An influence window (also called a lookback window) is the configurable time period used in attribution to determine whether a touchpoint is considered relevant to a given opportunity or conversion event. If a marketing or sales interaction falls within the influence window — for example, within 90 days before an opportunity was created — it receives attribution credit. If it falls outside that window, it's excluded from the analysis.
Why the influence window matters
The influence window is one of the most consequential settings in any attribution system, and also one of the most debated. Set it too short and you miss the early-stage activities that planted the seed. Set it too long and you attribute credit to interactions so distant they likely had no real impact on the deal.
- Too narrow (e.g., 30 days): Favors bottom-of-funnel activities like demos and late-stage emails. Top-of-funnel brand and awareness campaigns get systematically excluded, even when they were the reason the prospect entered the funnel in the first place.
- Too wide (e.g., 365 days): Includes so many touchpoints that the signal-to-noise ratio degrades. A webinar attended 11 months ago probably didn't influence today's purchase decision.
- Common default (90 days): Many attribution platforms default to a 90-day window, which is a reasonable starting point for mid-market B2B sales cycles but should be calibrated to your actual data.
How to set your influence window
- Start with your sales cycle: Your influence window should roughly match the length of your average sales cycle. If deals take 6 months to close, a 30-day window will miss most of the journey.
- Differentiate by motion: Some organizations use different windows for different use cases — a shorter window for "sourced" attribution (e.g., 30 days) and a longer one for "influenced" attribution (e.g., 90-180 days).
- Test sensitivity: Run your attribution model with different window lengths and see how much the results change. If the output shifts dramatically between 60 and 90 days, your conclusions depend heavily on this one parameter — which is a red flag.
- Document and align: Whatever window you choose, make sure GTM leadership agrees on it. Changing the window mid-quarter will change your numbers and erode trust.
Influence windows and campaign influence
In Salesforce-native campaign influence models, the influence window determines which campaign memberships are connected to opportunities. A contact who became a campaign member within the window gets their campaign linked to the opportunity; contacts outside the window are excluded. This directly impacts which campaigns receive pipeline and revenue credit.
The influence window is not a set-and-forget configuration. As your sales motion evolves — moving upmarket, adding new channels, or changing your go-to-market strategy — your window should be revisited to ensure it still accurately reflects how your buyers actually buy.