How to Attribute Sales Properly in Influencer Campaigns

When you partner with creators, the hard part isn’t just getting them to post — it’s knowing whether their post actually drove revenue. Without proper attribution, you risk overpaying for creators who didn’t convert or under-investing in the ones who did.

Here’s how to get attribution right.

1. Understand the Types of Attribution

Not all attribution models are created equal. Depending on your brand size, product type, and creator strategy, you'll want to choose the method that fits.

Common models :

• Last-click attribution : The creator gets credit only if the customer converted directly from their link. Simple, but often underestimates creator value.
• First-click attribution : Useful when you care about awareness and who sparked interest.
• Multi-touch attribution : Better for campaigns involving multiple touchpoints (e.g. a TikTok post followed by an IG Story)

For most DTC brands, a mix of last-click and multi-touch gives the clearest picture.

2. Use Trackable Links and Discount Codes

Every creator should have :

• A unique tracking link (UTM-based or platform-native).
• A personalized discount code (even if small).

This allows you to cross-reference sales from links and direct checkouts where customers used the code but didn’t click. Growi makes this easy by automatically assigning trackable links and codes to every creator, with built-in performance dashboards that handle attribution cleanly — no spreadsheets or manual matching required.

3. Look Beyond Sales

Not every campaign will drive immediate conversions. Some posts build trust or spark a product search days later. To get the full picture, also track :

• Traffic spikes
• Follower overlap
• Content engagement (CTR, comments)
• View-through conversions (if using paid ads)

With Growi, you can view both direct conversions and assisted performance metrics, so your team can identify which creators should be rebooked or scaled via paid.

4. Run A/B Campaigns With the Same Brief

Sometimes, the best way to evaluate attribution is through comparison :

• Run a group of creators with the same campaign brief
• Compare conversion rates across them
• Use this to benchmark future partnerships

Growi lets you group creators into campaigns, standardize briefs, and compare ROI side-by-side — making A/B testing painless.

5. Align Attribution With Your Business Model

Selling a $500 product with a long purchase cycle? Don’t expect instant attribution. Selling $20 accessories? Last-click will tell you a lot.

Choose an attribution model that reflects how people actually buy your product.

TL;DR

Getting attribution right means blending data with context. Tracking links and discount codes are a good start — but the real power comes from using tools that combine sales data, content performance, and post-campaign analysis.

Growi was built to give brands that visibility. No hacks, no exports, just clean performance data across all your creator partnerships.