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How to Track ROI from Marketing Campaigns

Set up ROI tracking across channels and calculate campaign value.

Connecting Ad Spend to Revenue: Attribution, CRM Data & Evaluating Lead Quality

To get true ROI from your marketing, you need to link every dollar spent to actual business results. Here’s how you can accurately connect ad spend to revenue using CRM data, UTM tracking, and proper attribution models—plus tips for assessing both lead and customer value by source.

1. Why Connect Ad Spend and Revenue?

  • Clarity for Decision-Making:
    Knowing which campaigns actually bring in valuable customers lets you allocate budget to what works.
  • Focusing on Quality, Not Just Quantity:
    It’s not just about leads—it’s about high-value leads that become paying, profitable customers.

2. UTM Codes: Tracking Campaign Traffic

  • What Are UTMs?
    Short bits of text added to URLs (e.g., ?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=spring_sale) that tell analytics platforms exactly where traffic is coming from.
  • How to Use Them:
    1. Generate UTM links for every paid ad, email, or promotion using Google’s Campaign URL Builder.
    2. Share only the tagged URLs in your ads and emails.
    3. When users convert (submit forms, become leads, etc.), the UTM is captured in Google Analytics AND can be passed into your CRM.

3. CRM Data: Measuring Top-to-Bottom Funnel Impact

  • What Does a CRM Do?
    Tracks every contact and the source of each lead or customer.
  • How to Connect Analytics to CRM:
    • Integrate forms or lead capture tools with your CRM (like HubSpot, Salesforce, etc.) to pass through UTM parameters.
    • Store source/medium/campaign in each contact record so you can see which ads ultimately produce customers and revenue.
  • Benefits:
    • Track deals, purchases, or closed-won opportunities back to the original ad click.

4. Attribution Models: Assigning Credit Fairly

  • Why Attribution Matters:
    Not all customers convert immediately! Attribution models define how credit for revenue is distributed across a user’s touchpoints.
  • Common Models:
    • First-Touch: Full credit to the first campaign that drove the user in.
    • Last-Touch: Full credit to the final campaign before conversion.
    • Linear: Equal credit across all significant touchpoints.
    • Data-Driven: Uses all data to assign partial credit based on what actually drives conversions.
  • How to Use:
    Use tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, or Looker Studio to view revenue, leads, or customer count by source and model.

5. Evaluating Lead and Customer Value by Source

  • Beyond the Lead:
    Want high-value customers, not just a higher lead count.
  • Evaluate:
    • Conversion rate from lead to customer by source (which channels close the best?)
    • Average revenue or lifetime value (LTV) by campaign or ad group.
    • Lead quality metrics: deal size, retention, upsell rate, etc.

Tip:
Regularly review your CRM reports segmented by source/campaign—adjust budgets toward what delivers actual growth, not just initial interest.

Summary:
By tying ad spend to revenue with UTM codes, CRM data, and strong attribution models, you’ll see exactly which marketing activities drive the most value—enabling smarter, more confident budgeting and continuous improvement of your campaigns.