What The Click?! Why Last Click Doesn’t Tell the Full Story
The "who's on first" breakdown of attribution and incrementality for affiliate marketers.
For years, most affiliate programs relied heavily on one measurement model: last-click attribution. While it remains the standard for many programs today, it only tells part of the story.
To fully understand how affiliate partnerships contribute to growth, brands also need to understand incrementality.
These two concepts are related, but they measure very different things.
What Is Attribution?
Attribution is the process of assigning credit for a conversion or sale.
In affiliate marketing, attribution determines which partner receives credit (aka commission) when a customer completes a purchase or action.
The most common model is last-click attribution, meaning:
The final affiliate link clicked before a purchase receives 100% of the credit for the conversion.
Example
A customer journey might look like this:
A creator shares a product on social media
The customer researches the product later through a review site
Before purchasing, the customer searches for a promo code
They click a coupon partner and complete the purchase
Under a last-click attribution model, the coupon partner receives full credit for the sale because they were the final tracked click before conversion.
This model is simple and operationally efficient, which is one reason it became widely adopted across affiliate programs.
However, it does not account for every partner that influenced the customer journey.
Understanding the Affiliate Marketing Funnel
Affiliate partnerships exist across different stages of the customer journey.
Not all partners are designed to drive immediate conversions. Some create awareness, while others help consumers evaluate options or complete purchases.
Understanding where partners sit in the funnel helps explain why attribution alone does not always reflect true impact.
Top-of-Funnel Partners: Awareness and Discovery
These partners help introduce consumers to brands and products.
Examples
Influencers and creators
Editorial and commerce content publishers
YouTubers
Media partners
Their Role
Generate awareness
Educate audiences
Build trust
Introduce new products or brands
Top-of-funnel partners often influence purchasing decisions early in the journey. Because customers may not convert immediately, these partners do not always receive last-click attribution credit.
Mid-Funnel Partners: Research and Consideration
These partners help consumers evaluate products before purchasing.
Examples
Review sites
Comparison platforms
Shopping tools
Product recommendation content
Their Role
Help consumers compare options
Answer product questions
Reduce uncertainty
Strengthen purchase intent
These partners can play a significant role in moving customers closer to conversion.
Bottom-of-Funnel Partners: Conversion and Purchase
These partners typically engage consumers closest to the point of sale.
Examples
Coupon and promo code sites
Cashback partners
Loyalty and rewards programs
Retargeting affiliates
Their Role
Increase conversion rates
Reduce cart abandonment
Encourage purchase completion
Because these partners interact with customers near checkout, they often receive the majority of attribution credit in last-click models.
What Is Incrementality?
Incrementality measures whether a partner generated value that would not have happened otherwise.
Instead of asking:
“Who received the last click?”
Incrementality asks:
“Did this partner create additional growth?”
This growth can include:
New customer acquisition
Increased conversion rates
Higher average order value
Expanded audience reach
Faster purchasing decisions
Incremental revenue
Incrementality focuses on the actual contribution a partner makes to business growth, rather than simply where they appeared in the conversion path.
Examples of Incrementality in Affiliate Marketing
Example 1: Creator-Driven Discovery
A creator shares a skincare brand with their audience.
A consumer becomes interested but does not purchase immediately. A week later, they visit the brand directly and complete a purchase.
The creator may not receive attribution credit under a last-click model.
However, without the creator:
the customer may never have discovered the brand
This is an example of incremental value through awareness and demand creation.
Example 2: Coupon Partner Conversion Support
A shopper already intends to purchase and searches for a discount code before checkout.
A coupon site receives the final click and earns attribution credit.
In this case, the key question becomes:
Would the customer have purchased anyway?
If the answer is yes, the incremental impact may be smaller than the attribution credit suggests.
Example 3: Review Content Influencing Decision-Making
A customer compares multiple software platforms using a review publisher.
The review content helps the customer choose a solution and move forward with a purchase.
Even if another partner receives the final click, the review site may still have played a critical role in influencing the decision.
Why the Difference Matters
When brands rely only on last-click attribution, they often overvalue partners closest to conversion while undervaluing partners responsible for:
awareness
education
consideration
demand creation
This can lead to:
underinvestment in creators and content partners
overreliance on bottom-of-funnel tactics
limited long-term program growth
A well-balanced affiliate strategy recognizes that different partners contribute value in different ways.
The Future of Affiliate Measurement
Many brands are now expanding beyond last-click attribution to better understand partner impact.
Additional measurement approaches may include:
Multi-touch attribution
Incrementality testing
Assisted conversion reporting
New customer analysis
Lifetime value measurement
Cohort analysis
Last-click attribution still serves an important operational purpose, especially for tracking and commission payouts.
But incrementality provides a broader view of how affiliate partnerships contribute to sustainable growth.
Understanding both concepts is becoming increasingly important as the industry continues to expand beyond traditional models into creator partnerships, commerce content, media, and technology ecosystems.
Final Thoughts…
If you run a program, take advantages of the reporting options your partnerships platform has to offer, so you can dig into the customer journey and all the touchpoints along the way. It will help you determine if a new strategy is in order, and better yet, optimize some partners that weren’t on your radar before!
Thanks for joining. Keep on learning. And see you soon!