[GTM glossary](/glossary.txt) Self-reported attribution Marketing # Self-reported attribution In short Self-reported attribution is a marketing attribution method where buyers tell you how they found you, usually through a "How did you hear about us?" field on a form or a question on a sales call. The answer is recorded alongside the lead. It complements software-based tracking. Tools can only see clicks and page views, while self-reported answers can reveal podcasts, communities, peer recommendations, and other channels that leave no trail. ## Why teams use self-reported attribution Click-based models credit the last trackable touch. A buyer who heard about you in a private Slack group, then searched your name and clicked a branded result, shows up as "organic search". Self-reported attribution surfaces the real starting point. * **Captures the dark funnel:** Word of mouth, private communities, and offline conversations rarely appear in analytics. * **Easy to start:** It needs one form field and a reporting view, not a new tool. * **Honest signal:** The buyer names what they remember as influential. --- ## How to set it up ### 1. Add an open-text field Place "How did you hear about us?" on demo and contact forms. Open text surfaces channels you would never think to list. ### 2. Keep a dropdown too Many teams also add a dropdown for easier reporting. Use both: the dropdown for grouping, the free text for discovery. ### 3. Ask on sales calls Reps should confirm the answer in discovery and record it in the CRM. ### 4. Clean and categorize Group free-text answers into a short list of channels, such as podcast, community, referral, and search. --- ## Example Say a team sees that most demo requests are credited to branded search in its analytics. After adding an open-text field, it finds that many people mention a podcast and a peer recommendation. The team now knows branded search is the last step, not the cause, and can invest in the sources that start the journey. --- ## Limits and common mistakes * **Recall bias:** People remember the most recent or memorable touch, not necessarily the first. * **Vague answers:** "Google" or "online" hides detail. Pair the field with tracked data. * **Using it alone:** Treat it as one lens next to tracked attribution, not a replacement. Comparing the two shows where they disagree. * **Skipping the CRM:** If answers stay in a form tool, they never reach pipeline reports. --- ## Self-reported attribution FAQs **What is self-reported attribution?** Self-reported attribution is a method where leads tell you how they discovered your company, typically through a form field or a question on a call. It captures influences such as word of mouth and communities that tracking software cannot observe. **How do you set up self-reported attribution?** Add a "How did you hear about us?" field to your demo and contact forms, ideally as open text plus an optional dropdown. Have reps confirm the answer on calls, sync it to your CRM, and group answers into channels for reporting. **Is self-reported attribution accurate?** It is directional rather than exact. People forget touches and give vague answers, but it often reveals channels that click tracking misses. Use it together with software-based attribution and compare where the two disagree. **What is the difference between self-reported attribution and multi-touch attribution?** Multi-touch attribution uses tracked interactions to split credit across touchpoints. Self-reported attribution relies on what the buyer says. The first sees only measurable touches, while the second can capture untracked influences. Share term --- ## More related phrases * [Word-of-mouth marketing](/glossary/word-of-mouth-marketing.txt) * [Attribution](/glossary/attribution.txt) * [Marketing attribution model](/glossary/marketing-attribution-model.txt) ## Similar phrases * [B2B marketing attribution](/glossary/b2b-marketing-attribution.txt) B2B marketing attribution assigns credit for pipeline and revenue to the marketing touchpoints that influenced a buying group over a long sales cycle. * [First-touch attribution](/glossary/first-touch-attribution.txt) First-touch attribution gives 100% of the credit for a conversion or deal to the first interaction a buyer had with your brand. * [Last-touch attribution](/glossary/last-touch-attribution.txt) Last-touch attribution assigns 100% of the credit for a conversion to the final marketing touchpoint a buyer interacted with before converting. * [Dark funnel](/glossary/dark-funnel.txt) The dark funnel is the part of the buyer journey that happens out of sight, such as private chats, peer advice, and anonymous research, where your tools cannot track activity. * [Multi-touch attribution](/glossary/multi-touch-attribution.txt) Multi-touch attribution assigns credit for a conversion or deal across every marketing and sales touchpoint, instead of giving it all to one interaction.