When you’re investing in multiple marketing channels, understanding which efforts actually drive conversions is critical. Instead of being left in the dark wondering where leads originated or which leads converted, attribution data provides clarity and direction. With proper marketing attribution modeling, marketers can understand what’s working, optimize campaigns, and earn greater ROI for their clients.
We’ve found that tools like WhatConverts are changing the game for businesses seeking to measure marketing attribution effectively. By tracking calls, form submissions, and other conversion points, this lead attribution solution helps connect marketing efforts to actual results. Perhaps most impressively, 90% of users report seeing a 25% increase in leads after implementing the platform.
In this review, we’ll examine how WhatConverts helps solve the attribution puzzle in 2025, which models work best for different business needs, and whether this platform delivers the ROI insights it promises.
What Is WhatConverts and Why Lead Attribution Matters
WhatConverts stands as a comprehensive lead attribution platform designed to solve one of marketing’s most persistent challenges—connecting campaigns to actual results.
Understanding WhatConverts as a Lead Attribution Tool
WhatConverts functions as a lead tracking and reporting platform that captures potential customer actions across multiple touchpoints. Unlike basic analytics tools, WhatConverts doesn’t merely count conversions; it follows individual leads throughout their journey. The platform consolidates all lead types—phone calls, form submissions, chats, and e-commerce transactions—into a single dashboard, providing marketers with a complete picture of lead generation efforts. Moreover, users can mark leads as quotable and assign specific sales values, creating a direct connection between marketing activities and potential revenue.
Why Attribution Data Is Critical for ROI
Attribution data forms the backbone of effective marketing budget allocation. Without proper attribution, businesses commonly misallocate up to 30% of their marketing budget. Conversely, companies leveraging advanced attribution models report 15-30% lower customer acquisition costs and up to 40% improvement in marketing ROI. WhatConverts addresses this challenge by enabling users to qualify leads with simple “Qualified/Not Qualified” labels, removing junk leads from marketing data for a cleaner picture of true marketing ROI. Additionally, the platform tracks every Google Ads lead back to the specific ad, campaign, and keyword, revealing which elements deserve more budget based on qualified lead generation rather than just click volume.
What Is Lead Attribution in 2025?
Lead attribution in 2025 has evolved substantially as customer journeys grow increasingly complex. According to Google’s latest Marketing Insights Report, customers now interact with brands an average of 8 times before making a purchase decision, while McKinsey’s 2024 Digital Marketing Survey reveals 76% of marketers still struggle to determine which channels deserve credit for conversions. Essentially, lead attribution involves assigning credit to marketing channels to determine their effectiveness in generating qualified leads. The landscape has shifted toward data-driven attribution powered by AI, with companies using AI-powered attribution seeing an average improvement of 27% in campaign performance across all channels. Furthermore, attribution has expanded beyond simply counting conversions to understanding the quality and value of leads generated through each marketing effort.
Attribution Models Explained: From First Click to Multi-Touch
Understanding the various lead attribution models helps marketers make informed decisions about their marketing strategies. The right model can reveal which channels deserve credit for bringing in qualified leads and ultimately driving conversions.
First-Touch vs Last-Touch Attribution
Single-touch attribution assigns all conversion credit to one touchpoint in the customer journey. First-touch attribution gives 100% credit to the initial interaction a customer has with your brand. For instance, if someone discovers your business through an Instagram ad and later converts via email, Instagram receives full credit. This model excels at measuring top-of-funnel activities and identifying how customers first discover your brand.
Alternatively, last-touch attribution assigns full credit to the final interaction before conversion. This approach prioritizes bottom-of-funnel activities and highlights which touchpoints directly drive conversions. Though both models are straightforward to implement, they present an incomplete picture by ignoring other influential touchpoints throughout the customer journey.
Linear and Time Decay Models
Multi-touch attribution models distribute credit across multiple touchpoints. The linear model splits credit equally among all interactions, providing a holistic view that recognizes every touchpoint’s contribution. Nevertheless, it may oversimplify by treating all interactions identically.
The time decay model assigns increasing weight to touchpoints as they get closer to conversion. For example, a customer finding your travel agency via a blog post might get 20% credit, reading reviews 30%, and booking after clicking an email 50%. This approach acknowledges that recent interactions typically have stronger influence on conversion decisions.
Position-Based and W-Shaped Models
Position-based (U-shaped) attribution allocates 40% credit each to first and last touchpoints, with the remaining 20% distributed among middle interactions. This balanced approach recognizes both customer acquisition and conversion triggers.
The W-shaped model distributes 30% each to three key moments—first interaction, lead creation, and opportunity creation—with the remaining 10% split among other touchpoints. This sophisticated approach works well for businesses with clearly defined conversion stages.
When to Use Each Attribution Model
Choosing the appropriate attribution model depends on your business goals and sales cycle:
- First-touch: Ideal for brand awareness campaigns and short sales cycles
- Last-touch: Best for conversion-focused strategies and immediate purchase decisions
- Linear: Suitable for multichannel campaigns where all touchpoints contribute equally
- Time decay: Effective for longer sales cycles where recent interactions have greater impact
- Position-based: Perfect for businesses valuing both initial discovery and final conversion triggers
- W-shaped: Optimal for complex B2B journeys with distinct lead creation stages
How WhatConverts Measures Marketing Attribution
The power of WhatConverts lies in its comprehensive tracking capabilities that span various lead generation channels. By capturing data across multiple touchpoints, this platform offers marketers a holistic view of their attribution landscape.
