W-shaped attribution
In short
W-shaped attribution is a multi-touch attribution model that assigns the largest shares of credit to three key touchpoints in the buyer journey: the first touch, the moment a lead is created, and the moment an opportunity is created. The remaining credit is spread across other touches.
The name comes from the shape of a chart of credit by stage, which has three peaks. It is a rule-based model, so the weights are chosen by your team, not learned from data.
How the credit is split
The most common version gives 30% to each of the three milestone touches, which totals 90%. The remaining 10% is divided among all other touches between them. These weights are a convention, not a rule, and teams adjust them.
Example
Say a deal is won after six touches: a blog visit (first touch), a webinar sign-up (lead creation), two emails, a demo request (opportunity creation), and a pricing page visit. With 30/30/30, the blog, webinar, and demo request each get 30% of the revenue credit. The two emails and the pricing visit share the last 10%.
W-shaped vs. other models
- First-touch: Gives all credit to the first interaction. See first-touch attribution.
- Last-touch: Gives all credit to the final interaction before conversion.
- U-shaped: Credits first touch and lead creation only. W-shaped adds the opportunity creation milestone.
- Linear: Splits credit equally across every touch.
When W-shaped attribution fits
It suits B2B teams with longer cycles and a clear CRM stage for lead creation and opportunity creation. It works best when those stages are recorded reliably, because the model depends on them.
Limitations and common mistakes
- Arbitrary weights: The 30% split is a choice. Test whether other splits change your budget decisions.
- Messy stage data: If opportunity dates are entered late, credit lands on the wrong touch.
- Missing touches: Dark social, word of mouth, and offline conversations are not tracked, so they receive no credit.
- Account-level gaps: Touches from several people at one account may not be linked together.
- Treating it as truth: Use it as one view alongside other evidence, such as self-reported attribution.
W-shaped attribution FAQs
What is W-shaped attribution?
W-shaped attribution is a multi-touch model that gives the most credit to three milestone touchpoints: first touch, lead creation, and opportunity creation. The remaining credit is divided among the other touches in the buyer journey.
How is W-shaped attribution calculated?
A common setup assigns 30% of the revenue credit to each of the three milestone touches and splits the remaining 10% across all other touches. The percentages are a convention, and teams can change them to fit their sales cycle.
What is the difference between W-shaped and U-shaped attribution?
U-shaped attribution gives heavy credit to two touches, the first touch and lead creation. W-shaped adds a third peak at opportunity creation, which makes it better suited to longer B2B cycles with a defined sales opportunity stage.
When should you use W-shaped attribution?
Use it when your sales cycle has several touches and your CRM reliably records lead creation and opportunity creation. It is less useful if stage dates are inconsistent or most of your buying activity happens in untracked channels.
