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Think of a soccer team scoring a goal. The striker gets the final glory, but what about the defender who started the play or the midfielders who passed the ball up the field? The linear attribution model says everyone who touched the ball gets equal credit.
In marketing, it works the same way. This model assigns equal value to every single touchpoint a customer interacts with on their way to making a purchase.
The linear attribution model is a multi-touch attribution method that gives you a complete, panoramic view of the customer journey. Instead of pinning all the credit on a single event—like the first click or the last—it spreads the credit evenly across every interaction. It’s a democratic approach that ensures no touchpoint gets left behind.
This model is often one of the first and simplest methods marketers use to move beyond single-touch attribution. Imagine a customer engages with four of your marketing channels before buying: a social media ad, a blog post, a retargeting ad, and finally an email newsletter. With a linear model, each of these channels gets exactly 25% of the credit for that conversion.
This is a fundamental shift from other models that might give more weight to the first or last interaction. You can get more details on this egalitarian model from platforms like Matomo.
To help you quickly grasp the core idea, here's a simple breakdown of the linear model's key characteristics.
CharacteristicDescriptionCredit DistributionEqual credit is given to every touchpoint in the conversion path.Model TypeMulti-touch, meaning it considers all interactions, not just one.ComplexitySimple to understand and implement, making it a great starting point.Primary BenefitProvides a balanced view and acknowledges assisting channels.Main DrawbackTreats all touchpoints as equally important, which may not be accurate.Best ForMarketers with long sales cycles who want to value all interactions.
This table shows why the linear model is often the first step teams take toward a more sophisticated understanding of their marketing mix.
Moving past single-touch models is a huge step for any marketer trying to figure out what’s really working. The linear attribution model is the perfect entry point for this transition because it immediately helps you see the value in channels that play a supporting role.
Think about a top-of-funnel blog post. It might not be the touchpoint that directly leads to a sale, but it’s crucial for introducing your brand to new people. A last-click model would give that blog post zero credit, which could easily lead you to undervalue your entire content marketing strategy. The linear model fixes this by making sure that blog post gets its fair share.
By assigning value to every touchpoint, the linear model prevents you from mistakenly cutting budgets for channels that are essential for nurturing leads, even if they aren't the final conversion driver.
This balanced perspective helps you appreciate the collective effort of all your marketing activities. It’s an honest acknowledgment that customer journeys are rarely simple and that every interaction—from the first moment of awareness to the final click—contributes to the outcome. It's the ideal foundation for building a more mature and accurate measurement strategy.
To really get why a model as straightforward as linear attribution is so powerful, you have to look at how we got here. The whole idea of connecting marketing efforts to actual sales isn't new, but the tools we use to do it have changed almost beyond recognition.
Decades ago, before the internet took over, marketers were essentially flying blind. They had a fuzzy, big-picture view of their impact, but that was about it.
Back in the 1950s, measurement was all about high-level data. Marketers had to rely on broad information, like consumer surveys and regional sales numbers, to guess how an ad campaign was affecting the bottom line. This history lesson, which you can read more about on Marketing Evolution, shows why getting more specific with models like linear attribution was such a necessary leap forward.
Then the internet boom of the mid-1990s changed the game completely. Suddenly, businesses could track individual user paths—clicks, page views, and downloads—all in real time. This created a massive new opportunity, but also a huge challenge: what do you do with this firehose of data?
The birth of digital tracking created a need for better attribution modeling. Marketers were no longer blind to the customer journey; they just needed a way to assign credit properly.
This is when the first real attribution models started popping up. The early ones were incredibly basic, focusing on just one single touchpoint. A first-touch model gave 100% of the credit to the very first ad a user saw, while a last-touch model gave it all to the final click before a purchase.
These single-touch models were a start, but they were deeply flawed. They completely ignored all the crucial interactions in the middle that actually nurture a customer toward converting. A blog post, a social media ad, or an email newsletter got zero recognition if it wasn't the absolute first or last thing a person saw.
The linear attribution model emerged as a groundbreaking alternative. It was one of the first multi-touch models to really catch on because it was built on a simple truth: the entire journey matters. By spreading credit out equally, it forced marketers to see the value in all their channels, setting the stage for every modern attribution strategy we use today. You can check out our guide on attribution modeling for more context.
The linear attribution model gives you a balanced, democratic view of the customer journey, but it’s just one of several ways to slice the attribution pie. To really know if it’s right for you, you have to see how it stacks up against the other popular models. Each one operates on a different philosophy, telling a unique story about which touchpoints truly matter.
Let's stick with a simple customer journey. Imagine someone discovers your brand through an organic search, later clicks a social media ad, and finally converts after getting a marketing email. With a linear attribution model, each of those touchpoints gets an equal share of the credit—33.3% each.
