How to Set up First Touch, Last Touch, and U-Shaped Ad Attribution on Cometly

In modern B2B buying journeys, there is rarely a single decisive click. Prospects discover you through outbound email, see you repeatedly on LinkedIn and Meta, search for you weeks later on Google, and finally convert after multiple interactions. Assigning all credit to the final touch hides the real story—and leads to bad budget decisions.

This is why Cometly supports multiple attribution models, including first touch, last touch, and U-shaped attribution. Each model answers a different question, and when used correctly, they give you a much clearer picture of how your outbound, ads, and LinkedIn efforts actually work together.

In this article, we’ll explain what each attribution model means, when to use it, and how to set it up and interpret it inside Cometly.

Why Attribution Models Matter

Most ad platforms default to last-click attribution. This is convenient, but it’s rarely accurate in B2B.

Last-click attribution assumes that the final interaction caused the conversion. In reality, that last click often happens because of weeks or months of prior influence. Outbound emails created awareness. LinkedIn posts built trust. Retargeting ads reinforced credibility. Search simply captured demand that already existed.

If you only look at last-touch data, you will consistently over-value demand capture channels and under-invest in awareness and influence channels. Over time, this shrinks the top of the funnel and hurts pipeline growth.

Attribution models exist to prevent that mistake.

What Cometly Does Differently

Cometly tracks the entire customer journey using a persistent identifier. Instead of relying on fragile browser cookies or siloed platform reports, it maps every touchpoint—email clicks, ad views, ad clicks, site visits, and conversions—into a single timeline.

Once a conversion occurs, Cometly doesn’t force you into a single attribution model. Instead, it allows you to view performance through multiple lenses, depending on the question you’re trying to answer.

This flexibility is especially important for B2B companies with long sales cycles and multiple influencing channels.

First Touch Attribution: Measuring Awareness Creation

First touch attribution assigns 100% of the credit to the first interaction a prospect had with your company.

In Cometly, first touch answers the question:
“Where did this lead first discover us?”

This model is most useful for understanding which channels are best at generating initial awareness. Outbound email, LinkedIn ads, Meta ads, and content distribution often perform extremely well under first-touch attribution—even if they don’t close deals directly.

First touch attribution is valuable when:

• You want to understand top-of-funnel performance
• You are evaluating awareness campaigns
• You are comparing outbound vs paid social for discovery
• You want to ensure demand creation channels aren’t undervalued

However, first touch alone should never be used to determine ROI or CAC. It tells you where interest started—not what ultimately converted.

Last Touch Attribution: Measuring Demand Capture

Last touch attribution assigns 100% of the credit to the final interaction before conversion.

In Cometly, last touch answers the question:
“Which channel captured demand at the moment of conversion?”

This model often favors Google Search, branded queries, retargeting ads, or direct traffic. These channels tend to perform well at the bottom of the funnel, where intent is already high.

Last touch attribution is useful when:

• You want to understand which channels close demand
• You are optimizing bottom-of-funnel campaigns
• You are measuring immediate conversion efficiency
• You are evaluating landing page performance

The danger of relying solely on last touch is that it makes demand creation look unnecessary. In reality, those last clicks usually wouldn’t exist without the earlier touches.

U-Shaped Attribution: The Most Balanced View

U-shaped attribution is often the most useful model for B2B companies.

In Cometly, U-shaped attribution gives significant credit to:

• The first touch (discovery)
• The last touch (conversion)
• Partial credit to the interactions in between

This reflects how real buying journeys work. Awareness matters. Conversion moments matter. And influence happens throughout the process.

U-shaped attribution answers the question:
“How did multiple channels work together to produce this result?”

This model is especially effective for:

• High-ACV B2B companies
• Long sales cycles
• Omnichannel strategies (outbound + LinkedIn + ads)
• Budget allocation decisions across platforms

Rather than forcing a winner, U-shaped attribution shows contribution.

How to Set Attribution Models in Cometly

Once Cometly is installed and tracking conversions, attribution models are applied at the reporting level—not the tracking level.

This is important. You do not “lock in” a model permanently. Instead, you can switch between models depending on the analysis you’re running.

Inside Cometly’s reporting interface, you can select:

• First touch
• Last touch
• Linear
• U-shaped

You can apply different models to different reports. For example, you might review first-touch reports to evaluate outbound and paid social performance, then switch to U-shaped reports when analyzing CAC by channel.

This flexibility allows leadership, marketing, and revenue teams to answer different questions without arguing over which model is “correct.”

How to Use Attribution Models for Better Decisions

The goal of attribution is not precision—it’s clarity.

No model can perfectly explain human decision-making. What matters is using attribution consistently and intelligently.

A common best practice is:

• Use first touch to protect and justify awareness spend
• Use last touch to optimize conversion mechanics
• Use U-shaped attribution for budget allocation and forecasting

When teams view all three together, patterns emerge quickly. You begin to see which channels introduce you, which channels reinforce you, and which channels close the deal.

This prevents over-investing in short-term wins at the expense of long-term growth.

Attribution Is Insight, Not Truth

One of the most important mindset shifts is understanding that attribution is not a source of absolute truth—it’s a decision-support tool.

Cometly gives you better data than native platforms, but interpretation still matters. Channels influence behavior in ways that cannot always be measured. View-through impressions, brand familiarity, and trust accumulation all matter, even when they don’t show up as clicks.

Attribution models help you see the system—not just the transaction.

Final Thoughts

Setting up first touch, last touch, and U-shaped attribution in Cometly allows B2B teams to move beyond simplistic ROI thinking and into system-level decision-making.

Instead of asking which channel “won,” you begin asking which channels deserve sustained investment. Instead of chasing last-click performance, you build durable demand. Instead of guessing, you allocate budget with confidence.

When combined with outbound email, LinkedIn outreach, and ABM ads, Cometly’s attribution models provide the clarity needed to scale intelligently—without cutting the very channels that made growth possible in the first place.