Do Facebook Ads Use First Click or Last Click Attribution?

With Facebook Ads, you get credit for a conversion after a lead clicks on your ad, or after they ultimately convert? Real-time bidding can be tricky. Luckily, Facebook Ads uses last click attribution, so you’re always adequately credited. But what is last-click attribution? And how does it affect your lead generation strategy? Let’s dig in.

What is Attribution?

First, let’s go over what attribution means. Attribution is when an ads manager can track the conversion from one activity to another through a series of events before the customer opts-in. There are many different types of attributions, including first click, last click, linear attribution, and smart attribution. Each type has its benefits depending on your marketing goals and how much data you have available to work with after someone clicks on an ad or visits your site in general.

Facebook ads attribution models are imperative to understand when you’re running a campaign. Facebook ads have two attribution models, Facebook Ads first click and Facebook Ads last click. According to the Facebook Business Help Center, both first click and last click attribution are “rules-based single-touch attribution models” and are often called the visit model.

Last Click Attribution

Facebook Ads work primarily with the last click attribution model. This means an ad will receive credit for the lead or sale, even if prospects clicked on another ad (or several other ads) on the same device before finally converting. The last click model works best when you want to consider only the visitor’s most recent action before their conversion attempt.

This can help marketers understand which marketing channels, ads, and promotional strategies have significantly impacted conversions. It also helps determine how much credit each channel should receive for its role in converting visitors into customers.

Let’s say someone sees one of your ads on Facebook, but they click on the link without purchasing your product or opting into an offer. Now, if they view another ad later that day and then decide to buy your product, Facebook will credit the second ad for sale. So, if you’re using Facebook’s default attribution settings, the last advertisement someone clicks before converting gets all the glory.

Here’s another scenario. For instance, a 4-week launch campaign could include 28 ads running at various points during that 4-week cycle. If a prospective customer sees all 28 ads but only converts after clicking on ad 28, that’s the advert Facebook will credit for sale. When planning ad campaigns, the last-click attribution data can show you trends.

If every ad has 1000 impressions but conversions spike during weeks one and four, you can use that information when planning future campaigns. For social media advertising goals such as increasing brand awareness, it’s best not to use last-click attribution because it ignores impressions and oversimplifies conversion paths that require visitors to think about the purchase before acting on it.

The Facebook Ads last-click attribution models work best when you are looking to optimize your campaign’s performance, like if people are exploring other options before making their final decision about what they will buy.

Need Some Help?

There’s still a lot more to know before you start running your first Facebook advertising campaign. If you need some help, we know just how. Give us a call!

Results-driven, dynamic Director of Sales & Marketing turned Certified Master Marketer, Tammy uses all of her digital marketing smarts for good…she has managed millions of dollars in top-line revenue and hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising spend while consistently generating a 2:1 return inside the Facebook & Google Ad platforms. Follow Tammy on Facebook & Instagram.