Understanding the effectiveness of various marketing channels has never been more important to organizations and has given rise to the hot topic of “marketing attribution”. This is the science of using advanced analytics and key metrics to allocate proportional credit to each marketing touch point across all online and off-line channels that have led to a desired customer behavior. It is designed to “give credit where credit is due”. Attribution helps brands track the value of specific marketing and media channels more accurately and define their overall business impact.

The digital revolution has put the marketing landscape in a state of flux, making exact attribution highly complex. Nonetheless, attribution is critical because it can provide clear and accurate insights into how, when, and where marketing impacts customer actions across devices and channels. Marketing executives can use the data to do a better job at budget allocation and optimize their marketing mix. Marketers are under continual pressure to do more with less and having an understanding of which channels, both online and offline, are working most effectively supports budget allocations.

InfoTrends recently completed two major studies: Micro to Mega: Trends in Business Communications and Direct Marketing Production Printing & Value-Added Services. Both studies provide tremendous insight relative to the overall impact of print communications and the role print plays as a channel that drives sales results.