The cause
What actually caused the result?
Causal means proving what actually caused the result.
After the period closes, a report will offer credit. Credit says which touch was nearby. Cause says which activity changed the outcome. A review that treats those as the same question will coach the wrong work.
The easy mistake
Accounts already likely to buy get more meetings and more notes. Those touches are present when the deal closes. The report gives the touches the credit. The team did not cheat. The page answered the easier question.
Four questions before anyone claims a lift
- A baseline. A baseline is what happens when you do not do the thing. No baseline, no claim.
- The other causes, named. A confounder is something else that could have caused the result. Stage, source, and intent that was already there are the place to start.
- A range. One figure with no range is a slogan in a meeting.
- A refusal. If the case is not shown, the page says pending. It does not fill the gap with a round number.
Ask these in the meeting
- How do we separate cause from a touch that was only nearby?
- What is the baseline, and where is it kept?
- Where is the range on this figure?
- What does the report do when the case is not proved? Does it refuse, or does it still print a number?
What a model is for
A model can draft the words under a chart and list the touches that were present. It cannot promote a nearby touch into a cause. The agent drafts. The rules decide.
The practice sandbox does not prove cause. It lets you watch odds move when a simulated signal fires. That is practice. Cause is tested on real outcomes, against a baseline you can point to.