What is a lead source?

By LeadFormHub Editorial Team ·

A lead source is the campaign, page, or referrer that produced a submission. It is usually the UTM parameters on the link, plus the referrer and the landing page stored with the lead. A how did you hear about us answer is a backup for people who arrive with no parameters. It does not replace the values on the link.

Why it matters

Source is how you tell a paid click from an email click from a partner link after the fact. Without it, every lead looks like it came from the same place and you cannot pause the campaign that is wasting spend.

Example

Illustrative example. One link uses utm_source=google and utm_campaign=demo. Another uses utm_source=newsletter and utm_campaign=october. Both open the same form. Each saved lead keeps the parameters from the link that was used. You can then count the two campaigns apart. The campaign names here are labels, not a performance result.

How to measure or apply it

Use one spelling for each source and medium, and put those parameters on every link you share. Review the leads for a fixed date range and compare campaigns on valid contacts, not only on raw volume. If a link is shared with no parameters, the automatic source may be blank and the dropdown answer is the only clue. Keep a short list of allowed campaign names so two people do not invent two spellings.

In LeadFormHub

LeadFormHub stores UTM parameters, the referrer, and the landing page on the lead, including on the free plan. The source report, which groups leads by source and campaign, is on Pro and Business.

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