also unpacks the complexities of dark social, self-reported attribution, and how businesses should rethink their approach to tracking marketing success.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. Why marketing attribution should never be about claiming credit
2. How to ask the right questions before investing in attribution tools
3. When your company actually needs multi-touch attribution (and when it doesn’t)

Resources:

Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-gandolf/

Check out The Juice HQ: https://www.thejuicehq.com/

Connect with Drew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewsmitty/

Explore Attributa: https://attributa.io/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(02:14) Why most marketers struggle with attribution

(07:36) The myths and realities of multi-touch attribution

(11:45) The real reason marketing budgets get cut

(15:29) The dark social dilemma: Can it actually be tracked?

(21:10) Self-reported attribution vs. data-driven tracking

(24:42) Why playing the credit game will hurt your marketing team

(28:15) Final thoughts and takeaways