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Reporting and AttributionSystems Architecture

Turning fragmented lead-source data into trustworthy attribution

Rebuilt a 200+ value lead-source taxonomy, automated assignment logic, and embedded governance into campaign intake to make funnel reporting trustworthy across inbound, outbound, partner, and referral motions.

Environment
Global enterprise technology company
My role

Led strategy, taxonomy design, stakeholder alignment, governance model, implementation requirements, QA approach, documentation, and enablement in partnership with marketing and sales operations teams.

30%
reduction in lead-source misclassification
1
governed taxonomy replacing 200+ legacy values
Award
Company-wide marketing excellence award

The problem

Marketing and sales leadership could not answer basic attribution questions: which channels created pipeline, which partners drove qualified leads, and which programs deserved further investment.

Context

The organization had accumulated more than 200 legacy lead-source values across systems. Definitions were inconsistent, source assignment was unreliable, and funnel reporting could not be trusted across inbound, outbound, partner, and referral motions.

Illustrative diagram

Representative — proprietary details omitted
Before
  1. 01200+ fragmented source values
  2. 02Inconsistent assignment logic
  3. 03Unreliable funnel reporting
After
  1. 01Governed source taxonomy
  2. 02Automated assignment logic
  3. 03Consistent source data across systems
  4. 04Trusted funnel and channel insights

What I did

How I approached it

  • 01Audited 200+ legacy source valuesMapped across every marketing and CRM system holding them.
  • 02Interviewed the source ownersChannel, partner, and campaign owners, to surface what each source was actually meant to capture.
  • 03Grouped into a governed hierarchyTied to funnel and reporting requirements rather than history.

What I built

Standardized source taxonomy
A single governed hierarchy replacing the legacy sprawl.
Automated source-assignment logic
Removing the manual judgment call at the point of capture.
Connected to every capture point
Forms, UTMs, referral URLs, APIs, and campaign processes all resolve to the same definitions.
Governance embedded in campaign intake
A daily-checked dashboard flagged sourcing issues directly, and definitions leaned on HubSpot's native categories where possible, so there was less custom surface for drift to enter in the first place.
Link-tracking builder
Standardizing UTM usage at the point of creation.
Documentation and training
To drive adoption past launch.

Supporting materials

Channel economics

Supporting detail
Illustrative channel economics table alongside a monthly stacked bar chart
Illustrative figures. Once lead source is trustworthy, channel economics like CPL and cost-per-SQL become computable.
Before and after comparison of lead source values
Before: offline sources dominated by bulk imports. After: clean, queryable event and product taxonomies.

Diagrams and figures are representative. Proprietary architecture, internal system names, and confidential customer details are omitted or generalized.