Attribution, the process of tracing a conversion or sale back to the marketing activity that caused it, is essential for optimizing influencer marketing strategies. It allows companies to understand the successes and failures of their campaigns, thus, improving decision making and ROI.

Several tracking methods are applied to achieve this:

1. Unique URLs: These are one of the most common ways to track influencer performance. A unique URL is provided to each influencer to place on their content. When this link is clicked on, it’s traceable back to the source.

2. Promo codes: Brands often give influencers unique promotional codes to share with their followers. When a purchase is made using the influencer’s code, the sale can be attributed to them.

3. Affiliate Marketing tools: Many influencer discovery platforms like AspireIQ, Upfluence, and Flinque have integrated with affiliate marketing software to help track sales and determine the effectiveness of individual influencers.

4. Platform specific analytics: Platforms such as Instagram and YouTube provide in-depth analytics on post performance such as views, comments, and shares. By correlating these stats with conversion data, companies can infer how inflencer content impacts consumer behavior.

5. Surveys: Asking customers how they heard about your brand or product can be a simple, yet effective method of tracking discoveries.

Each of these tools can contribute valuable data to comprehending which influencers and campaigns are driving the most conversions.

The choice of platform or approach largely depends on the specific needs of a company. For instance, Flinque is known for its robust audience analytics and discovery tools. However, the best tool always aligns with the unique campaign and business objectives of a company.