By using Contact Form 7, you can gather leads from Instagram, but it's not possible to connect each lead with the ad that generated it. In the same way, when a lead becomes a paying customer, there's no way to trace their origin back to the precise ad on Instagram.
Lacking this tracking, you’re unable to assess how well your Instagram ads are performing, leaving you uncertain about which ads are generating leads and customers. This means you're spending on several ads without clear insights into which ones work best.
Fortunately, there's a simple solution to associate each lead with the exact Instagram campaign, ad set, and ad responsible for creating it.
Let’s break it down step by step!
How to track Instagram ads in Contact Form 7
Step 1: Add Leadsources in the head tag of your website
Leadsources is a simple tool that traces where your leads come from. Added to your site, it collects up to 7 pieces of source information for each lead generated.
➡️ Sign up to Leadsources.io for free
➡️ Add the Leadsources tracking code to your site
Step 2: Add the UTM parameters to your Instagram ads
To track Instagram ad data, add UTM parameters in your ad URL, covering campaign, ad set, and ad information. Here’s an example configuration you can use:
UTM_medium=paidsocialUTM_source=instagramUTM_campaign=campaign-nameUTM_term=ad-set-nameUTM_content=ad-name
The final version of the URL will look like this:
https://www.yourdomain.com?UTM_medium=paidsocial&UTM_source=instagram&UTM_campaign=campaign-name&UTM_term=ad-set-name&UTM_content=ad-nameImportant: Leadsources captures lead source information, without UTM parameters, ensuring all leads are fully tracked.
Step 3: Add the hidden fields in Contact Form 7
Hidden fields are form inputs invisible to users, designed to hold data that’s sent when the form is submitted.
Upon submission of your Contact Form 7, Leadsources fills the hidden fields with data from Instagram ads automatically. Then, Leadsources stores the Instagram ad data directly in your Contact Form 7.
Step 4: Capture the Instagram ads data in Contact Form 7
When users click your ads and visit your website, Leadsources fetches the Instagram campaign, ad set, ad data, and more.
Leadsources automatically populates this data from Instagram ads in the hidden fields of Contact Form 7.
Thus, when the form is submitted, you can find the Instagram ad data along with lead details in Contact Form 7.
How does Leadsources work?
Each time someone visits your site, Leadsources fetches Instagram ad data and populates it within the hidden fields of your form. Upon submission, this data, along with lead details such as name and email, is forwarded to Contact Form 7.
Leadsources keeps a record of all this source data for every lead:
| Lead source data | Fetched automatically |
| Channel | ✅ |
| Source | ✅ |
| Campaign | ✅ OR use UTM_campaign |
| Content | UTM_content parameter is required |
| Term | UTM_term parameter is required |
| Landing page | ✅ |
| Landing page subfolder | ✅ |
As demonstrated in the table above, when UTM parameters are unavailable—like with organic sources such as Google search or referrals—Leadsources still gathers some lead source data:
- Channel
- Source
- Campaign
- Landing page
- Landing page subfolder
In contrast to other tools, Leadsources captures lead sources from all marketing channels, including both organic and paid.
Choose a channel to access the lead source data that Leadsources adds to your form.
Performance reports: Lead, sales, and revenue by source
By recording Instagram ad data in Contact Form 7, you are able to produce performance reports including:
- Leads, sales, and revenue by channel
- Leads, sales, and revenue by source
- Leads, sales, and revenue by campaign (aka. Instagram campaign)
- Leads, sales, and revenue by term (aka. Instagram ad set)
- Leads, sales, and revenue by content (aka. Instagram ad)
This gives you the ability to readjust your Instagram budget in alignment with the campaigns, ad sets, and ads that yield the most leads, sales, and revenue.
Let’s explore some of the reports that you have the ability to create:
1. Lead source reports
Compile performance reports that indicate the number of leads acquired through:
- Channel
- Source
- Campaign (aka. Instagram campaign)
- Term (aka. Instagram ad set)
- Content (aka. Instagram ad)
- Landing page
- Landing page subfolder
Example #1: Leads by channel
This report allows you to assess which channel yields the highest lead generation.
Example #2: Leads by Instagram campaign
You can now focus on a specific lead source (e.g., Instagram) and keep track of the number of leads produced by each Instagram campaign.
Example #3: Leads by Instagram ad
Once you determine the Instagram campaign that produces the most leads, you can examine which particular ad set or ad is accountable for generating those leads.
2. Sales and revenue source reports
Now that we have identified the Instagram campaign, ad set, and ad responsible for generating our leads, it is essential to determine if these leads are converting into sales and revenue.
In order to achieve this, integrate your leads with a CRM like GoHighLevel. This facilitates the tracking of sales and revenue from different channels, sources, Instagram campaigns, ad sets, ads, landing pages, and landing page subfolders.
With this data, you can optimize your Instagram ad strategy to emphasize the channels, sources, campaigns, ad sets, and ads that drive the highest sales and revenue.
It is possible to produce different types of sales and revenue reports, such as:
- Sales and revenue by channel
- Sales and revenue by source
- Sales and revenue by campaign
- Sales and revenue by term (e.g., Instagram ad set)
- Sales and revenue by content (e.g., Instagram ad)
- Sales and revenue by landing page
- Sales and revenue by landing page subfolder
Example Scenario:
| Channel | Search Paid | Social Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Leads | 50 | 75 |
| Sales | 5 | 6 |
| Average Order Value | $150 | $100 |
| Revenue | $750 | $600 |
Once ads were launched on Google and Instagram, the first "Leads by Channel" report showed that Social Paid ads (Instagram) generated a greater number of leads compared to Search Paid ads.
Nevertheless, upon examining the sales and revenue figures in your CRM, you realized that the Search Paid channel generated higher revenue with fewer leads than the Social Paid channel. As a result, you modified your budget to direct more funds toward the Search Paid channel.
