Many online marketers know that their digital marketing efforts will be impacting offline sales but they don’t have the measurement tools in place to validate their assumptions. This can be especially frustrating for any digital marketers working in a business that has historically prioritised their traditional offline marketing channels. We want to address any scepticism around the ability to measure the impact of online activity on offline sales as well as giving you some actionable online to offline takeaways that can help you to truly understand and authenticate the value of your online marketing efforts.

1. Linking
Online
Activity
to Offline
Sales

2. Introduction Many online marketers know that their
digital marketing efforts will be
impacting offline sales but they don’t
have the tools in place to measure it.
This can be especially frustrating for any digital
marketers working in a business that has historically
prioritised their traditional offline marketing channels.
We want to address any scepticism around the ability
to measure the impact of online activity on offline sales
as well as giving you some actionable online to offline
takeaways that can help you to truly understand and
authenticate the value of your online marketing efforts.

4. 1
Find the
Links &
Capture
the Data

5. Think about
where you
can make the
joins... and
don’t stop
thinking!
Email
addresses
in store?
Unique
voucher
codes?
Delivery
post
codes?
Quote
IDs?

6. TOP TIP:
Onceyouhavefoundthe
joinsandarecollectingthe
data,ensurethatyourdata
platformisflexibleenough
tohandletheimportsand
providethestructureto
glueitalltogether.
Once you have found
the joins and are
collecting the data,
ensure that your data
platform is flexible
enough to handle the
imports and provide
the structure to glue it
all together.
Are you still thinking?
Anything that can be used to build a
join to identify as many links as
possible. Here are a few examples for
you:
• Email addresses
• Collected in store and matched online
• A postcode
• On a store finder and delivery confirmation
• An online voucher redeemed in store
• Quote IDs
• Generated online and referenced on the telephone

8. You Won’t
Join ALL
the Dots!
2

9. TOP TIP:
Thinkaboutincentivising
shopandtelesalesstaffto
collectthedatathatwillallow
youtomakethejoin to
increaseyourchancesof
joiningasmuchdata
aspossible
Think about
incentivising shop
and telesales staff to
collect the data that
will allow you to make
the join to increase
your chances of
joining as much data
as possible
Joining a good percentage is enough!
You won’t be able to clearly identify every time an
offline sale has been influenced online but a good
percentage is enough to:
• Map out ‘typical’ user journeys
• Gain insight
• Inger actions
The user journeys that you have joined can help you to:
• Build a clearer view of the relationship between
online activity and offline sales
• Identify ‘webrooming’ or ‘showrooming’
shopping trends
• Link online efforts to tangible in store purchases

10. Joining
O2O Can
Empower
Marketers
3

11. TOP TIP:
Ifyouarelookingto
persuadeyourbusiness
thatonlinemarketing
drivesmorethanjust
onlinesales,startwith
smallerassumptionsthat
arebelievedcompany
wide.Onceyouhave
conqueredthoseyou
canthenmove ontode-
bunksomeofthemore
complexmyths.
If you are looking to
persuade your
business that online
marketing drives more
than just online sales,
start with smaller
assumptions that are
believed company
wide. Once you have
conquered those you
can then move on to
de-bunk some of the
more complex myths
It’s not just about ROI & CPA!
Showing that you are driving more sales from your
online budget should allow you to make a better
argument for that budget to be increased. However, the
empowerment this insight provides by enabling you to
make more confident, data-drive decisions is also
important.
Imagine
how good
it would
feel to
confidently
say that:
“23% of our
in store shoppers
have already
researched
online.”
“17% of any
new customer
journeys start
online and
convert offline.”

12. It’s Possible
to Join Online
& Offline
Now!
4

13. TOP TIP:
Getintouchwithushere
atRakutenAttributionif
youwanttodiscussthe
challengethatyour
businesshaswhen
understandingthetrue
valueofyouronline
marketingon
offlinesales
rm-salesuk@rakuten.com
Get in touch with us here
at Rakuten Attribution if
you want to discuss the
challenge that your busi-
ness has when under-
standing the true value of
your online marketing
on offline sales
rm-salesuk@
mail.rakuten.com
O2O is not as complex as you think...
The data structures and technologies
involved are not as complex as you
might think. This is why so many
top brands are already leading the way
with an omnichannel marketing
strategy.
Every day we help omnichannel retailers to have a
much better view of the link between online and offline.
They now have the measureable data to inform their
marketing strategies so that they can succeed in a mar-
ket where there is no distinction between an online
customer and offline customer.

14. Summary
Still looking for inspiration?
Understanding the correlation
between your online marketing activity
and offline sales will allow you to turn
any assumptions and myths into
quantifiable metrics.
Ultimately, this will give you and your
business greater confidence when
setting budgets and making decisions.
But it isn’t just about attribution . . .

15. QUESTIONS?
Getintouchwithusat
RakutenAttributionifyou
wanttodiscusstheyour
onlineandoffline
challenges
rm-salesuk@rakuten.com
Get in touch with us here
at Rakuten Attribution if
you want to discuss the
challenge that your busi-
ness has when under-
standing the true value of
your online marketing
on offline sales
rm-salesuk@
mail.rakuten.com
It’s about having the confidence to talk
about the influence that your digital
marketing efforts have on offline touch
points.
It’s about being more certain about
your instincts or digital marketing
‘spidey senses’.
Let go of any scepticism about linking online to offline
and embrace an omnichannel marketing approach in
2015.
The data and proof is out there to be captured if you are
willing to see it.

16. Are you
Ready to
Connect
the Dots?
dc-storm.com
rm-salesuk@mail.rakuten.com
+44 (0)1273 807272 graphics sourced from freepik.com
Rakuten Attribution (formerly DC Storm) arms digital
businesses with performance measurement tools,
analysis and reporting, powering great decisions
and driving success.