How to Build a Smart Attribution Strategy for Your LinkedIn Ad Campaigns

Attribution is one of the most misunderstood aspects of marketing.

Every platform promises clarity, but when you dig into the numbers, the story they tell often feels incomplete, or worse, misleading.

If you’ve ever stared at a dashboard wondering why Google is taking credit for a LinkedIn-driven lead, you’re not alone.

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The Google Attribution Dilemma: Inflated Credit

Google Analytics often positions itself as the ultimate truth of attribution. But if you’re running multi-channel campaigns, Google’s metrics can feel like a blanket credit grab. Here’s the issue:

Google thrives on capturing existing demand. When someone is ready to take action, they search for your brand, click the first link they see, and convert. On paper, it looks like Google deserves the credit.

But this ignores the crucial touchpoints that nurtured that lead, like the LinkedIn ad that introduced them to your product or the Facebook retargeting campaign that kept you top of mind.

Google claims credit for conversions that were influenced by other platforms, and your multi-channel strategy is undervalued.

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LinkedIn Attribution: Two Models, One Solution

LinkedIn offers two attribution models for tracking ad performance:

1. Last-touch – Last Campaign
   This tracks the final LinkedIn ad a prospect clicked before converting. It’s clean, simple, and highlights the last nudge that drove action.
2. Last-touch – Each Campaign
   This tracks every LinkedIn campaign a prospect interacted with before converting. It’s perfect for understanding the full funnel.

But here’s the challenge: LinkedIn doesn’t assign weighted percentages to these touchpoints like some attribution tools do. So how can you see the complete picture?

Set up both attribution models. Create one conversion action for "Each Campaign" and another for "Last Campaign." Assign a higher conversion value (e.g., $50) to the last campaign and a lower value (e.g., $5) to earlier touches. This approach prevents inflated numbers while revealing the full customer journey.

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The Multi-Touch Reality: It’s Not a Straight Line

Attribution conversations can get awkward, especially with clients. Imagine this scenario:

You’re running LinkedIn ads. Early conversions start rolling in, but your client doesn’t believe they’re legitimate because their backend reports attribute those leads to Google.

Half of the conversions show as “click conversions,” while the other half show as “view conversions” (which many people argue shouldn’t even count).

But prospects rarely convert in a clean, straight line.

Usually it looks more like this:

A consumer sees your ad on LinkedIn during a cold campaign. Weeks later, they’re retargeted on Facebook. Eventually, they Google your company, click the first link, and convert.

On paper, it looks like Google drove the lead. But without LinkedIn and Facebook, they wouldn’t have reached that final step.

This happens in B2C and B2C. Without multiple touchpoints across platforms, most conversions wouldn’t happen at all.

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Key Takeaways: How to Build a Smart Attribution Strategy

Attribution isn’t perfect, but you can make it work for you by rethinking how you track and report:

1. Google Isn’t the Villain. But It’s Not the Hero Either
   Google does what it’s designed to do: capture existing demand. Don’t rely on it alone to tell your attribution story.
2. LinkedIn’s Two-Touch Hack
   Track both “Last Campaign” and “Each Campaign” conversions to gain a clearer picture of how LinkedIn ads influence the funnel.
3. Trust the Process
   Conversion journeys are rarely linear. Multiple touches across platforms are what truly drive decisions.
4. Invest in Attribution Tools
   Solutions like HockeyStack or custom CRM models can tie everything together, giving you a full view of your marketing efforts.

Instead of obsessing over which ad “deserves” credit, focus on building a cohesive marketing ecosystem. Every touchpoint matters, and together, they drive the outcomes that fuel your business.

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