Smarter attribution, stronger results: NRC’s 37% growth story

“Billy Grace has helped us adopt a data-driven strategy that goes beyond last-click. With clear insights into upper-funnel channels like TikTok and Reddit, we’ve been able to optimise our marketing mix and spend our budget more efficiently.”

Nikki Duijkers

Digital Marketeer

Results

37% more subscriptions from paid channels

NRC achieved a 37% increase in subscriptions from paid channels compared to the same period the previous year. By gaining deeper insights into channel performance, the cost per acquisition stayed within target, demonstrating that smarter investments drive better results.

Facebook was reintroduced as a key channel

NRC previously discontinued its use of Facebook based on insights from GA4. However, with the introduction of Billy Grace, the platform was re-evaluated and retested, yielding a strong, positive ROI.

CPA remained within target, even with more spend

Despite allocating more budget to experimentation and upper-funnel channels, NRC managed to maintain its target cost per acquisition. With accurate cross-channel measurement, the team could invest more confidently without risking efficiency.

Faster data, faster decisions

Unlike GA4, Billy Grace delivers conversion insights in near real-time. This gives NRC the ability to optimise campaigns much quicker, and adapt budget decisions day to day instead of relying on lagging data.

Challenge

Before Billy Grace, NRC‘s marketing strategy logically relied on GA4 data. And while GA4 covered the basics, it missed some key elements.

Upper-funnel platforms like Reddit showed little to no conversion activity, making it nearly impossible to justify their value. NRC’s platform prioritizes user privacy, with settings that limit cookie-based tracking, enhancing data protection and fostering greater trust with users. As a result, most decision-making was based on last-click conversions, leading to an over-focus on bottom-funnel performance.

This caused several issues:

• Channels like Reddit were cut prematurely or underfunded.
  
• Upper-funnel channels received little credit, despite being essential for long-term growth.
  
• Budget decisions were reactive and based on last-click data.
  
• The marketing team was missing visibility into how top-funnel activity contributed to subscriptions.

Approach

With SDIM leading the implementation, NRC partnered with Billy Grace to overhaul its attribution model and bring clarity across the entire marketing funnel.

About SDIM
SDIM is the agency where creativity, data, and results come together. Since 2006, SDIM has been driven by a passion for our craft, delivering growth and digital success for a wide range of clients: from e-commerce to lead generation and from B2B to non-profit organizations. SDIM enables top-level digital marketing for organizations of all kinds.

Approach
The first step was to compare GA4 to Billy Grace to gather data and decide what software to use as the primary decision-making tool. In its place, Billy Grace’s multi-touch attribution and view-through tracking became the foundation for performance analysis. This shift enabled NRC to accurately assess each channel’s contribution throughout the full customer journey, including touchpoints GA4 previously overlooked.

Armed with deeper insights, NRC began retesting campaigns on Facebook, which revealed a higher conversion impact than GA4 had shown. Channels like TikTok and Reddit were given a better chance to succeed when tested. As testing resumed, NRC saw clear evidence that these upper-funnel efforts were driving meaningful results. This creates an opportunity to explore and test additional channels in the future.

While GA4 and backend data still serve as validation tools, Billy Grace now guides core budget decisions. NRC has also started automating daily budget adjustments by channel, with the long-term goal of fully automating budget optimisation, allowing the team to scale results without increasing manual workload.

Key takeaways

• Upper-funnel channels like TikTok and Reddit proved their value once more advanced attribution models were applied.
• Last-click measurement was replaced with a smarter approach, using Unified Marketing Measurement, unlocking more accurate insights and better results.
• Campaigns are now optimised faster, thanks to quicker conversion feedback from Billy Grace.
• Budgets are no longer based on GA4 limitations, they’re driven by performance across the full funnel.