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How to see where your customers come from (sources, UTM, ads)

Most small businesses pay for Facebook and Google ads, have a website, get referrals and go to trade fairs. But asked "where do the customers who actually buy come from?", they answer from gut feeling. Without an answer, the ad budget gets split by what "seems" to work.

Leads aren't everything

The most common mistake is counting enquiries. A campaign can bring 100 enquiries and no customers, while referrals bring five enquiries and four customers. For each source, three numbers matter:

• how many enquiries it brought;
• how many became customers (won deals);
• how much money those deals brought in.

If you also know what you spent on the source, you learn what a customer costs, not just a lead.

Step 1: a source on every lead

Every lead needs its source filled in: website, referral, cold call, email, social media, event, advertising. When the source doesn't come in automatically, ask:

• on the phone: "How did you hear about us?" — and note it straight away;
• on a form: a "How did you hear about us?" field with a few options.

A short list, the same for everyone. With 30 options, nobody picks the right one any more.

Step 2: UTM tags on your ad links

UTM tags are labels added to the end of a link that say where the visitor came from:

• utm_source — where from: facebook, google, newsletter;
• utm_medium — what kind: cpc (paid ads), social, email;
• utm_campaign — which campaign: autumn-2026, november-sale.

A link looks like this: yoursite.com/offer?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=autumn-2026

A few rules:

• Tag every link you control: ads, newsletters, the link in your Instagram bio, QR codes on flyers.
• Always spell them the same way: "facebook", not "Facebook" one time and "fb" the next. Otherwise you get three sources instead of one.
• In Google Ads, set the tags once, in the account's or campaign's "Final URL suffix", and they reach every ad.

Step 3: enquiries must reach the CRM with their source

UTM tags are useless if they stay in your website analytics and the lead in the CRM doesn't have them. What needs to happen:

• The website form sends the page's UTM tags, the page it was sent from and the site the visitor came from, along with the enquiry.
• Facebook and Instagram lead forms arrive straight as leads, with the ad as the source.
• Messages from WhatsApp, Viber or Telegram become leads with the "Social media" source, and the conversation shows the channel.
• Calls: with a call tracking service each ad gets its own phone number, and the call carries the campaign's source with it.

How to do it in Intrawebix CRM

• The Source field is on leads and deals, with the options Website, Referral, Cold call, Email, Social media, Event, Advertising and Other. For each web form you choose the source of the leads that come through it.
• The web form's Website code sends the UTM tags automatically. They appear on the lead (UTM source, medium, campaign, term and content).
• Lead Ads brings in Facebook ad forms with the "Advertising" source and the form's name.
• Ringostat (telephony with call tracking, from the Start plan) puts the call's UTM tags on the new lead.
• Reports (from the Business plan) group leads by source or UTM campaign, and won deals by source, with their total.

How to read the numbers

Once a month, for each source:

1. How many leads — a leads report, grouped by source or campaign.
2. How many won deals, worth how much — a report on won deals, grouped by source.
3. What it cost — from your ad account.

Then divide: cost ÷ number of customers = what a customer from that source costs you. If one campaign brings customers at €20 and another at €200, you know where to move the budget.

And watch the trend, not a single month. A trade fair keeps bringing customers for three months afterwards, and an ad you've stopped keeps bringing referrals.

Common mistakes

• "Other" as the source on half the leads. It means nobody is asking.
• UTM tags spelled differently in every campaign.
• Counting enquiries without sales. The source that brings the most enquiries is rarely the one that brings the most money.
• Drawing conclusions after a week. Business sales take time: wait at least a month or two.

Web forms, the Source field and UTM tags are in every plan, and reports from the Business plan (see pricing); try them all in the free 30-day trial.

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