The bar chart below shows this perfectly. The credit is spread evenly across the First-Click, Middle-Click, and Last-Click touchpoints.
This visual gets to the core of the linear model’s philosophy: every single interaction played an equally important role. But as you'll see, other models look at the exact same data and tell a completely different story.
Attribution models generally fall into two camps: single-touch and multi-touch. Single-touch models are the simplest of the bunch, giving 100% of the credit to just one interaction.
While easy to understand, single-touch models offer a pretty narrow view of what's happening. If you want to see how marketing measurement has moved beyond this limited perspective, you can learn how multi-channel attribution provides a much richer picture. The linear model is a great first step into that world.
The biggest problem with single-touch models is that they completely ignore the vital "middle" of the customer journey, where leads are nurtured and trust is built.
This is exactly where multi-touch models, including the linear approach, come in to fill the gaps. For a complete rundown of the different approaches, our guide to multi-touch attribution is a great resource.
Beyond giving everyone equal credit, other multi-touch models distribute credit in more nuanced ways, assigning different weights to different stages of the journey.
To make sense of these different philosophies, it helps to see them side-by-side. Each model shines a spotlight on a different part of the customer journey, from awareness to the final conversion.
Attribution ModelHow It Assigns CreditBest ForPotential PitfallFirst-Touch100% credit to the very first interaction.Understanding top-of-funnel and brand awareness channels.Ignores every touchpoint that nurtures and converts the lead.Last-Touch100% credit to the final interaction before conversion.Identifying what closes deals and drives final action.Undervalues the marketing efforts that initiated the journey.LinearEqual credit to every touchpoint in the journey.Getting a simple, holistic view of all channel contributions.Treats all interactions as equally important, which they may not be.Time-DecayMore credit to touchpoints closer to the conversion.Long sales cycles where recent interactions are more influential.Can undervalue crucial early-stage awareness campaigns.U-Shaped40% to the first touch, 40% to the last, 20% to the middle.Valuing both awareness and conversion drivers in one model.The middle touchpoints get very little credit, potentially masking their value.
Looking at this comparison, you can really see where the linear attribution model finds its place. It stands out for its commitment to valuing the entire funnel equally. While other models focus on specific moments, the linear approach provides a solid, holistic baseline for understanding how all your marketing efforts work together.
No attribution model is perfect, and the linear model is a classic case of trade-offs. It brings a unique blend of benefits and drawbacks to the table, making it a fantastic tool in some situations and a potential liability in others.
The key to using it effectively is knowing whether its democratic, “everyone-gets-a-trophy” approach truly fits your marketing strategy.
The biggest thing the linear attribution model has going for it is simplicity. It’s dead simple to understand and just as easy to implement, which makes it a great first step for any team trying to move beyond a single-touch model. There's no complex data science here—it's an even split, every time.
This approach immediately shines a light on every single channel in your marketing mix. By giving some credit to all the assisting touchpoints, it finally gives top-of-funnel and mid-funnel activities—like blog posts or early social media interactions—the recognition they deserve for their role in the journey.
At its best, the linear model champions the supporting cast of your marketing efforts. Its benefits are practical and clear, especially for teams that just need to see the whole picture.
By valuing every touchpoint, the linear model provides a solid, foundational understanding of how all your marketing activities work together as a system.
But here’s the catch: this democratic approach is also its greatest weakness. The model operates on the assumption that every interaction is equally valuable, which is almost never true in the real world.
The main disadvantage comes from its core logic. When you give the same amount of credit to every touchpoint, you can get a seriously skewed perception of what’s actually driving results.
Think about it. A user might briefly see a social media post, then weeks later, watch an in-depth product demo webinar before finally making a purchase. The linear model gives that fleeting social view the exact same value as the high-intent webinar. That’s a massive flaw.
This equal weighting can lead to some really poor budget decisions. You might overinvest in low-impact, high-volume touchpoints (like programmatic display ads) while undervaluing the high-impact interactions that truly persuade customers.
While it’s a big step up from a last-click model, it still fails to identify which channels are your best closers or your most effective openers. To get a better sense of where it fits, you can review the 5 most common ad attribution models and see where its logic both helps and falls short.
Knowing how the linear attribution model works is one thing. Knowing when to use it is where the real strategy comes in. While it’s definitely not the right fit for every business, it’s a powerhouse in situations where the entire customer journey deserves credit, not just one heroic final click.
The model’s balanced approach makes it a great choice for businesses that win by building relationships over time. If your sales cycle is long and winding, the linear model makes sure every touchpoint that kept the conversation going gets its fair share of the credit.
The linear model really comes into its own for businesses with long, complex sales cycles—a common reality in the B2B world. Imagine a company that sells enterprise software. A prospect might first find the brand through a helpful blog post, attend a webinar a few months later, open a few marketing emails, and finally book a demo after seeing a retargeting ad.
