Answer in brief
In the first week with an attribution tool, a small team should connect its ad channels on day one, install the SDK on day two, add three or four events on day three, create and test tracking links on day four, and ship the build on day five. Real data starts only when the release reaches users, so the release date sets the pace.
Before Monday: three things to have ready
The week goes smoothly when nobody has to stop and ask for access. Collect these first:
- Admin access to each ad account you plan to connect.
- A developer with half a day free in the first three days. The split of tasks is in who does what.
- A date for your next app release. The SDK does nothing until a build that contains it is on users' phones.
The plan, day by day
- Day 1: account and channels. Sign up, register your app for iOS and Android, and connect the ad accounts. Invite your developer to the dashboard so they can find the SDK keys on their own.
- Day 2: SDK in a development build. The developer adds the SDK and confirms that an app open shows up in the dashboard. Stop here for the day. A clean install event is worth more than a rushed event list.
- Day 3: events. Add the few events you will make decisions on: sign-up, trial start, purchase. Leave the rest for later. The reasoning is in which events to track first.
- Day 4: links and a full test. The marketer creates one tracking link per channel. Together, run a click, an install and a purchase on a test phone, following testing attribution before launch.
- Day 5: ship. Submit the build for store review. While it is in review, replace the destination URLs in your ads and bio links with the new tracking links.
What you can read at the end of the week
Expect little, and that is fine. Until the release reaches most of your users, the dashboard only sees people on the new version. In the first days you can still confirm three things:
- Installs are arriving and some carry a channel name.
- Your events fire once each and carry a value where they should.
- Installs with no channel are grouped as organic or unattributed, and that group is not everything.
Hold off on judging campaigns. A few days of data from a partial rollout will mislead you about which channel works.
Where the week usually slips
| Slip | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Day 2 becomes day 6 | The developer was not booked | Agree the half day before you sign up |
| The day 4 test fails | The phone is not a registered test device, or an event is misnamed | Use the failure table in the testing guide |
| Links still point at the old URLs | Nobody was assigned to swap them | List every ad, bio and email link before day 5 |
If you are on a 30-day trial, a slip of one week costs a quarter of it. That is the main reason to book the developer first and sign up second.
Week two and after
Once the release is live, leave the setup alone for a week and let data collect. Then work through the list in what to check during a free trial, starting with the revenue comparison, which needs live traffic. Add more events only when a question comes up that the current ones cannot answer.
Questions and answers
How long does it take to set up an attribution tool?
As a planning assumption, the work is a few hours for a developer and a few hours for a marketer, spread over about a week. The wait for the app release to reach users usually takes longer than the work itself.
Can I start an attribution tool before I run any ads?
Yes. Install the SDK and test your links first. You then have a record of the installs you get without ads, which makes the first paid campaign easier to read.
Continue reading
Guide
What to check during a 30-day free trialSix things to verify during a 30-day attribution tool trial: install matching, events, revenue, postbacks, links and the bill you will get afterwards.
Guide
What the developer does and what the marketer doesWho does which part of an attribution tool setup: the developer's SDK and event work, the marketer's links and channel work, and the handoffs between.
Guide
Testing attribution before you spend on adsTest attribution before launch with one phone: tap a tracking link, install, trigger a purchase and confirm each step in the dashboard. Steps and fixes.
Guide
Self-serve signup versus a sales-led purchaseSelf-serve signup gets a small team to data in days at a published price. A sales-led purchase adds negotiation and help. How to tell which you need.
Guide
Monthly billing versus an annual contractMonthly billing lets a small team stop paying when plans change. An annual contract trades that freedom for a lower rate. How to choose between them.
Small teams
Best attribution tool for a team with no one to sit through demosWhich attribution tools a small team can sign up for alone, what the trial needs, and what you pay after it.
Cite this page
Airbridge. “Your first week with a new attribution tool.” bestattributiontool.com. Reviewed 2026-11-10. https://bestattributiontool.com/first-week-with-an-attribution-tool