Data check
Period: 2026-09-01 to 2026-09-30. Business: Orchard CRM. All arithmetic below was run by script.
- Rows: 8 paths.
- Total conversions = 40 + 25 + 10 + 30 + 20 + 15 + 10 + 5 = 155.
- Total revenue = 12,000 + 9,000 + 4,000 + 7,500 + 5,000 + 6,000 + 3,500 + 2,000 = $49,000.
- Channels: Paid Search, LinkedIn Ads, Organic, Email, Referral. Names are used exactly as given.
Per path credit
Credit shown as conversions / revenue. Linear splits each path evenly across its touches, so a channel that appears twice gets two shares.
| Path | Conv | Revenue | First touch | Last touch | Linear |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paid Search | 40 | 12,000 | Paid Search 40 / 12,000 | Paid Search 40 / 12,000 | Paid Search 40 / 12,000 |
| LinkedIn Ads > Paid Search | 25 | 9,000 | LinkedIn 25 / 9,000 | Paid Search 25 / 9,000 | LinkedIn 12.5 / 4,500; Paid Search 12.5 / 4,500 |
| LinkedIn Ads > Organic > Paid Search | 10 | 4,000 | LinkedIn 10 / 4,000 | Paid Search 10 / 4,000 | LinkedIn, Organic and Paid Search 3.333 / 1,333.33 each |
| Organic > Email | 30 | 7,500 | Organic 30 / 7,500 | Email 30 / 7,500 | Organic 15 / 3,750; Email 15 / 3,750 |
| Organic | 20 | 5,000 | Organic 20 / 5,000 | Organic 20 / 5,000 | Organic 20 / 5,000 |
| LinkedIn Ads > Email | 15 | 6,000 | LinkedIn 15 / 6,000 | Email 15 / 6,000 | LinkedIn 7.5 / 3,000; Email 7.5 / 3,000 |
| Email > Paid Search > Email | 10 | 3,500 | Email 10 / 3,500 | Email 10 / 3,500 | Email 6.667 / 2,333.33; Paid Search 3.333 / 1,166.67 |
| Referral | 5 | 2,000 | Referral 5 / 2,000 | Referral 5 / 2,000 | Referral 5 / 2,000 |
Channel totals by model
Each total is the sum of that channel's per path credits above, rounded only here, at the end.
Conversions | Channel | First touch | Last touch | Linear | |---|---|---|---| | Paid Search | 40 | 40 + 25 + 10 = 75 | 40 + 12.5 + 3.333 + 3.333 = 59.17 | | LinkedIn Ads | 25 + 10 + 15 = 50 | 0 | 12.5 + 3.333 + 7.5 = 23.33 | | Organic | 30 + 20 = 50 | 20 | 3.333 + 15 + 20 = 38.33 | | Email | 10 | 30 + 15 + 10 = 55 | 15 + 7.5 + 6.667 = 29.17 | | Referral | 5 | 5 | 5 | | Total | 155 | 155 | 155.00 |
Revenue | Channel | First touch | Last touch | Linear | |---|---|---|---| | Paid Search | 12,000 | 25,000 | 19,000.00 | | LinkedIn Ads | 19,000 | 0 | 8,833.33 | | Organic | 12,500 | 5,000 | 10,083.33 | | Email | 3,500 | 17,000 | 9,083.33 | | Referral | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000.00 | | Total | 49,000 | 49,000 | 49,000.00 |
Check: each model's channel totals add back to 155 conversions and $49,000 in the data check.
Where the models disagree
Gap = highest model credit minus lowest, per channel.
| Channel | Highest (model) | Lowest (model) | Gap in conversions | Gap in revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn Ads | 50 (first) | 0 (last) | 50 | $19,000 |
| 55 (last) | 10 (first) | 45 | $13,500 | |
| Paid Search | 75 (last) | 40 (first) | 35 | $13,000 |
| Organic | 50 (first) | 20 (last) | 30 | $7,500 |
| Referral | 5 | 5 | 0 | $0 |
- LinkedIn Ads starts 3 paths (50 conversions) and ends none. Last touch gives it nothing. First touch gives it 50 of the 155 conversions.
- Paid Search closes 3 paths (75 conversions). In 2 of them (35 conversions), LinkedIn Ads came first.
- Email closes 3 paths (55 conversions), and in 2 of them it follows Organic or LinkedIn Ads.
Notes for the decision
Your question: should budget move from paid search to LinkedIn ads? These are questions to investigate, not a budget instruction: - 35 of Paid Search's 75 last touch conversions (25 + 10) began with LinkedIn Ads. If LinkedIn spend falls, does that Paid Search volume hold? A holdout or geo test would show this better than any of these three models. - 40 conversions are Paid Search only, with no other touch. That volume doesn't depend on LinkedIn in this data. - LinkedIn Ads' credit ranges from 0 to 50 conversions depending on the model. The data alone can't settle the question. Spend per channel would let you compare cost per credited conversion under each model.
Caveats
- One month of paths (September 2026). Paths longer than the tracking window may be cut short.
- No view through or impression data. LinkedIn ad views that weren't clicked don't appear in these paths.
- No Direct channel appears. If direct visits were dropped or merged before export, results shift.
- No model here is "correct". Each is a rule for splitting credit.
- First touch and linear are computed here from your pasted paths. GA4 attribution reports offer only data-driven and last click models, so these figures will not match a GA4 report.
Needs your decision
- Any budget move based on these notes needs approval from the budget owner.