Definition
Channel attribution ratio measures email's share of total conversions across all your marketing channels including organic search, paid search, social, direct, affiliate, and email. It provides a clear picture of email's relative importance in your marketing mix.
Calculation
To calculate accurately, you need a cross-channel tracking setup (usually via Google Analytics or a dedicated attribution platform) that can handle multi-touch attribution. Without it, last-click attribution typically undervalues email's role in the middle of the funnel.
Why It Matters
Understanding email's true attribution share helps you make informed budget allocation decisions. If email drives 25% of revenue but receives only 5% of marketing spend, you may be underinvesting in your highest-performing channel.
Related Glossary Terms
A/B Testing
A/B testing in email marketing is the practice of sending two variations of an email to a small sample of your list to determine which version performs better before sending the winner to the remaining subscribers.
Announcement Email
An announcement email is a dedicated campaign that communicates a specific update, milestone, or change to subscribers, from product launches and feature releases to company news and events.
ARPU (Average Revenue Per User)
ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) is a metric that measures the average revenue generated per email subscriber over a specific period, used to evaluate list value and campaign effectiveness.
Attention Rate
Attention rate is the percentage of email opens that last longer than 5 seconds, distinguishing genuine reads from passive opens, preview-pane views, or Apple MPP auto-loads.
B2B Email Marketing
B2B email marketing targets business professionals and organisations with longer sales cycles, educational content, and relationship-driven campaigns compared to B2C email.
B2C Email Marketing
B2C email marketing focuses on sending targeted promotional and transactional emails to individual consumers, emphasising personalisation, urgency, and direct response.