How a B2B Platform Fixed Salesforce UTM Overwrites and Restored Reliable Attribution Through HubSpot

Background: Attribution Looked Correct in HubSpot — Until It Hit Salesforce

A B2B platform used HubSpot to capture inbound demand and Salesforce as its system of record for reporting and sales activity. At first glance, attribution inside HubSpot appeared functional, with UTM parameters populating correctly on form submissions.

However, once leads synced to Salesforce, key attribution fields were frequently empty or reset. This disconnect created confusion across teams: marketing saw one source of truth in HubSpot, while Salesforce reports told a very different story.

The organization needed attribution data to remain intact from first touch through CRM sync — without manual fixes or workarounds.

The Challenge: Salesforce Was Silently Clearing UTM Data

The attribution issue stemmed from how HubSpot and Salesforce interacted after form submission:

• UTM parameters were captured correctly at submission, but later appeared blank in Salesforce.
• Salesforce sync behavior caused original values to be overwritten or reset to empty fields.
• Attribution fields lacked protection against downstream updates.
• Reporting teams could not trust Salesforce campaign and source reports.
• Re-running attribution analysis required manual reconciliation between systems.

Without a fix, marketing performance could not be accurately measured across the funnel.

Approach: Rebuilding Attribution Logic to Protect First-Touch Data

Rather than relying on default sync behavior, the operations team redesigned how UTM data was stored, preserved, and synced.

Step 1: Identifying Where Attribution Was Breaking

The first step was to isolate the failure point:

• Verified that UTMs were being captured correctly at the moment of form submission.
• Confirmed that attribution loss occurred after syncing to Salesforce, not during capture.
• Determined that Salesforce-side behavior was resetting UTM fields when values conflicted or updated.

This made it clear that attribution needed to be protected before the sync occurred.

Step 2: Introducing Permanent “Original” UTM Properties in HubSpot

To preserve first-touch attribution, the team implemented a new data structure:

• Created dedicated original UTM properties to store first-touch values permanently.
• Configured workflows to copy UTMs immediately upon first capture into these protected fields.
• Ensured these properties were not overwritten by later sessions or updates.

This separated historical attribution from session-based tracking, ensuring original values remained intact.

Step 3: Aligning Property Naming and Sync Behavior Across Systems

To reduce conflicts between HubSpot and Salesforce:

• UTM property naming was standardized to ensure consistency across both platforms.
• Mappings were reviewed so Salesforce recognized the correct source fields.
• Sync behavior was adjusted to prevent empty Salesforce updates from overwriting populated HubSpot values.

This alignment reduced the risk of silent data loss during synchronization.

Step 4: Testing, Validation, and Iteration

With the new structure in place, the team validated attribution integrity:

• Ran controlled test submissions across multiple scenarios.
• Verified that UTMs persisted after syncing to Salesforce.
• Confirmed that original values remained unchanged even after subsequent interactions.

This testing ensured that attribution data could be trusted end-to-end.

Results: Attribution Data That Survives the CRM Sync

After rebuilding the attribution framework, the platform achieved consistent and reliable UTM preservation:

• First-touch UTM values remained intact after Salesforce sync.
• Salesforce reports now reflected accurate campaign and source data.
• HubSpot and Salesforce attribution aligned across lifecycle stages.
• Manual reconciliation between systems was eliminated.

Marketing and revenue teams could finally rely on Salesforce as a trustworthy reporting source.

Key Takeaways: Why Attribution Must Be Defended at the Source

• Capturing UTMs is not enough — they must be protected from downstream overwrites.
• Permanent “original” properties prevent first-touch data from being lost.
• Misaligned naming conventions can silently break attribution.
• HubSpot workflows are essential for governing data before CRM sync.

Best Practices: Preserving Attribution Between HubSpot and Salesforce

• Store first-touch UTMs in dedicated original properties.
• Copy attribution values immediately upon capture using workflows.
• Align field naming and mappings across systems.
• Prevent empty CRM updates from overwriting populated fields.
• Validate attribution persistence with structured test submissions.