Square Marketing - How are sales attributed, Its transparency and accuracy?

[mitin]

Hi everyone,

I’m reaching out to see if anyone can shed some light on how Square attributes purchases to its marketing campaigns. I’ve run into some challenges and would really appreciate your expertise, since support hasn’t been helpful.

Here are my main concerns:

• Attribution Accuracy:
  From what I understand, if a customer receives a campaign and makes a purchase within 14 days, that purchase is attributed to the campaign.

  • But if someone receives multiple campaigns within that window and then shops, is their purchase counted toward all those campaigns?
  • If so, it seems like results could be duplicated or seriously inflated, making it hard to truly measure which campaign is effective.

• Transaction Transparency:

  • Is there any way to see the actual transactions Square claims were influenced by a campaign?
  • I’m looking for details like which customer and which purchase—so far I haven’t been able to find this anywhere in the reporting.

• Support Experience:

  • I’ve reached out to Square support multiple times for different issues, but unfortunately, I keep getting vague answers or am told this is a “feature request.”
  • It’s genuinely frustrating not to get clear information on how my data is being calculated.

• Larger Concern:

  • My biggest worry is that, without reliable or visible data, the numbers Square reports just can’t be trusted.
  • Honestly, if I can’t get transparency, I’m beginning to wonder if I should consider a different marketing platform altogether.

If anyone here has figured out how to get more transparency or found any sort of workaround, I’d be incredibly grateful for your input. I know a lot of us rely on accurate data to make smart business decisions.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read—and for any guidance you can share!

[Summer2024 · Accepted solution]

Hi, @mitin ! 

Let me break down each of your concerns and provide the most current information available😁

Attribution Methodology

1. 14-Day Attribution Window

• Confirmed: Square uses a 14-day attribution window
• Any purchase within this period after campaign receipt can be attributed
• This is an industry-standard timeframe, similar to other platforms

2. Multiple Campaign Attribution Your concern about duplicate attribution is valid. Here's how it works:

• Yes, a single purchase can be attributed to multiple campaigns
• This is called "multi-touch attribution"
• The same revenue amount can appear across different campaign reports
• This can indeed lead to what appears to be "double counting" in overall metrics

Best Practices for Accurate Measurement

1. Campaign Spacing

• Space out campaigns by more than 14 days when possible
• Use different customer segments for simultaneous campaigns
• Create control groups to measure true impact

2. Data Analysis Tips

• Look at campaign-specific unique click rates
• Compare conversion rates between different customer segments
• Focus on incremental revenue rather than total attributed revenue
• Use A/B testing with clear separation between groups

Available Reporting Tools

1. Current Reports Available:

• Campaign Overview Report
• Email Performance Metrics
• Revenue Attribution Summary
• Customer Engagement Stats

2. Transaction Level Detail: Unfortunately, you're correct that Square currently doesn't provide:

• Individual transaction details in campaign reports
• Customer-level purchase attribution
• Multi-touch attribution breakdown

Workarounds and Solutions

1. Manual Tracking:

• Create unique promo codes for each campaign
• Use different landing pages or links for different campaigns
• Track timeline of campaigns against sales data manually

2. Alternative Analysis Methods:

• Compare sales periods before and after campaigns
• Look at customer purchase frequency changes
• Track repeat purchase behavior
• Monitor customer segment performance

Recommendations

1. Short Term:

• Document campaign timing carefully
• Use unique offers for different campaigns
• Create clear separation between campaign groups
• Focus on relative performance metrics rather than absolute numbers

2. Long Term:

• Consider supplementing Square Marketing with additional analytics tools
• Request detailed reporting features through Square's feedback channels
• Maintain your own tracking system for campaign performance

Alternative Considerations

If detailed attribution is crucial for your business, you might want to:

1. Use Square Marketing in conjunction with other analytics platforms
2. Implement additional tracking methods (like unique codes)
3. Consider alternative platforms that offer more detailed attribution reporting

I know this is lengthy, but I hope it helps provide some context. 

[mitin]

@Summer2024 Thank you for taking the time to detail the answers, 

I’m a bit worried about the multiple campaign contribution issue, but I get that Square is having a tough time with it. It’s great to know so I can adjust my campaigns accordingly.

By the way, when can we expect Square to share the details? They’re collecting all this information, so why not share it with their customers?

The promo code approach works well, but not all my campaigns have promo codes.

I’m using Square Email marketing, but I’m not sure how to measure the effectiveness of my marketing since I have limited data and double attributions.

As a seller, these are things we rely on from any platform we use.

Anyway, I still want to thank you for taking the time to go through all my concerns and address them.

[DinaLRosenberg]

I actually never knew any of this but this is amazing information so thank you!

[mitin]

@Summer2024 Why was this thread merged, they are separate topics?

[Summer2024]

I am not sure why there were merged, as I was not the one who did it. I will look into this.