What DTC Brands Get Wrong About Attribution

Listen to this episode from Chew on This - Digestable DTC Content on Spotify. In this episode of Chew on This, Ron and Ash are joined by Constantine Yurevich, Founder of SegmentStream, to discuss the challenges and future of marketing measurement and attribution. If you care about scaling profitably, avoiding wasted ad spend, and finally getting clarity on what’s actually driving results — this one’s for you.What You’ll Learn: Why one-size-fits-all attribution models just don’t cut it We talk about why standard setups miss the mark — and why your measurement approach needs to reflect how you actually sell and market, not someone else’s template. When attribution becomes a make-or-break issue If you're spending big, measurement mistakes get expensive. We get into why attribution becomes non-negotiable as budgets grow — and how smaller teams can still start smart. How to surface conversions that don’t get credit Some channels drive value you can’t see in your analytics dashboard. We dig into how things like geolocation and session behavior can expose what’s really moving the needle. Why marginal ROAS tells a more honest story than averages Looking at average ROAS is easy — but misleading. We unpack why marginal ROAS gives you the real picture, especially when scaling campaigns. Who you can actually trust when it comes to attribution adviceSpoiler: It’s not always your media agency or the platform reps. We talk about why having someone with no skin in the game is crucial for objective decision-making. Plus: Real-world stories of brands that got attribution wrong — and what they did to turn things around.About SegmentStream:SegmentStream partners with DTC growth leaders to drive more revenue from paid media through full-funnel attribution, incrementality measurement and automated cross-channel budget allocation. Learn more at: https://segmentstream.com/Follow Constantine Yurevich:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurevichcv/X - https://x.com/weird_ceoTimestamps:0:00 - Intro1:11 - Understanding marketing measurement and attribution4:02 - Fine-tuning attribution for better marketing measurement solutions5:02 - Measuring influencer impact on traffic6:08 - Starting with a small budget can be effective for basic attribution7:30 - Misattribution can lead to significant wasted spend in marketing9:01 - Traditional analytics may not capture all upper-funnel activities10:35 - Understanding audience engagement for effective marketing20:06 - Evolving attribution models to adapt to changing marketing landscapes25:48 - A single source of truth in analytics26:02 - Not fully trusting attribution metrics28:03 - Brands that misjudged their marketing effectiveness30:12 - Diminishing returns in marketing campaigns31:32 - Proper measurement for lower-funnel channels34:11 - AI in marketing attribution and modeling36:03 - Incrementality studies and their challenges in measurement39:15 - Managing multiple agencies for effective budget allocation45:07 - Drawbacks of last-click attribution metrics49:50 - Final chew Follow us, subscribe to our newsletter, and to see our exclusive merch check out https://chewonthis.io/Ron Shah - https://twitter.com/obviceoAsh Melwani - https://twitter.com/ashvinmelwaniChew On This - https://twitter.com/chewonthisdtc