What each model answers
First-touch credits the channel that started the relationship, so it rewards awareness and demand generation. Last-touch credits the final click, usually branded search or a direct visit, so it rewards demand capture and under-credits everything that came before. Same conversion, opposite conclusions about where to spend.
Which to use, and when
We default to first-touch for judging which channels create pipeline, because in B2B the first meaningful touch is the hardest and most valuable to earn. A CRM like HubSpot records this automatically in its Original Traffic Source property: the first known source that brought the contact in. To credit the full journey rather than a single step, we layer multi-touch attribution on top, and reconcile platform numbers back to the CRM's first-touch count as a single source of truth. That first-touch reconciliation is the method we walk through in Google, Meta, and your CRM disagree on conversions.
Common questions
What is the difference between first-touch and last-touch attribution?
First-touch attribution credits the first interaction a buyer had with you; last-touch credits the final one before they converted. First-touch highlights what generates demand, last-touch highlights what closes it.
Is first-touch or last-touch attribution better for B2B?
Neither is complete on its own. First-touch is more useful for judging which channels create pipeline in long B2B cycles, while last-touch over-credits branded search and direct visits. Most teams pair a first-touch source of record with multi-touch attribution.