Attribution Reporting

Attribution Reporting tracks which marketing channels and campaigns drive leads and revenue by recording the full journey from first click to conversion. The system captures the original source of every contact and updates with the latest interaction, letting you compare first-touch and last-touch data to make smarter budget decisions without guessing where your best contacts come from.

What Attribution Reporting Does

The platform records two attribution snapshots for each contact: First Attribution (captured on initial interaction, never changes) and Latest Attribution (updated on every new trackable action). By comparing both side by side, you identify which channels acquire new leads versus which channels bring people back for repeat conversions.

Attribution source types: The system classifies every contact into nine categories: Paid Search (Google Ads with gclid or utm_source=adwords), Paid Social (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit ads), Organic Search (unpaid search engine results), Social Media (organic social traffic), Referrals (external website links), Direct Traffic (no identifiable source), Others (calls, SMS, emails, WhatsApp), CRM UI (manually created contacts), and Third-Party (API or integration-pushed leads).

Triggering attribution: Data is captured only when contacts complete specific actions: form submissions, survey completions, calendar bookings, chat widget interactions, or order form completions. Page views alone do not trigger attribution.

Determination hierarchy: The system checks in order: Google Click IDs (gclid, wbraid, gbraid), UTM parameters, referring domain, then falls back to Direct Traffic if none match. UTM parameters always take priority over referrer analysis.

Key Configuration Options

UTM parameters for Facebook and Instagram ads: Add this template at the ad level in Ads Manager: ?utm_source=fb_ad&utm_medium={{adset.name}}&utm_campaign={{campaign.name}}&utm_content={{ad.name}}&campaign_id={{campaign.id}}. Double-curly-bracket placeholders are dynamic parameters Facebook replaces automatically with actual campaign, ad set, and ad names.

UTM parameters for Google Ads: Add this template at the account, campaign, or ad group level: ?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium={adname}&utm_campaign={campaignname}&utm_content={adgroupname}&utm_keyword={keyword}&utm_matchtype={matchtype}&campaign_id={campaignid}&ad_group_id={adgroupid}&ad_id={creative}. Single-curly-bracket placeholders are ValueTrack parameters Google fills in dynamically.

Attribution filters on dashboard widgets: Add attribution data as filters on Contact and Opportunity widgets. Edit your dashboard, add a widget, navigate to the Conditions tab, select Attribution, choose First or Latest, then add fields like UTM Campaign, UTM Source, Session Source, or Medium. Group donut and line charts by Session Source or Medium for visual breakdowns, or add attribution columns to table charts for row-level data.

Email attribution settings: The platform uses a 5-day default attribution window for email campaigns. If a subscriber makes a purchase within 5 days of receiving an email, revenue is attributed to that campaign. Adjust in Email Marketing > Settings. Choose between All Campaigns (attributes conversions across all active campaigns) or Product Element Specific (attributes only to campaigns promoting the specific product purchased).

External page tracking: For external landing pages or websites not built in the funnel builder, install the JavaScript tracking script to capture page views and form submissions. Navigate to Settings > External Tracking, copy the script, and paste into the <head> section of every external page. Once installed, form submissions on external pages capture the same attribution data as native forms.

Power Features

Contact-level attribution fields: Each contact record stores detailed attribution data accessible in workflows, reports, and custom views: Source (entry point classification like fb_ad), Campaign Name ({{contact.attributionSource.utmCampaign}}), Ad Set Name ({{contact.attributionSource.utmMedium}}), Ad Name ({{contact.attributionSource.utmContent}}), Campaign ID ({{contact.attributionSource.campaignId}}), and Click Identifiers (fbclid for Facebook, gclid for Google).

Attribution Report dashboard: Navigate to Reporting > Attribution to access contact acquisition data broken down by source type. Key metrics include Contact Volume by Source, Conversion Rates by Source, Campaign Performance (drill into specific campaigns), and First vs. Latest Comparison (toggle between first-touch and last-touch views). Use date range filters to compare performance across weeks, months, or quarters.

Chat widget attribution: When you embed a chat widget on an external website, the system captures attribution data when visitors submit contact information. The visitor’s source, referring URL, and any UTM parameters present in the page URL are recorded. Install the tracking script on every page where the chat widget appears to ensure full session context.

Dynamic parameter support: Facebook’s {{campaign.name}}, {{adset.name}}, and {{ad.name}} variables automatically populate with actual values when ads are served. Google’s ValueTrack parameters like {keyword}, {matchtype}, and {campaignid} work the same way, eliminating manual parameter entry and reducing tracking errors.

Pro Tips

Tag every paid campaign with UTMs. Without proper UTM parameters, paid traffic may be misclassified as direct or organic. Use the exact templates provided for each platform to avoid tracking errors and ensure accurate source classification.
Use consistent naming conventions for campaigns, ad sets, and ads across platforms. Standardized names make it easier to compare performance across channels in attribution reports and prevent confusion when reviewing historical data.
Compare first and latest attribution. First-touch shows which channels acquire new leads. Last-touch shows which channels drive conversions. Both perspectives are valuable for different budget decisions and understanding the full customer journey.
Test your UTM links before launching campaigns. Click your ad URLs and verify that UTM parameters appear correctly in the browser address bar. Typos, extra spaces, or incorrect casing break attribution tracking and create blind spots in your reports.
Install external tracking scripts early. If you use external landing pages or websites, install the script before launching campaigns. Attribution data cannot be captured retroactively for visits that happened before the script was installed.

Common Questions

What is the difference between first attribution and latest attribution?

First attribution records the original source that brought a contact into your system and never changes once set. Latest attribution updates every time the contact takes a new trackable action, reflecting their most recent interaction source. Comparing both shows acquisition versus conversion channels.

Why is my paid traffic showing up as direct traffic?

This usually means UTM parameters are missing or incorrectly formatted on your ad URLs. Double-check that your UTM template matches the exact format required, including correct casing for the utm_source value. Also verify that the landing page URL does not strip query parameters through a redirect.

Which contact interactions trigger attribution recording?

Attribution is captured when a contact submits a form, completes a survey, books a calendar appointment, provides info through a chat widget, or completes an order form. Simple page views do not trigger attribution recording because they do not create a contact record.

Can I track attribution for contacts created through the API or Zapier?

Contacts created through third-party integrations are classified under the “Third-Party” source type. UTM parameter tracking does not apply to these contacts since they were not acquired through a web session with trackable parameters.

How do I add attribution data to my dashboard widgets?

Edit your dashboard, add a Contact or Opportunity widget, go to the Conditions tab, select Attribution, choose First or Latest, then add the specific attribution fields you want to filter by. This enables UTM columns in table views and source grouping in chart views for visual analysis.