Glossary · conversions
What is Attribution?
Attribution is the set of rules that decides which ad gets the credit when a sale happens. Every platform applies its own rules and every platform credits itself generously, which is why the numbers never add up. Meta's standard setting counts a sale if the person clicked the ad within the last seven days or merely saw it within the last day. TikTok and Google apply their own windows. Since a customer may have touched all three before buying, all three can claim the same sale, and the total in your dashboards can exceed the total in your bank account. Attribution is a best guess, useful for direction, dangerous when read as fact.
What does Attribution mean for a business in Pakistan?
This is harder here than in most markets, because journeys end on WhatsApp or in the shop where no platform can follow. The fix is boringly manual and works better than any dashboard: one required question at the start of every chat, 'aap ko hamara pata kaise chala?', logged in a sheet. A separate phone number used only in ads settles the argument for calls.
A worked example
In one month a Bahria Town kitchen studio's Meta account reports 24 purchases and TikTok reports 11 — but the studio made 27 sales in total. Adding one intake question shows the true split: 15 from Meta, 6 from TikTok, 4 from Google, 2 who walked past the showroom.
Terms that go with this one
These come up in the same conversations and are worth reading together.
- ConversionconversionA conversion is one completed action that you have decided counts as a result. Nothing about it is automatic — you pick the action, and the platform…
- UTMUTMUTM parameters are short tags added to the end of a link so your own analytics can tell where each visitor came from. The common five are source…
- PixelpixelA pixel is a small piece of tracking code placed on your website that reports back to the ad platform what visitors did there. Meta now bundles it…
- ROASROASROAS means return on ad spend: the sales value credited to your ads divided by what you paid for them, written as a multiple. A 4.0 ROAS means every…
- CPACPACPA means cost per action — the money spent divided by the number of completed results you decided to count. The action is whatever you defined it…
Attribution — quick answers
What does Attribution mean?
Attribution is the set of rules that decides which ad gets the credit when a sale happens. Every platform applies its own rules and every platform credits itself generously, which is why the numbers never add up.
Attribution ko Urdu mein kya kehte hain?
اٹریبیوشن — though in practice almost everyone in Pakistan says "attribution". This is harder here than in most markets, because journeys end on WhatsApp or in the shop where no platform can follow.
Why does Attribution matter for a business in Pakistan?
This is harder here than in most markets, because journeys end on WhatsApp or in the shop where no platform can follow. The fix is boringly manual and works better than any dashboard: one required question at the start of every chat, 'aap ko hamara pata kaise chala?', logged in a sheet. A separate phone number used only in ads settles the argument for calls.
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