First-touch attribution

Updated 2026-11-02

Definition

First-touch attribution gives 100% of the credit for a sale to the first visit in the attribution window. Every later visit gets nothing.

The model answers one question: what introduced this buyer to you? That makes it useful for judging demand generation, such as content, SEO and sponsorships.

Example

This example uses made-up numbers. Three buyers each pay $500.

• Buyer A first arrives from organic search, then returns through email.
• Buyer B first arrives from a LinkedIn ad, then returns through branded search.
• Buyer C first arrives from organic search, then returns directly.

First-touch reports $1,000 for organic search and $500 for paid social. Email, branded search and direct get $0, even though they appeared just before each sale.

Strengths and limits

First-touch is easy to explain and hard to argue with. It shows which channels start relationships. It also ignores the work that closed the sale, so a nurture sequence or retargeting campaign will look worthless.

The first touch is also only the first touch you could see. Someone who heard about you on a podcast, then typed your URL, shows up as direct. Asking people how they found you helps fill that gap. See self-reported attribution.

How Headstream measures it

Headstream treats each session as a touchpoint and classifies it by its first pageview. For first-touch, the earliest touchpoint inside your lookback window gets the full amount of each payment. If the buyer has only one touchpoint, every model gives it 100%.

Set first_touch as the model in the API, or pick it in the revenue report. Attribution relies on Stripe, and connecting Stripe is in beta. Compare it with last-touch to see which channels open deals and which close them. The revenue attribution page shows how the models fit together.