Multi-Channel Lead Source Tracking Demystified

As a marketer, you've been asked multiple times, how can we enable multi-channel lead source tracking and analyze the effectiveness of a particular channel?

There could be several reasons you weren't able to achieve multi-source tracking — system limitations, lack of technical skill, lack of knowledge, or technology stack gaps.

If you have Marketo and SFDC, there is a way to track multi-channel lead source. This technique lets you track multi-touch source on the lead and at the opportunity level too. This is a long post as the setup is quite complex, so be patient and read through.

Objective

To track the source of each and every touch point of the lead lifecycle, so you can analyze which channel/source/campaign is working — and optimize marketing spend and resources to maximize ROI. We will track, for each touch point: Channel, Medium, Campaign.

Pre-requisites

1. This solution is for those using Marketo and SFDC.
2. You already have strong first-touch source tracking using UTM parameters or other means.
3. Admin rights in Marketo and SFDC.

Field Requirement

Quick definitions: Lead Source is the medium (Website, Search Engine, Social Media, Paid Ads, Event); Lead Source Details is the specific source (e.g. Facebook, Insta, LinkedIn under Social Media); Other Lead Source is your campaign name (the Marketo program name).

TIP: Use the same campaign name across systems (FB, Marketo program, SFDC campaign) so you can easily merge data for a holistic view of campaign performance.

Create these fields with conversion mapping on the SFDC Lead/Contact: FT – Lead Source, FT – Lead Source Details, FT – Other Lead Source, and the LT (Last Touch) equivalents. On the Campaign Member object, create: Lead Source and Lead Source Detail.

How it works

Step 1: Define Source/Channel

Define a list for your channels (Website, Social Media, Search engine). Map source fields to UTM parameters: Lead Source → utm_medium; Lead Source Details → utm_source; Other Lead Source → utm_campaign (the Marketo program name).

Step 2: Capture data on the Marketo form

Use hidden fields to capture UTM parameters. Add the "Last Touch" fields as hidden fields mapped to the UTM parameters.

Step 3: Capture First Touch and Last Touch in Marketo

• Block field updates of the "First Touch" fields from all sources except the "Flow Action".
• On form submission, Marketo captures tracking data in the Last Touch fields.
• Create a central smart campaign to copy Last Touch into First Touch fields when First Touch is empty (for new leads, FT and LT are the same).
• Sync the lead to SFDC and add it to the appropriate SFDC campaign from a smart campaign directly. Do not sync the program with the SFDC campaign directly, or you will face data issues.

Step 4: Capture Multi-Touch

Use the two custom fields on the Campaign Member object to capture multi-touch source. Keep one campaign per marketing initiative. On the lead you'll see First Touch and Last Touch; on the campaign member you'll have the source of each touch point. To copy the lead's last-touch source onto the campaign member, use SFDC "Process Builder". Then build campaign member reports in SFDC to understand which source is most popular, which campaigns work, and (with campaign-to-opportunity influence) the impact of a source on opportunities.