Email Attribution: Why Last-Touch Is a Fantasy
In this segment of his YouTube video, Jimmy Kim argues that the common practice of last‑touch email attribution used by most ESPs (e.g., Omnisend, Klaviyo) is fundamentally flawed. He explains that ESPs credit revenue to an email simply because a customer clicked the email, landed on the site, and purchased within a short window (typically five days). Kim contends that this method over‑states email’s true impact, ignoring the myriad other touchpoints—such as ads, prior site visits, SMS, and social media—that often drive the purchase before the email is even opened. While acknowledging that the ESP model makes logical sense on paper, he maintains that it is largely a fantasy and that marketers should be skeptical of the revenue numbers presented by click‑through attribution.
