Advertising attribution is the job of deciding how much of your revenue each advertising channel earned, including the channels that never produce a click. Paid search reports itself. Trade press, sponsorships, radio, podcasts, events, billboards and direct mail do not. For a 10 to 250 person firm, those offline channels can be a large share of the budget, and they are usually the first to be cut because nobody can prove they work. This article explains how to give every channel a fair measurement on the levelpartner.ai platform.
The principle: give every channel its own door
Attribution needs a recorded link between an advert and an enquiry. Online, the link is a tagged URL. Offline, you have to create one. The method is simple: every advertising channel gets its own way in, so an enquiry through that door can only have come from that channel.
There are four kinds of door. A dedicated phone number printed only in one channel. A short web address that forwards to a tagged landing page. A QR code that encodes a tagged URL. A promotion code or reference the person quotes. Then add a fifth, softer signal on every form and call: asking how the person heard about you.
Before you start
- A list of every advertising channel you pay for, with its monthly or campaign cost.
- Phone numbers available on the platform, one for each offline channel you want to track separately.
- Landing pages and forms built on the platform, which store the campaign parameters of each visit on the new contact.
- A "how did you hear about us" question with a fixed list of answers matching your channel list.
How to set it up
- List each channel and choose its door: number, address, QR code or code word.
- Go to Settings, then Phone System, and open the Phone numbers tab.
- Click + Add Number, then Add Phone Number, once per offline channel.
- Select a number, click Proceed to Buy and confirm the purchase.
- Open each number's configuration and forward it to your main line.
- Record which number belongs to which channel in a shared register.
- Point a short forwarding address or QR code at each channel's tagged URL.
- Go to Sites, then Forms, and open each enquiry form.
- Add a required "how did you hear about us" dropdown using your channel names.
- Go to Dashboard, open your dashboard and select Edit dashboard.
- Select Add widget, add Lead Source Report from General, and save.
Measured and self-reported, side by side
Tracked doors undercount. People see a magazine advert, remember the name and search for you later, so the enquiry arrives as organic search. The "how did you hear" answer catches some of that, and it overcounts in other places, because people name the last thing they remember.
Use both and compare them. When a channel scores far higher on self-reported answers than on tracked doors, it is building awareness that converts through other routes. That is useful information, not a contradiction. For a deeper treatment of channels working together, read how cross channel attribution works.
Imagine annual spend of £60,000 on paid search, £25,000 on a trade journal, £40,000 on two conference sponsorships, £30,000 on LinkedIn and £10,000 on a podcast, all invented figures. Say the tracked doors credit the trade journal with two enquiries, while the self-reported field credits it with 14, five of which become clients. Judged on tracked doors alone, the journal would look like the obvious cut. With both measures side by side, it would look like a channel feeding search.
What it replaces
It replaces the annual budget meeting where offline channels are defended with anecdotes. Each channel now has a cost, a count of enquiries by both methods, and a figure for won work. It also replaces the habit of judging all advertising on online metrics, which quietly starves the channels that make your name familiar.
Time it takes
The initial setup takes a day, most of it creating numbers, addresses and creative variations. Each new campaign adds ten minutes to assign its door. Review the channel report monthly and decide budgets quarterly, since offline channels often take months to show their effect in a long sales cycle.
Firms print the main office number on every offline advert because it looks more established. Every call then lands as unattributed. Use the channel's tracking number on the advert and let it forward to the main line, so callers reach the same people and you still capture the source.
When not to use this approach
If a channel's spend is tiny, a separate tracking number adds admin for little insight. Group small channels under one number and one form answer. And for channels aimed at existing clients rather than new ones, such as client events, measure retention and referrals instead of new enquiries.
Troubleshooting
The self-reported field is mostly "Google". People confuse how they found you with how they reached you. Reword the question to ask where they first heard of you, and add "search engine" as a separate answer from "saw an advert".
Tracking numbers get shared beyond the channel. Staff copy the number into email signatures or the website. Keep a register of which number belongs where and audit it quarterly.
QR codes produce no visits. Test the code at the printed size. Small codes on dark backgrounds often fail to scan.
Frequently asked questions
How long before offline advertising shows up in attribution?
For a sales cycle of a few weeks, expect a month or two. For larger deals with longer cycles, judge offline channels over at least two quarters, using the self-reported field as an early signal.
Can I attribute TV or radio adverts?
Yes, with a dedicated number and a short address mentioned only in that advert, plus the self-reported field. Expect most response to arrive through search, so watch branded search volume around the broadcast dates too.
How is this different from ad attribution?
Ad attribution compares individual online ads. Advertising attribution compares whole channels, including offline ones. For ad-level detail, see attributing leads to individual ads, and for the dashboard layout read setting up an advertising dashboard.