Case Study: Building a Scalable Attribution System

Written by MTRevOps | Apr 15, 2026 7:56:47 PM

Overview

Recently, we worked with a growing B2B SaaS company that needed better visibility into what was driving their pipeline and revenue. The issue? Their attribution relied on HubSpot’s native tracking, which lacked visibility into offline sources, event performance, and key conversion points across the funnel.

MTRevOps designed and implemented a multi-layer attribution system across contacts, leads, and deals, all within HubSpot! This allowed the team to accurately track where leads were coming from, what actions were driving conversions, and how those interactions translated into revenue. The best part? This scalable framework now enables the team to connect actions to outcomes, preserve critical data at each stage, and see what is actually driving revenue and deal creation. Take a look.

 

The Challenge

Like many growing companies, this team had a familiar problem. They were generating leads but really had no real visibility into why or how those leads were coming in.

At a high level, three major gaps were holding them back:

1. Unreliable Attribution Data

They were relying on HubSpot’s native attribution, which fell short especially for offline sources. Events, imports, and other non-digital touchpoints were largely bucketed into vague “offline” categories. Offline sources tend to be a common problem among HubSpot users. For this team it left them without a clear understanding of what was actually driving pipeline.

2. No Visibility Into Event Performance

Events were a major investment for their business and a key lead source but there was no clean way to track:

  • Which events generated leads
  • Which leads actually converted
  • Which events influenced revenue

Their workaround? A single custom property for event tracking which resulted in messy, incomplete data that couldn’t support real decision-making.

3. No Attribution Across the Funnel

Even when leads converted, there was no visibility into:

  • Why a contact became an MQL

  • What triggered a lead to be created

  • What drove deal creation

This resulted in no way to connect actions to conversions and revenue.


3. Net-New Referral Validation

Not all referrals qualify for incentives. To ensure accuracy, the workflow automatically checked whether the referred contact already existed inside of HubSpot.

If the contact was new:

  • The referral was accepted
  • The reward amount increased

If the contact already existed:

  • The referral was flagged as such
  • The submitter was notified that the contact existed already with a personalized email

This prevented duplicates while maintaining transparency.

The Starting Point

So we implemented a multi-layer attribution system designed to track the full buyer journey without sacrificing data or flexibility, or adding in additional software.

1. Attribution Across the Entire Funnel

Instead of relying on a single attribution point, we built a system across:

  • Contacts (creation + conversion)
  • Leads (creation + re-engagement)
  • Deals (creation + revenue attribution)

This created a connected attribution model from first touch to closed won.

2. Contact-Level Attribution (The Foundation)

We established two key layers:

  • Original Source Attribution
    → How the contact was first created
  • Conversion Attribution (MQL Trigger)
    → What action caused the contact to convert

This was fully customized to their business (not generic), capturing:

  • Event attendance
  • Form fills
  • Imports
  • Other high-intent actions

We also layered in traffic data, ensuring nothing was lost.

3. Lead-Level Attribution (Multi-Touch Visibility)

For companies using the lead object, this is where a lot of attribution breaks.

We solved that by tracking:

  • Why each lead was created
  • What triggered their re-entry into the funnel

We ensured that nothing was overwritten. If a contact re-engaged later, both touchpoints were preserved.

4. Deal-Level Attribution (Revenue Clarity)

At the deal stage, we captured:

  • What triggered deal creation
  • The associated source plus traffic at that moment

This tied revenue directly back to the actions and sources that influenced it.

5. Built for Real-World Flexibility

We know that not every funnel is linear so we accounted for that.

Whether a contact:

  • Skipped the lead stage
  • Entered as a high-intent opportunity
  • Re-engaged multiple times

The system still worked. No breaks. No data loss.

6. Reporting & Strategy Layer

Once the data foundation was in place, we enabled reporting that answered:

  • Which events actually drive pipeline?
  • What converts contacts into MQLs?
  • What actions lead to revenue?

This turned attribution from data collection into decision-making.

The Outcome

With full-funnel attribution in place, the team could finally:

Identify High-Performing Events

Not all events were equal. They uncovered which events:

  • Generated qualified leads
  • Converted into pipeline
  • Actually influenced revenue

This resulted in the opportunity for reallocated budget toward high-impact events.

Understand Conversion Triggers

They could now clearly see:

  • What actions drive MQL conversion
  • Which channels influence deal creation

Optimizing marketing and sales efforts around what actually works was now a reality.

Eliminate Guesswork

No more frustrating team meetings where the phrase “we think this is working.” would come up.

Now they had:

  • Clear source visibility
  • Multi-touch attribution
  • Full funnel insight

Their team could now make smarter decisions that were backed by real data.

Key Takeaway

Attribution isn’t about giving credit to marketing or sales, it’s about answering one critical question:

“What is actually driving revenue and where should we invest more?”

By building a structured, flexible attribution system across contacts, leads, and deals, this team turned a major blind spot into a strategic advantage.

Looking Ahead

With the foundation in place, the system is designed to evolve:

  • Layer in more advanced reporting
  • Refine conversion definitions
  • Expand attribution across customer lifecycle stages

Because the goal isn’t just better data it’s better decisions at every stage of growth.

If this is something your company also struggles with, we’re happy to discuss implementing it for you and your goals!