← DictionaryFirst-Touch Attribution
Crediting the first recorded interaction with the conversion.
All credit to whatever brought them in first.
What It Is
In the BWH map, First-Touch Attribution lives under Measurement — Attribution. The canonical meaning is crediting the first recorded interaction with the conversion.
It is an idea you reason with rather than a deliverable you hand over, so two teams can both hold it correctly and still apply it differently. Keep it that plain and it will still be true in twelve months.
How It's Used
First-Touch Attribution earns its keep in reporting, analytics reviews and the arguments about what the numbers mean. It normally appears alongside Attribution, Last-Touch Attribution and Multi-Touch Attribution. The practical test is whether a decision changes because of it.
Why It Matters
The cost of being vague about First-Touch Attribution shows up later, not today. When it is unclear, reporting becomes a matter of opinion. Clarity here removes a surprising amount of downstream argument.
Think of it as a lens. Look through it and some choices get obvious. All credit to whatever brought them in first.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Professionally, First-Touch Attribution carries the narrow meaning: crediting the first recorded interaction with the conversion.
Explained to someone with no marketing background, First-Touch Attribution is all credit to whatever brought them in first.
The Bottom Line
Keep First-Touch Attribution plain: all credit to whatever brought them in first. That is the version that holds up in a real project.