Leads are generated from Instagram through Ninja Forms, but there’s no way to map each one to the ad that brought it in. Likewise, when a lead converts to a customer, tracing it back to the ad is not possible.
Without tracking, evaluating Instagram ad performance is hard, and you can’t identify which ads generate leads and customers. Consequently, you might invest in many ads without a clear understanding of their conversion impact.
A simple solution exists to map each lead directly to the specific Instagram campaign, ad set, and ad that generated it.
Let’s cover each step in detail!
How to track Instagram ads in Ninja Forms
Step 1: Add Leadsources in the head tag of your website
Leadsources provides a simple solution for identifying where leads originate. Integrated into your site, it captures up to 7 source details per lead.
➡️ 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
Use UTM parameters in your ad URL to record Instagram ad details, such as campaign, ad set, and ad. Here’s a setup example:
UTM_medium=paidsocialUTM_source=instagramUTM_campaign=campaign-nameUTM_term=ad-set-nameUTM_content=ad-name
Once finalized, your URL should 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-nameNote: Leadsources tracks all lead data, ensuring complete coverage, even in the absence of UTM parameters.
Step 3: Add the hidden fields in Ninja Forms
Hidden fields are unseen form fields that hold information, which is included when the form is submitted.
Upon submission of your Ninja Forms, Leadsources automatically enters Instagram ads data into the hidden fields. This information is then saved directly in your Ninja Forms.
Step 4: Capture the Instagram ads data in Ninja Forms
When users click on your ads and visit your site, Leadsources fetches the Instagram campaign, ad set, and additional ad data.
Leadsources accurately populates the hidden fields of Ninja Forms with Instagram ads data.
Hence, once the form has been submitted, the Instagram ad data and lead details will be visible in Ninja Forms.
How does Leadsources work?
Whenever a user visits your site, Leadsources fetches Instagram ad data and populates it in the hidden fields of your form. When the form gets submitted, this data, including lead details like name and email, is transmitted to Ninja Forms.
Leadsources gathers all of this source data for each lead you generate:
| 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 detailed in the table above, when UTM parameters are unavailable—like with organic sources such as Google search or referral sources—Leadsources continues to collect some lead source data:
- Channel
- Source
- Campaign
- Landing page
- Landing page subfolder
In contrast with other tools, Leadsources records lead sources across all marketing channels, both organic and paid.
Choose a channel to view the lead source details that Leadsources installs in your form.
Performance reports: Lead, sales, and revenue by source
By integrating Instagram ad data in Ninja Forms, you can compile 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 allows you to reshape your Instagram budget in response to the campaigns, ad sets, and ads that yield the most leads, sales, and revenue.
Let’s dive into some of the reports you have the option to generate:
1. Lead source reports
Create performance reports that list the number of leads generated by:
- 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 facilitates the identification of the channel that generates the most leads.
Example #2: Leads by Instagram campaign
You can now shift your attention to a specific lead source (e.g., Instagram) and monitor the lead count from each Instagram campaign.
Example #3: Leads by Instagram ad
After determining the Instagram campaign that delivers the highest leads, you can assess which ad set or specific ad is responsible for attracting those leads.
2. Sales and revenue source reports
Since we have identified the Instagram campaign, ad set, and ad driving our leads, we need to evaluate whether these leads are resulting in sales and revenue.
To meet this target, integrate your leads with a CRM such as GoHighLevel. This facilitates the tracking of sales and revenue across multiple channels, sources, Instagram campaigns, ad sets, ads, landing pages, and landing page subfolders.
With these findings, you can adapt your Instagram ad strategy to prioritize the channels, sources, campaigns, ad sets, and ads that drive significant sales and revenue.
You can formulate different sales and revenue reports, like:
- 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 |
After initiating marketing campaigns on Google and Instagram, the initial “Leads by Channel” report indicated that Social Paid ads (Instagram) generated a larger number of leads than Search Paid ads.
However, after reviewing the sales and revenue reports in your CRM, you noted that the Search Paid channel achieved a greater revenue amount with a fewer lead count than the Social Paid channel. Based on this observation, you adjusted your budget to direct more resources into the Search Paid channel.