Understand which marketing channels actually drive onchain conversions, not just clicks. This guide shows you how to set up attribution tracking, compare models, and optimize your marketing spend.
What you’ll learn
- Set up UTM tracking for all marketing channels
- Understand first-touch vs. last-touch attribution
- Measure true ROI by channel (to the transaction level)
- Optimize budget allocation based on conversion data
Prerequisites
Part 1: The Attribution Challenge in Crypto
Why traditional attribution fails
Traditional analytics measure clicks and visits. For crypto apps, this misses what matters:
| What traditional tools measure | What actually matters |
|---|
| Page views | Wallet connects |
| Time on site | Transactions completed |
| Form submissions | Volume/revenue generated |
| Bounce rate | User quality (net worth, labels) |
The crypto user journey
A typical onchain user touches multiple channels:
- Discovery: Sees your tweet, ad, or mention
- Research: Reads about you on Discord, docs, or DeFiLlama
- First visit: Lands on your site (often without converting)
- Return visit: Comes back from a different source
- Conversion: Connects wallet and transacts
Each touchpoint matters. The question is: which one gets credit?
Part 2: How to Set Up UTM Tracking
UTM parameter basics
UTM parameters let you track where users come from:
https://yourapp.xyz/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=launch_2024
| Parameter | Purpose | Examples |
|---|
utm_source | The platform | twitter, discord, newsletter, defillama |
utm_medium | The channel type | social, email, paid, referral |
utm_campaign | The campaign name | launch_2024, airdrop_promo, partnership_xyz |
utm_content | The creative variant | banner_a, thread_1, video_ad |
utm_term | Keywords (for paid) | defi, swap, yield |
Where to add UTMs
Add UTM parameters to every link you control:
Social media:
https://yourapp.xyz/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=daily_content
https://yourapp.xyz/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly_update
https://yourapp.xyz/?utm_source=partner_name&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=collab_jan
https://yourapp.xyz/?utm_source=twitter_ads&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=retargeting&utm_content=banner_v2
UTM naming conventions
Use consistent naming to make analysis easier:
| Bad | Good |
|---|
twitter, Twitter, tw | Always twitter |
paid ad, paid_ad, paidAd | Always paid |
Launch, launch2024, jan-launch | launch_2024_jan |
- Lowercase only
- Underscores for spaces
- Include date/month for campaigns:
campaign_name_mmyy
Part 3: Understand Attribution Models
Formo supports multiple attribution models. Each gives credit differently.
First-touch attribution
How it works: 100% credit to the first channel that introduced the user.
Best for: Understanding discovery channels.
Example:
- User finds you via Twitter (first touch)
- Returns via Discord link
- Converts via direct visit
→ Twitter gets 100% credit
Last-touch attribution
How it works: 100% credit to the last channel before conversion.
Best for: Understanding what drives final conversions.
Example:
- User finds you via Twitter
- Returns via Discord link
- Converts via direct visit (last touch)
→ Direct gets 100% credit
Linear attribution
How it works: Credit split equally across all touchpoints.
Best for: Valuing the entire journey.
Example:
- User finds you via Twitter
- Returns via Discord link
- Converts via direct visit
→ Each gets 33% credit
Which model to use?
| Goal | Model | Why |
|---|
| Grow awareness | First-touch | Shows which channels introduce new users |
| Optimize conversions | Last-touch | Shows what pushes users to convert |
| Balanced view | Linear | Values the full journey |
View attribution in Overview
Go to Overview in the Formo Dashboard
See the Referrers chart in the tabs
Select different units (users, volume, revenue)
You can apply filters on the overview page to see attribution by different segments.
Key metrics by source
For each traffic source, track:
| Metric | What it tells you |
|---|
| Visitors | Reach/awareness |
| Wallet connects | Engagement quality |
| Transactions | Conversion performance |
| Volume | Revenue contribution |
| Connect rate | Visitor → Wallet conversion |
| Transaction rate | Wallet → Transaction conversion |
Calculate true ROI
For paid campaigns, calculate cost per conversion:
Cost per Transaction = Campaign Spend / Transactions from Campaign
| Channel | Spend | Transactions | Cost/Transaction |
|---|
| Influencer | $5,000 | 100 | $50 |
| Discord Ads | $2,000 | 80 | $25 |
| Twitter Ads | $3,000 | 150 | $20 |
Part 5: How to Create Attribution Reports
Using Ask AI for attribution analysis
Get quick attribution insights with Ask AI (click Ask AI in the sidebar):
Channel comparison:
“Compare wallet connects by utm_source for the last 30 days”
Campaign performance:
“Show me transactions and volume by utm_campaign this month”
First vs last touch:
“What are the top 5 first-touch sources for users who transacted?”
ROI analysis:
“Which utm_source has the highest transaction volume per visitor?”
Build an attribution dashboard
Create a dedicated attribution dashboard:
| Chart | Query |
|---|
| Visitors by Source | Daily visitors grouped by utm_source |
| Conversion by Source | Transaction rate by first-touch source |
| Revenue by Campaign | Volume grouped by utm_campaign |
| Source Trend | Weekly wallet connects by top 5 sources |
Attribution funnel
Create funnels filtered by source:
Go to Funnels > Create Funnel
Add steps: Visit → Connect → Transaction
Add breakdown by UTM Source
Compare conversion rates across channels
Part 6: How to Optimize Your Marketing
Identify your best channels
From your attribution data, categorize channels:
High-volume, high-conversion:
- Scale these immediately
- Allocate more budget
- Test similar channels
High-volume, low-conversion:
- Improve landing pages
- Refine targeting
- Test different messaging
Low-volume, high-conversion:
- Increase investment
- Find ways to scale
- Understand what makes them work
Low-volume, low-conversion:
- Reduce or cut spend
- Test improvements before continuing
- Consider audience mismatch
Optimize by user quality
Don’t just measure conversions. Measure user quality:
- Filter users by UTM source
- Compare average net worth by source
- Compare retention by source
- Compare volume per user by source
Example insight:
Twitter drives more users, but Discord users have 3x higher average net worth and 2x better retention.
Multi-touch optimization
If using linear attribution:
- Identify common multi-touch paths
- Ensure each touchpoint is optimized
- Don’t cut channels that assist conversions
Example path:
Twitter (awareness) → DeFiLlama (research) → Direct (conversion)
All three channels contributed. Cutting Twitter would reduce DeFiLlama traffic.
Part 7: Advanced Attribution Tactics
Cross-channel attribution
Track users across marketing channels:
- Use consistent UTM naming
- Track first-touch and last-touch separately
- Analyze common paths with Flows
Referral program tracking
For referral programs:
The ref parameter is automatically captured by Formo alongside UTM parameters.
Cohort-based attribution
Compare user quality by acquisition cohort:
- Create segments by first-touch source
- Measure retention for each segment
- Calculate LTV by acquisition source
Example:
| Source | 30-day Retention | Avg LTV |
|---|
| Twitter | 15% | $50 |
| Discord | 25% | $120 |
| DeFiLlama | 35% | $200 |
Summary
You’ve learned how to:
- Set up UTM tracking across all marketing channels
- Understand attribution models and when to use each
- Analyze attribution in Formo with Overview
- Calculate true ROI including conversion and user quality
- Optimize budget allocation based on data
Attribution checklist
Next steps
