Tracking the source of leads in Freshsales the right way
Learn the best way to track the source of your leads in Freshsales CRM
Do you wish you could see, right there in Freshsales, where each lead and customer came from?
If you could do that, you'd be able to see what marketing channels & campaigns are actually generating the majority of your leads, and you'd know what you need to do more of to grow.
The good news is, this is all possible.
In this article, we'll show you how you can use a tool called Attributer to properly track the source of your leads in Freshsales CRM.
4 steps for properly tracking the source of leads in Freshsales
Attributer makes it easy to see the source of every lead & customer in Freshsales. Here's how to do it in 4 simple steps:
1. Install Attributer and add hidden fields to your forms
After signing up for a 14-day free trial of Attributer, you'll be given a small snippet of code to place on your website.
How you add this snippet of code to your website largely depend son what you used to build it (I.e. WordPress, Wix, Webflow, etc). Luckily, we have step-by-step instructions for adding the code to all the major website builders here.
Once the code is on your site, the next thing to do is add a series of hidden fields to your forms, including:
- Channel
- Channel Drilldown 1
- Channel Drilldown 2
- Channel Drilldown 3
- Channel Drilldown 4
The process for adding these hidden fields will differ depending on what form tool you use (Gravity Forms, Typeform, Wix Forms, Webflow Forms, etc), but step-by-step instructions for most form-builders can be seen here.
2. Attributer writes lead source data into the hidden fields
Now that you've added Attributer to your website, it will begin to monitor where people are coming from and categorize them into a series of channels (the same one's you see in tools like Google Analytics, such as Organic Search, Paid Search, Paid Social, and more).
It will then store the lead source data in a cookie in the visitor's browser so that it is remembered as people browse around your site.
Then when the person completes a form on your website, Attributer writes the lead source information (I.e. That they came fromPaid Search, Organic Search, etc) into the hidden fields.
3. Lead source data is sent to Freshsales
When the visitor submits the form on your site, the lead source data that Attributer wrote into the hidden fields is captured by your form builder and sent into Freshsales alongside the lead's name, email, etc.
Attributer works with all the major form builders, including Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, Jotform, Typeform, Wix Forms & more.
4. Run reports to see where your leads & customers are coming from
Finally, once the lead source data is in Keap, you can then use it to build reports that show which of your marketing channels and campaigns are actually bringing you leads, customers & revenue.
For instance, you could run reports that show how many leads you got from your Google Ads, how many customers you got from your Facebook Ads, or how much revenue you've generated from your SEO work.
What data gets sent to Freshsales?
Once you've got Attributer set up, the following lead source information gets passed to Freshsales:
1. Marketing Channel Data
Attributer passes through lead source information that is quite similar to what you get in tools like Google Analytics.
For example, if I was a marketer at Freshsales and someone clicked on one of the Google Ads I had running to promote Freshsales CRM, Attributer would write information like:
- Channel: Paid Search
- Channel Drilldown 1: Google
- Channel Drilldown 2: Brand Campaign
- Channel Drilldown 3: Free Trial ad
Similarly, if the lead arrives organically through a Google search, Attributer would capture:
- Channel: Organic Search
- Channel Drilldown 1: Google
- Channel Drilldown 2: www.google.com (or the specific Google domain they came from)
- Channel Drilldown 3: Freshsales (or the keyword they used to find the site, if available)
2. Landing page data
On top of passing through the Channel data, Attributer also captures the lead's initial landing page (I.e. keap.com/blog/best-crm) as well the landing page group (I.e. /blog).
This landing page data can help you to run reports that show how many leads & customers you're getting from different sections of your site (I.e. your blog) as well as drill down into how many leads you got from each individual page (I.e. each individual blog page).
3 example reports you can run when you properly track the source of your leads in Freshsales
Back when I used to run marketing teams (before I founded Attributer), I would run 100's of reports in CRM's like Freshsales every year to track how certain campaigns or marketing initiatives were performing.
Here are a few of the one's I find most insightful:
1. Leads by channel
This chart shows many leads you're getting each month from the different channels that drive traffic to your website.
It gives you a high-level overview of where your leads are coming from, and can help you understand what channels you should be investing more in and which one's to cut.
2. Opportunities by Google Ads campaign
If you have multiple campaigns running in Google Ads, then this report is for you.
It shows how many opportunities are being generated from Google Ads each month, broken down by the campaign they came from.
It helps you understand which of your campaigns are actually producing sales opportunities for your sales team, and which campaigns should probably just be turned off.
3. Customers by Facebook Ads Network
If you're running ad on the various networks owned by Facebook, including Facebook itself, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, then this report can help you.
It shows how many customers you've received from your Facebook Ads over time, broken down by the network they came from.
It can be useful to understand where your ads are performing best so you can focus your budget on the best-performing networks.
Wrap up
If you've ever wish you could see where your leads are coming from in Freshsales, then hopefully Attributer can help.
It will send information on the source of every lead into Freshsales, right down to the campaign and even the ad they clicked.
You can use this data to run reports that inform you of what's working and what isn't, and ultimately what you need to do to grow.
Best of all, it's free to get started and usually takes less than 10 minutes to set up, so start your 14-day free trial today and try it out!
Get Started For Free
Start your 14-day free trial of Attributer today!
About the Author
Aaron Beashel is the founder of Attributer and has over 15 years of experience in marketing & analytics. He is a recognized expert in the subject and has written articles for leading websites such as Hubspot, Zapier, Search Engine Journal, Buffer, Unbounce & more. Learn more about Aaron here.