In a journey like that, every single one of those touchpoints was necessary to nurture the lead and keep the brand on their radar. A last-touch model would give 100% of the credit to the demo request, completely ignoring the blog post and webinar that did the heavy lifting early on. The linear model, on the other hand, recognizes that every step was part of the win.
By assigning equal credit, the linear model helps B2B marketers prove the value of their top-of-funnel content and long-term nurture campaigns—the very efforts that rarely get immediate credit but are absolutely essential for closing big deals.
The linear model is also a fantastic choice when your main goal isn't an instant sale, but building broad awareness and keeping your audience engaged. If you're running campaigns designed to keep your brand top-of-mind, this model gives you a complete picture of how all your channels are working together to make that happen.
This is especially helpful for judging the combined effort of your entire marketing mix. For a deeper dive into how different models align with specific goals, check out our complete guide to marketing attribution models to compare strategies.
Here are a few scenarios where a linear approach just makes sense:
At the end of the day, the linear attribution model is for strategists who believe that every interaction counts. Knowing when to apply it is a key part of accurately measuring the ROI of marketing automation tools and understanding your true campaign performance. If your philosophy is built on consistent, multi-channel engagement, this model offers the balanced view you need to make smarter decisions.
Alright, so you understand the theory behind the linear attribution model. Now, let's get our hands dirty and actually put it to work inside Google Analytics. This is where you stop guessing and start getting real answers about how your channels are working together.
The key is knowing where to look.
First, you’ll need to head over to the Model Comparison Tool within your Google Analytics account. This is a powerful little feature that lets you stack different models side-by-side to see how they assign credit for the exact same conversions.
Since Google Analytics is always evolving, it’s a good idea to make sure your setup is current. If you're new to the latest version or just want a refresher, a solid GA4 migration guide can be a lifesaver.
Once you’re in the tool, you can choose up to three different attribution models to compare. Your goal here is simple: compare your current default model (which is often Last Click) against the linear attribution model. This single action will instantly shine a light on the channels that have been flying under the radar.
This view tells a clear, data-backed story of each channel’s contribution across the entire customer journey, not just the final moment before a sale.
When you switch to the linear model, you'll see the conversion credits get redistributed. Don't be surprised if channels like Organic Social, Email Marketing, and Organic Search get a major credit boost compared to what you saw with a last-click view.
These are your "assisting" channels. They might not be the ones closing every deal, but they’re doing the critical work of introducing your brand and nurturing prospects along the way.
The linear model’s real power is its ability to justify the budget for your top-of-funnel and mid-funnel marketing. It gives you the proof you need to show that even if a channel isn't the final touchpoint, it's playing a vital role in the path to conversion.
To take your analysis to the next level, here’s what to do:
For a more detailed walkthrough, our guide on how to use the linear attribution model breaks it down with even more practical steps. Making this simple switch in your reporting turns abstract data into insights you can actually use, giving you a much truer picture of your marketing performance.
Once you start moving past the theory of the linear attribution model, the real questions begin to pop up. Putting it into practice means knowing the common pitfalls and where it shines (and where it doesn't). Here are some straight answers to the questions we hear marketers ask all the time.
The single biggest mistake is taking the “equal credit” rule at face value without a second thought. The model’s simplicity is its greatest strength, but it’s also a potential trap. It’s easy to look at a report, see that every touchpoint got the same slice of the pie, and just assume they’re all equally valuable.
That can be a dangerous assumption. A passive view of a social media ad is nowhere near as impactful as someone who attended an hour-long webinar.
The linear model is a starting point for analysis, not the final word. Its real job is to give you visibility into all the channels that played a role. It’s up to you to add the strategic context and figure out which touchpoints actually pushed the conversion forward.
For businesses with really short sales cycles—think low-cost consumer goods or impulse buys—the linear model is generally less helpful. When a customer sees an ad and buys within a few minutes, the journey is straightforward. In those cases, a first-touch or last-touch model usually gives you a clearer, more actionable picture.
The linear model really comes into its own when you’re looking at longer, more complex journeys where you need multiple interactions to nurture a lead. For quick sales, splitting the credit just complicates the analysis and dilutes the impact of the one touchpoint that really sealed the deal.
Getting offline interactions—like a trade show visit, a sales call, or a direct mail piece—into any digital attribution model is always a challenge. The key to making it work is diligent data collection.
To feed them into a linear model, you need a solid process for logging these events in your CRM. For example, if a sales rep logs a call or you scan a badge at an event, that data can be imported as a touchpoint in the customer's journey. It definitely takes some manual effort, but including offline data gives you a much more complete and honest view of how you’re winning customers.
Ready to move beyond guesswork and see your full marketing funnel with clarity? Cometly unifies all your marketing data into one powerful attribution platform, giving you the insights to optimize spend and scale with confidence. Start making data-driven decisions today.
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