Incremental Attribution Tracking: Meta Shares New Insights

Key Insights

• Attribution Changes: Meta has introduced an incremental attribution setting to enhance ad performance measurement.
• Tracking Improvements: The new model utilizes AI to provide deeper insights into conversions linked to ads.
• Two Models: Advertisers can choose between standard and incremental attribution models for tracking conversions.
• Data Utilization: Incremental attribution considers additional data points for a comprehensive view of consumer behavior.

If you’re an active Meta advertiser, you’ve likely noted the changes in your attribution tracking options over recent months. But if you haven’t, you now have more ways to measure ad performance, based on expanded response tracking powered by AI.

Last August, Meta announced the initial launch of its incremental attribution setting, which aims to give you more insight into expanded conversions that can be linked back to your ads, as opposed to its traditional rules-based attribution metrics.

In basic terms, Meta’s standard attribution settings enable you to set parameters around conversion tracking, which will then indicate whether someone who saw your ad went on to make a purchase within a certain time window (between 1 and 7 days).

But that’s a fairly loose measure of actual ad response, and as its AI systems improve, Meta has now added an incremental attribution option, which it believes can better connect the dots between ad engagement and conversion.

It’s now updated its documentation to reflect this, with its refreshed explainer on its attribution models providing more context on the new process.

As explained by Meta:

“When creating an ad set in Meta Ads Manager, you can choose an attribution model, which informs ad delivery and determines how conversions can be credited to your ads. Currently, Meta offers the following attribution models: standard or incremental.

• Standard attribution optimizes delivery for selected time windows and user behaviors, and allows advertisers to choose whether to credit conversions based on ad impressions, clicks and/or video plays.
• Incremental attribution optimizes delivery for incremental conversions using models that predict whether a conversion is caused by an ad. Incremental attribution enables optimization and reporting based on incremental conversions.”

So instead of direct engagement leading to conversion within a week, incremental attribution aims to better highlight Meta ad effectiveness, by more specifically tracking how your Meta ads influence conversions, through expanded engagement and response tracking.

So how does it do that?

Well, Meta doesn’t provide a heap of insight, simply noting that incremental conversion tracking “uses machine learning models that predict whether a conversion is caused by an ad.”

But conceptually at least, Meta’s incremental conversion tracking is able to consider more data points, which will then give you a broader scope of response data that’s more reflective of modern consumer behaviors.

As noted, it’s not entirely new, as it’s been around in the system for some time, but Meta’s now added an expanded overview of the option, which would suggest that it’s now available to more advertisers.

It won’t matter to all advertisers, but for those looking to get a better understanding of how their ads drive conversion, it gives you another consideration to test.

You can read more about incremental attribution here.