Attribution metrics guide

Attribution in Lifesight gives you every number you need to judge your marketing in one place, from what platforms report to what your spend actually caused and whether it's on plan. It combines four groups of metrics: incremental performance, platform-reported performance, spend and pacing, and recommendations.

Measure what your marketing caused

Incremental metrics show the revenue and conversions your advertising actually drove, beyond what would have happened anyway. These are the metrics to lead with when deciding where to invest.

Metric	Definition	Formula	When to lead with it
Incremental Revenue	Revenue estimated to be causally driven by advertising	Provided by Lifesight measurement	Reporting the real revenue impact of your marketing
iROAS	Incremental return for each unit of spend	Incremental Revenue / Actual Spend	Comparing true efficiency across channels, campaigns, or ad sets
Incremental Conversions	Conversions estimated to be causally driven by advertising	Platform Conversions adjusted by incrementality evidence	Measuring impact when your goal is conversions rather than revenue
iCPA	Cost per incremental conversion	Actual Spend / Incremental Conversions	Judging acquisition efficiency for conversion-focused campaigns
Incrementality Factor	Share of platform-reported revenue estimated to be incremental	Incremental Revenue / Platform Revenue	Spotting channels that claim more credit than they earn
Marginal ROAS	Incremental revenue expected from the next unit of spend	Derived from the promoted model	Deciding where to put new budget

How to read them together

iROAS versus Marginal ROAS: iROAS is the average return across all spend to date. Marginal ROAS is the return on the next dollar. A campaign with a strong iROAS but a falling Marginal ROAS has likely saturated, so extra spend won't return at the same rate.
Incrementality Factor: a factor of 0.4 means roughly 40 cents of every reported dollar is genuinely new revenue. The rest is demand that was already coming.

Compare with what platforms report

Platform-reported metrics show performance as each advertising platform records it. They're useful for delivery and volume, but they include conversions that would have happened without the ad. Read them alongside incremental metrics to see how much reported performance holds up.

Metric	Definition	Formula	When to lead with it
Platform Revenue	Revenue reported by the advertising platform	Platform value	Reconciling Lifesight results with platform dashboards
Platform ROAS	Platform-reported return on spend	Platform Revenue / Actual Spend	Showing the gap between reported and incremental return
Platform Conversions	Conversions reported by the advertising platform	Platform value	Checking conversion volume as the platform records it
Platform CPA	Platform-reported cost per conversion	Actual Spend / Platform Conversions	Comparing with iCPA to see how much reported efficiency holds up
Impressions	Number of ad impressions served	Platform value	Confirming delivery and reach
Clicks	Number of ad clicks recorded	Platform value	Checking engagement and traffic volume

Why Platform ROAS is usually higher than iROAS

Platforms credit their ads for every conversion that follows an exposure, including ones that would have happened anyway. iROAS counts only the revenue your spend actually created, so the distance between the two shows how much credit platforms are claiming for conversions they didn't cause.

Track spend against your plan

Spend and pacing metrics compare what you've spent with what your active scenario (the media plan you've selected as your benchmark) planned. Use them to catch overspend and underspend before the period closes.

Metric	Definition	Formula	When to lead with it
Actual Spend	Spend recorded during the selected period	Platform value	Confirming how much you've invested
Planned Spend	Budget allocated by the active scenario	Scenario value	Checking what the plan expected you to spend
Pacing	Actual spend relative to planned spend to date	Actual Spend / Planned Spend to Date	Seeing at a glance whether you're on, ahead of, or behind plan
Total Delta	Cumulative difference from plan	Actual Spend minus Planned Spend	Sizing how far off plan you are in total
Daily Average Spend	Average spend per elapsed day	Actual Spend / Days Elapsed	Understanding your current daily run rate
Daily Average Planned	Expected daily rate to date	Planned Spend to Date / Days Elapsed	Comparing your run rate with the planned rate
Daily Gap	Difference between actual and planned daily rates	Daily Average Spend minus Daily Average Planned	Pinpointing how much daily spend needs to change
Recommended Daily	Catch-up adjusted daily spend for the next seven days	Remaining Budget / Remaining Days	Setting a concrete daily budget in the platform

Example

If a campaign's Planned Spend to date is $10,000 and its Actual Spend is $8,000, its Pacing is 80% and its Total Delta is -$2,000. Recommended Daily spreads the remaining budget across the remaining days, so the gap closes gradually rather than through a sudden spike in spend.

Know which way to move spend

Recommendations translate pacing into a suggested direction for each channel, campaign, or ad set.

Scale: under-pacing against the active plan.
Maintain: pacing within the expected range.
Reduce: over-pacing against the active plan.

Recommendations are based on pacing, so read them alongside incremental metrics before acting. A Scale flag on a campaign with a low Incrementality Factor may mean the budget would do more elsewhere.

Find the metrics you need

Metric availability depends on the connected platforms, promoted measurement assets, and selected reporting range. Columns with no received data or only zero values may be hidden automatically and can be revealed from the table controls using Choose columns.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which metric should I use to compare channel efficiency?
Use iROAS. It shows the incremental return for each unit of spend, so you're comparing what each channel actually caused rather than what it reported.

What is the difference between iROAS and Platform ROAS?
Platform ROAS uses revenue reported by the advertising platform. iROAS uses incremental revenue, which counts only the revenue your advertising actually drove. Platform ROAS is usually higher.

What is the difference between iROAS and Marginal ROAS?
iROAS is the average incremental return across all spend to date. Marginal ROAS is the incremental revenue expected from the next unit of spend, derived from your promoted model.

How is the Incrementality Factor calculated?
Incremental Revenue divided by Platform Revenue. It shows the share of platform-reported revenue estimated to be incremental.

How are Incremental Conversions calculated?
Platform conversions are adjusted using incrementality evidence from your promoted measurement assets.

When should I use iCPA instead of iROAS?
Use iCPA when your goal is conversions rather than revenue. It shows the cost per incremental conversion.

What does a Pacing value of 80% mean?
You've spent 80% of what your active scenario planned to date, meaning you're running under plan.

How is Recommended Daily spend calculated?
Remaining Budget divided by Remaining Days. It gives you a catch-up adjusted daily spend for the next seven days.

What do Scale, Maintain, and Reduce mean?
Scale indicates under-pacing, Maintain indicates pacing within the expected range, and Reduce indicates over-pacing against the active plan.

Why can't I see some metrics?
Metric availability depends on your connected platforms, promoted measurement assets, and selected reporting range. Columns with no data or only zero values may be hidden automatically. Reveal them using Choose columns.

Why don't I see Marginal ROAS?
Marginal ROAS is derived from your promoted model. Make sure a Marketing Mix Model is promoted for your workspace.