Tracking Calls, Forms, and Chats
WhatConverts employs a multi-channel approach to lead tracking. For phone conversations, it uses Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI) to display unique phone numbers based on visitor source, enabling precise tracking of which marketing efforts drive calls. Beyond calls, the platform captures form submissions by instantly recording form contents along with marketing source data. Similarly, chat tracking captures complete conversation details, preserving chat transcripts and marketing attribution simultaneously. This unified approach ensures no conversion point goes untracked, regardless of how prospects choose to engage.
Lead Journey Visualization
According to Google, marketing leaders are 1.5x more likely than mainstream marketers to have a clear view of the customer journey. WhatConverts addresses this advantage gap through its Customer Journey View, which displays every interaction and page view for each lead. The timeline reveals how prospects transform from strangers to customers, showing every touchpoint throughout the process. This visualization identifies which content prospects engage with and where they might encounter obstacles in the conversion path.
Lead Qualification and Value Assignment
WhatConverts enables users to categorize leads based on quality, distinguishing genuine opportunities from support calls or wrong numbers. Specifically, marketers can attach monetary values to qualified leads, converting abstract metrics into concrete financial figures that stakeholders immediately understand. Additionally, custom qualification rules can be created to match specific business requirements, flagging leads based on service interest, location, or budget considerations.
How to Measure Marketing Attribution with WhatConverts
Implementing effective attribution measurement through WhatConverts involves:
- Setting up tracking for all conversion points (calls, forms, chats)
- Establishing lead qualification criteria specific to your business
- Assigning monetary values to qualified leads
- Creating custom reports that filter leads by quality/value
- Sending qualified lead data back to advertising platforms to optimize bidding algorithms
This approach teaches ad systems to target prospects more likely to become valuable customers, automatically refining campaign targeting for improved results.
Plans and Features: Is WhatConverts Worth the Price?
Pricing is often the deciding factor when selecting a lead attribution tool. WhatConverts offers a tiered approach that scales with business needs and marketing complexity.
Pricing Tiers: Call Tracking to Elite Plan
WhatConverts structures its pricing in four distinct tiers. The entry-level Call Tracking plan costs $30/month, focusing primarily on phone call attribution. Moving up, the Plus plan at $60/month expands tracking capabilities beyond calls to include forms and chat. The Pro tier at $100/month adds advanced features like call flows and custom reporting tools. Finally, the Elite plan at $160/month delivers the most comprehensive attribution capabilities including customer journey tracking and multi-touch attribution.
Key Features by Plan
Each tier builds progressively on the previous one. The Call Tracking plan includes instant call tracking numbers, dynamic number insertion, call recording, and basic API access. Plus adds form and chat tracking along with campaign and keyword reporting. Pro enhances functionality with call flows, report builder, scheduled reports, and HIPAA compliance. Elite unlocks the full potential with customer journey visualization, multi-click attribution, and lead intelligence for automatic qualification.
CRM and Ad Platform Integrations
Notably, WhatConverts boasts over 1,000 integrations with popular software tools. The platform connects seamlessly with major CRM systems, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, and Insightly. For advertising platforms, WhatConverts integrates directly with Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Bing Ads. These integrations allow marketers to send qualified leads with their associated values directly to ad platforms, enabling more accurate ROI calculations.
Real-Time Dashboard and Reporting Tools
The platform’s dashboard provides instant insights with real-time lead notifications appearing in messaging apps like Slack. Email notifications alert users to new leads, while the API makes all lead data available in real-time. The dashboard displays total leads broken down by type, source/medium analytics, and page performance metrics. Users can create custom reports using the Report Builder tool, and schedule automated report delivery to stakeholders.
Conclusion
After testing WhatConverts extensively, I can confidently say this platform stands as one of the most comprehensive lead attribution solutions available in 2025. The ability to track every touchpoint across calls, forms, and chats provides marketers with unparalleled visibility into what actually drives conversions.
Perhaps most importantly, WhatConverts transforms the once-murky world of marketing attribution into clear, actionable data. Rather than guessing which campaigns deserve credit, users can now see exactly how leads move through their journey – from first discovery to final conversion. This clarity helps eliminate the estimated 30% of wasted marketing budget that plagues businesses without proper attribution.
The tiered pricing structure also makes WhatConverts accessible for businesses at different stages. Whether you need basic call tracking at $30/month or comprehensive multi-touch attribution at $160/month, the platform scales alongside your attribution needs.
Additionally, the integration ecosystem truly sets WhatConverts apart. Connections with over 1,000 tools – including major CRMs and ad platforms – mean the attribution data flows directly where it’s needed most. This seamless data transfer allows for immediate optimization rather than manual data analysis.
The real-world results speak volumes. When 90% of users report a 25% increase in leads after implementation, WhatConverts clearly delivers on its promises. The platform has evolved beyond simple conversion counting into a complete lead intelligence system that helps qualify prospects and assign actual monetary values to marketing efforts.
Therefore, marketers seeking to prove ROI and optimize their campaigns would find significant value in what this platform offers. While attribution modeling grows increasingly complex each year, WhatConverts provides the clarity needed to navigate this complexity with confidence. The days of wondering which marketing efforts actually work are finally behind us.