Lead source and channel

In RD Station, traffic_source may arrive as encoded_<base64>, holding a JSON of the first and last session; traffic_medium and traffic_campaign are almost always empty. Inside the JSON the source still shows up as UTMs, as the legacy __utmz cookie or as a raw URL. Classify each row by format and separate empty from unrecognized format: no source and a source we could not read are different states.

Exclude base import, CRM sync, integration, manual insert, mailing, blast, list and test events by event identifier. In real accounts, three quarters of conversion events were bulk loads, and a CRM to RD integration produced 9 out of 10 events. Use word boundaries: without them, a form called Fale com um Especialista (talk to a specialist) falls into the list filter. Flag the event as excluded instead of deleting it, so the difference can be explained.

Each client has its own signal order: manual override, click identifier (gclid, gbraid, wbraid, fbclid, li_fat_id), paid UTM, UTM stored on the contact, session source, CRM Source field and, last, no source. Store the order and the terms of each channel in a per-client table, never copied from another client. Order changes the count: a short term like fb matches anywhere in the text.

Each lead carries channel, platform, the rule that matched and the source format. When the client challenges a number, the answer shows why that lead is Meta and not organic, and a rule change becomes visible in the series.

For one client, the Desconhecido (Unknown) source counts as digital, because almost all of those deals had a site conversion in the previous 30 days; (sem fonte) (no source) stays out, because it is sales creating deals by hand. For another client, Unknown does not count as paid. Record the decision, the date and the test that backed it. Test with a conversion in the 30 days before deal creation, not with the contact existing in the base, which absorbs almost everyone.

Unidentified never disguises itself as direct and is never prorated across channels. Show volume and share per month and alert when it passes the client's limit (15% and 25% were real limits). A jump from one week to the next is almost always broken tracking: a custom form that does not send source fields, a redirect that drops the query string or a chatbot with no UTM.

Lead Ads do not go through the site and arrive with no UTM. In RD, Meta native form conversions have an identifier ending in a hyphen and 9 or more digits, and forms with LINKEDIN in the name come from the LinkedIn native form. Classify by the signature before falling into no source.

Lead, opportunity and sale by channel come from RD or the CRM, which tie the source to the person. Spend, clicks and platform conversions come from the platform, which credits on the click date and does not discount the other platform. Sessions and behavior come from GA4, which does not know the lead. GA4 channel and CRM channel are not summed or crossed.

Cost per lead = period spend / paid media leads created in the period. Cost per lead by platform = platform spend / that platform's leads. Organic, direct, chatbot with no source and Unknown stay out of the denominator. With no paid lead, cost per lead is null, not zero. Spend / all leads can appear alongside, labeled as a floor.

Leads confirmed by the team that have no UTM get their channel through a manual override, stored in a table with who, when and why, and applied at the top of the cascade. Never fix the channel directly in the output or in the report spreadsheet.