Imagine this. A new customer just placed their first order on your site. They heard a friend mention your brand over coffee, and finally decided to buy after reading a review directly on your site.

Your analytics platform will likely credit the sale as “Direct traffic.” However, that does not tell the full story.

Attribution models and analytics platforms do a lot of heavy lifting, but even the smartest tracking cannot capture everything. For example, if someone hears about your brand from a friend, that influence will never appear in your analytics.

That is where the classic “How did you hear about us?” post-purchase survey comes in. It captures those human touchpoints that tracking alone cannot see.

Attribution models and analytics platforms do a lot of heavy lifting, but even the smartest tracking cannot capture everything. 

When a customer completes an order, it is the perfect time to ask them what influenced their purchase. A simple question “How did you hear about us?” fills in the blanks that pixels and UTMs cannot.

Here is why it matters:

1. Capture the untrackable
Word of mouth, podcasts, influencers, or community mentions often go untracked by digital analytics. A post-purchase survey surfaces those hidden drivers of awareness that data alone cannot see.

2. Validate your ad spend
If your analytics say Meta drove the conversion but the customer says “I saw someone talk about you on TikTok,” that is a sign your tracking may be over-crediting one channel. Surveys help verify what is truly influencing behavior.

Most brands use either self-reported survey data or attribution data. ThoughtMetric brings both together in one place.

With ThoughtMetric’s built-in Post-Purchase Survey, you can easily add a “How did you hear about us?” question to your checkout flow. Once responses come in, ThoughtMetric automatically connects that data to your multi-touch attribution model, so you can see how survey insights align with what tracking shows.

For example:
If 30% of customers say they heard about you on TikTok, but your attribution data shows only 10% of conversions credited to TikTok ads, you instantly know TikTok is playing a bigger awareness role than tracking can measure.

This combination of self-reported and behavioral data gives you the full picture.

Book a demo and start capturing the full story behind every order.

How does the post-purchase survey work?
After checkout, customers are prompted with a simple survey asking how they heard about your brand. Their responses are tied to attribution data, giving you a unique blend of self-reported and behavioral insights.

What is ThoughtMetric's multi-touch attribution model?
The multi-touch model assigns value across multiple touchpoints in the customer journey, not just the first or last interaction. With ThoughtMetric, this model also incorporates survey responses to create a more accurate, human-informed view of what led to the purchase.

Do I have to use the multi-touch model?
Not at all. ThoughtMetric offers five different attribution models, so you can choose the one that best fits your business goals. That said, we recommend the multi-touch model for the most complete picture.

Why combine survey data with attribution data?
Tracking data alone can miss key context, like word-of-mouth or offline influence. Survey responses fill in those gaps, making your attribution more complete and reliable, especially when layered into a multi-touch model.