When to Use Attributed By in Funnel Report Breakdown
when is it appropriate to use the Attributed by option in the breakdown of a Funnel report, ie I have 2 events in a funnel and I want to attribute by an attribute belonging to a 3rd event
when is it appropriate to use the Attributed by option in the breakdown of a Funnel report, ie I have 2 events in a funnel and I want to attribute by an attribute belonging to a 3rd event
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You should use the "Attributed by..." option in the breakdown of a Funnel report when you want to attribute conversion credit to touchpoints or properties that may not be directly part of the funnel steps, but are relevant to the user's journey leading up to the funnel. This is especially useful for attribution analysis, such as marketing attribution, where you want to understand which channels, campaigns, or other touchpoints (often tracked as properties on separate events) influenced the user's conversion.For example, if your funnel consists of two events (e.g., "Sign Up" and "Purchase"), but you want to attribute conversions based on a property (like UTM source or marketing channel) that is only present on a third event (e.g., "Page View" or "Ad Click"), the "Attributed by..." breakdown allows you to do this. Mixpanel will look at the relevant property from the user's journey—even if it was set on a different event—and attribute the funnel conversion accordingly.This is appropriate when: - The property you want to attribute by (e.g., UTM parameters, referrer, marketing channel) is not present on the funnel events themselves, but is present on other events in the user's journey. - You want to analyze the impact of different touchpoints or channels on funnel conversion, using multi-touch or single-touch attribution models. - You need to distribute conversion credit across segments defined by properties from outside the funnel steps.To use this feature, select the “Attributed by…” breakdown, then choose the property you want to attribute by (e.g., UTM medium, source, or a custom property). Mixpanel will then attribute funnel entries based on the selected property from the relevant touchpoints, not just the funnel events themselves. This is particularly powerful for marketing attribution and understanding the broader user journey leading to conversion Attribution: Multi-touch segmentation in the user conversion journey | Funnels Advanced Concepts: Attributed by Breakdown.Note: Make sure the property you want to use for attribution is being tracked on the relevant events in the user journey, even if those events are not part of the funnel steps themselves.
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Including the "3rd event" (the event with the attribution property) as the first event in your funnel can have both benefits and trade-offs, depending on your analysis goals: Benefits: - If you include the 3rd event as the first step, you ensure that only users who performed that event are considered in the funnel. This can be useful if you want to restrict your analysis to users who had a specific touchpoint or experience before entering the main funnel steps. - The property from this event will be directly available for breakdowns and filtering, potentially simplifying your funnel setup.Trade-offs / Restrictions: - Including the 3rd event as the first step restricts your funnel to only those users who performed that event, which may exclude users who converted through other paths or did not perform the 3rd event. This could limit the scope of your analysis and potentially undercount conversions. - If your goal is to attribute conversions based on properties from touchpoints that may occur at any point in the user journey (not just as the first step), using the "Attributed by..." breakdown is more flexible. This feature allows you to attribute conversions based on properties from any relevant event in the journey, without requiring that event to be a funnel step Attribution: Multi-touch segmentation in the user conversion journey | Funnels Advanced Concepts: Attributed by Breakdown.Summary: Including the 3rd event as the first step restricts your funnel to users who did that event, which may be useful for targeted analysis but reduces flexibility. Using the "Attributed by..." breakdown provides more flexibility for attribution analysis, as it does not require the event to be part of the funnel steps.If you need to attribute by a property from a touchpoint that isn't a funnel step, it's generally better to use the "Attributed by..." breakdown rather than forcing that event into your funnel sequence.
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Yes, the "Attributed by" property in Mixpanel attribution can be performed at any time before the first event in the funnel—it does not need to be part of the funnel steps themselves. The attribution model uses a lookback window, which defines how far back Mixpanel will search for relevant touchpoints (events with the attribution property) before the conversion event.For example, if your funnel's conversion window is set to "1 session," the attribution property (such as a UTM parameter) must be present on an event that occurred within that session, before the first funnel event. Mixpanel will attribute the conversion based on the most relevant touchpoint within the defined lookback window, which ends when the conversion event (first funnel step) happens Attribution: Multi-touch segmentation in the user conversion journey.So, if the touchpoint event with the attribution property happened before the first funnel event but within the same session (or within the lookback window you’ve set), it will be used for attribution. If it happened outside the lookback window, it will not be considered.Key points: - The touchpoint event does not need to be a funnel step. - The event must occur within the attribution lookback window (e.g., 1 session, 30 days) before the conversion event. - Attribution is based on the user journey leading up to the funnel, not just the funnel steps themselves Attribution: Multi-touch segmentation in the user conversion journey.If you need more specific details about session-based attribution windows, the knowledge sources do not provide further granularity.
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