Referrer/utm parameters not captured in form submission

[EPark196]

According to this community post, Hubspot captured refferer/utm data across multiple pages as captures this information in form submissions. 

I'm testing this and it isn't working.

- We're using Hubspot website pages with Hubspot forms
- I browse to site.com?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=123, a subsequent page with a form, and submit
- I'd expect the contact to be classified with Original/Latest Traffic Source = Paid Search, but it is Direct

What are reasons it might not be working and how can I troublehshoot this?

[Nhal]

If HubSpot’s not picking up your UTM data, it’s usually because the tracking code isn’t firing on all pages, or you’re using non-native forms.

Make sure you’re using HubSpot pages and forms, the tracking code is working everywhere, and test in an incognito window going straight from the UTM link to the form.

That should help narrow it down.

[Nhal]

If HubSpot’s not picking up your UTM data, it’s usually because the tracking code isn’t firing on all pages, or you’re using non-native forms. Make sure you’re using HubSpot pages and forms, the tracking code is working everywhere, and test in an incognito window, going straight from the UTM link to the form. That should help narrow it down.

[EPark196]

@karstenkoehler 

It's on my list of todos to add a cookie banner!

We are using Hubspot pages and I have confirmed that the cookies described here are being set. After clearing cookies and visiting a hubspot page, I see __hstc, __hssrc, __hssc, and hubspotuk.

Good idea to test in a vanilla browser. Thanks!

[karstenkoehler]

Hi @EPark196,

According to which community post, could you please link the thread?

Generally, yes, see "rule" 6 on this page, a form submission should classify as paid search when utm_medium contains cpc which it does in your case: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/reports/understand-hubspots-traffic-sources-in-the-traffic-analytics-t...

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@EPark196 wrote:

I browse to site.com?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=123, a subsequent page with a form, and submit

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In your test, do you have a cookie banner set up and accepted cookies? If not, are parameters propagated from page to page? Without, the parameters will not be captured.

Best regards

[EPark196]

It's this post - https://community.hubspot.com/t5/CRM/How-Does-HubSpot-Track-Referrers-and-UTM-Parameters-Across/m-p/...

To answer your questions, we do not have a cookie banner and parameters are not propogated from page to page. The post referenced above says that referrer and utm info is stored within cookies and then captured in forms, but it isn't working for us.

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

@EPark196 if you don't have a cookie banner but are still setting cookies, you might want to set up a cookie banner 😉

Do you have the tracking code installed, or are these HubSpot pages? Have you used the browser inspect tools to check whether cookies are actually being set?

Unless cookies are present at the entry and still there at the time if the form submission, typically requiring acceptance of the cookies, HubSpot cannot gather this information.

Also make sure that there aren't any privacy features or extensions in your browser active. It's best to test in a private tab of a vanilla installation of browser without strong privacy features. (Brave would for example be a bad choice for testing. So would Firefox with ublock etc.)

[EPark196]

It was an issue with my browser! Must be one of the plugins because the utm/referrer tracking worked fine in incognito mode. Thanks!