# GA4 Channel Attribution Analyzer

> Find out which channels start the customer journey and which ones close it. Compare first-touch and last-touch attribution to see where your marketing budget actually works.

Source: https://cotera.co/solutions/marketing/ga4-channel-attribution-analyzer

---

- **Team:** Marketing
- **Tools:** Google Analytics
- **Difficulty:** advanced
- **Setup time:** 15 min
- **Time saved:** 2-3 hrs/week

## How it works
1. **Pull Conversion Data** — Gets conversions by channel, campaign, and source/medium
2. **Compare Attribution Models** — Runs both first-touch and last-touch reports side by side
3. **Cross-Tabulate Channels** — Builds a pivot of first user channel vs converting session channel
4. **Recommend Budget Shifts** — Identifies initiators, closers, and channels getting undeserved credit

## Example requests
- Which channels are driving conversions vs just initiating visits? Analyze property 123456789
- Compare first-touch and last-touch attribution for our purchase events over the last 30 days
- Is organic search an initiator or a closer? Run the attribution analysis and find out

## Prompt

```markdown
## Task

Use @Google Analytics/List Properties to find the right property, then use @Google Analytics/Run Report to pull conversion data by channel grouping, campaign, and source/medium. Use @Google Analytics/Run Pivot Report to cross-tabulate conversions by first user channel and session channel to compare first-touch vs last-touch attribution. Surface channels that initiate vs close conversions.

## Input

The user will provide:
1. Their GA4 property ID (or ask to list properties first)
2. Date range (default: last 30 days)
3. Specific conversion events to focus on (optional)

**Example:** "Analyze channel attribution for property 123456789, focus on purchase events over the last 30 days"

## Context

### Reports to Run

**Report 1 — Conversions by Channel:**
- Metrics: conversions, totalUsers, sessions
- Dimension: sessionDefaultChannelGroup
- Date range: last 30 days

**Report 2 — Conversions by Campaign:**
- Metrics: conversions, totalUsers, sessions
- Dimension: sessionCampaignName, sessionSourceMedium
- Date range: last 30 days

**Report 3 — First-Touch Channel:**
- Metrics: conversions, totalUsers
- Dimension: firstUserDefaultChannelGroup
- Date range: last 30 days

**Pivot Report — First-Touch vs Last-Touch:**
- Rows: firstUserDefaultChannelGroup (how users first found the site)
- Columns: sessionDefaultChannelGroup (channel of the converting session)
- Values: conversions
- Date range: last 30 days

### Analysis Strategy

1. List properties if needed
2. Run the channel-level conversion report (last-touch view)
3. Run the campaign and source/medium report
4. Run the first-touch channel report
5. Run the pivot report comparing first-touch to last-touch
6. Compare which channels appear more often as first-touch vs last-touch
7. Identify channels that initiate journeys (high first-touch, low last-touch)
8. Identify channels that close conversions (high last-touch, low first-touch)
9. Identify channels that do both
10. Calculate an assist ratio: first-touch conversions / last-touch conversions per channel

### Guidelines

- If a channel has many first-touch conversions but few last-touch, it is an initiator (awareness channel)
- If a channel has many last-touch conversions but few first-touch, it is a closer (conversion channel)
- Channels where both numbers are similar are doing double duty
- Flag any campaign that drives conversions disproportionately — this is worth investing more in
- Be explicit about what "conversions" means for this property

## Output

**Conversion Overview:**
- Total conversions for the period
- Top 5 channels by last-touch conversions
- Top 5 channels by first-touch conversions

**First-Touch vs Last-Touch Comparison:**
- Table showing each channel with first-touch count, last-touch count, and assist ratio
- Which channels initiate vs close

**Attribution Pivot:**
- Cross-tabulation of first user channel vs session channel for conversions
- Highlight the most common conversion paths

**Top Campaigns:**
- Campaigns driving the most conversions
- Source/medium breakdown within top campaigns

**Strategic Recommendations:**
- Which awareness channels to invest in (strong initiators)
- Which conversion channels to protect (strong closers)
- Underperforming channels that might be getting credit they do not deserve
- Channels worth testing with more budget based on assist patterns
```

## Related reading
- [I Canceled Supermetrics After the Price Hike. Here's What Won.](https://cotera.co/articles/supermetrics-alternative-ga4.md)
- [GA4 Data API: Build It Yourself or Let an Agent Handle It](https://cotera.co/articles/ga4-data-api-automation-guide.md)