Channel journey: the sequence of channels behind an order, not just the last one
Paid social finds them, search catches them, email closes them. Last-click credits one of the three and quietly tells you to stop funding the other two.
Channels do different jobs. Some create demand in people who were not looking; some capture demand that already exists; some convert people who were already convinced. Judging all three by last click means paying for the ones that finish and defunding the ones that start.
Reading a channel sequence
The useful view is the ordered list of channels that touched an order, with how long apart. Patterns show up quickly.
- Paid social first, branded search last is the classic demand-creation pattern. Last-click will credit the search every time.
- Search first, email last usually means you captured existing demand and your own list closed it.
- A single touch means either genuinely direct demand or, more often, tracking that lost the earlier touches.
The trap in the last pattern
A high share of single-touch orders is almost never good news. It usually means identity broke, not that customers bought instantly. Before drawing any conclusion about a channel, check what share of your orders have exactly one touch and whether that share is plausible for what you sell.
A channel verdict is not a campaign verdict. A channel can be a genuine demand creator overall while a specific campaign inside it is wasting money. Do not act on the aggregate.
What to do next
Look at orders with two or more touches and count how often paid social appears anywhere but last. That number is the size of the credit last-click is taking off it.
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The funnel behind a single order: viewed, carted, checked out, bought