# What is marketing channel attribution?

> Marketing channel attribution links the channels an account touched, such as LinkedIn, Google and organic, to the deals it opens and closes.

Author: Emilia Korczynska
Published: 2026-11-10
Updated: 2026-11-10
Categories: Attribution & ROI
Source: https://zenabm.com/faq/what-is-marketing-channel-attribution

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**Marketing channel attribution** connects every touchpoint an account had to the deals that account opens and closes. The touchpoints come from channels such as LinkedIn ads, Google ads, organic visits, direct traffic, and AI referrals. It shows how each channel contributed, instead of crediting only one click.

## How marketing channel attribution works

In B2B, buyers rarely convert on the first visit. Channel attribution works in four steps:

1. Collect the touchpoints each channel produced and match them to the company behind them.
2. Put all touchpoints on one account timeline.
3. Join the timeline to the deals in your CRM.
4. Count a channel as influencing a deal when the account reached a minimum number of impressions inside a set window before the deal opened. You choose both numbers, so report them next to the result. I explain this in [our post on influenced pipeline](/blog/influenced-pipeline-linkedin-ads-revenue-attribution).

![Four steps of channel attribution: match touchpoints to a company, build an account timeline, join CRM deals, apply a window](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/what-is-marketing-channel-attribution-channel-attribution-in-four-steps.png)

This is different from [last-touch attribution](/blog/linkedin-ads-attribution), which gives all the credit to the final touchpoint, so direct traffic and branded search often win the credit for work other channels started. Treat the result as an explanation, not proof. Your CRM records what happened, and the account journey helps you explain how each channel contributed. To test whether a channel truly causes deals, compare target accounts with a control group that sees no ads.

## Where you see marketing channel attribution

You can see it in your CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce or Attio) as source fields on contacts, companies, and deals. In HubSpot, a contact's source history shows the channel of each touch. LinkedIn Campaign Manager adds its own view, with Last Touch - Last Campaign and Last Touch - Each Campaign attribution settings. Each shows only one platform's version of the story.

ZenABM shows which companies engage with your LinkedIn ads, using LinkedIn's official API and no form fills. It also puts Google Ads, Reddit Ads, AI referrals, and organic visits on the same company journey, so you can see which channels touched a deal. 

![ZenABM company performance timeline overlaying Linkedyn impressions, clicks and cost with Google Ads clicks, website visits and the deal opened](https://cdn.zenabm.com/media/zenabm-company-performance-timeline.png)

## Related terms

- [Revenue attribution](/faq/what-is-revenue-attribution): linking ad spend and touchpoints to the revenue they helped create.
- [Multi-touch attribution for LinkedIn Ads](/blog/multi-touch-attribution-linkedin-ads): crediting every ad engagement an account had, not only the last click.
- [Influenced pipeline](/blog/influenced-pipeline-linkedin-ads-revenue-attribution): deals that an account touched above a set threshold before they opened.
- [Company journey](/docs/insights/company-journey): one account's touchpoints across channels, shown on a single timeline.
- Incrementality testing: measures lift by comparing exposed accounts with an unexposed holdout group.