Why a clear source, a stated method, and visible coverage belong beside every marketing number.
Start with the source
A revenue number feels concrete. But before it becomes a reason to move a budget, it needs a context: where did it come from, which period does it cover, and which records were included?
A platform report, an order export, and a customer record can each describe a different part of the same business. Their values are useful when their scope is visible. A source label is the beginning of that explanation, rather than a substitute for it.
Separate the methods
Platform-reported revenue reflects the platform’s attribution rules. Source-matched revenue comes from connecting records under a matching rule. A custom model distributes credit according to its own assumptions. These are different perspectives, even when they refer to the same orders.
Putting those values next to each other makes the differences easier to investigate. Adding them together can count the same outcome more than once. Before comparing performance, align the period, the conversion definition, and the attribution window.
Bring the limits into the decision
Suppose connected records show $48,000 of matched revenue and $25,000 of known spend. The ratio is 1.92× within that scope. If an additional spend source is unavailable, the ratio cannot describe a complete return on all marketing spend.
The useful next question is practical: which source is missing, who can retrieve it, and what changes when it is included? A clear report gives the team a place to start. Attribution describes credit; it does not, by itself, establish causation.
What is the source? What is the method? What remains unknown?
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