Closed beta
Lead Source for WhatsApp. Find what fills your chats. Then do more of it.
Every WhatsApp enquiry arrives with the channel, campaign and page that started it, so you know exactly what to fund next. A lead is a real message. A tap on the button is just a tap.
The chat arrives with a phone number. The campaign stays in the browser.
Your landing page knows exactly which campaign sent the visitor. Then they tap through to WhatsApp, and the message lands in your inbox as a number and a sentence. The campaign that paid for them stayed behind.
The button tap gets the credit
Most setups count a tap on the WhatsApp button as the conversion. That includes the person who opened the chat and closed it, the double tap and the bot. Bidding learns to find more of them.
Every chat ends up in one pile
A chat carries no referrer and no click ID. So the Google campaign, the Meta campaign and the organic search that each started a conversation all arrive looking exactly the same.
The report and the inbox never meet
The ad platform has a list of taps. The inbox has a list of chats. Joining them means reading every first message and guessing its campaign. Nobody does that job twice.
Lead Source for WhatsApp is in closed beta
Sign up below and we switch it on for your account, then set up your WhatsApp Business number with you.
Every WhatsApp chat, with the campaign that paid for it.
Every chat arrives as a named lead: who messaged, the channel and campaign that sent them, the page they landed on and everything they read first.
It sits next to your form leads, in the same reports. When one campaign fills your WhatsApp and another fills nothing, you see it the same week, and you move the money.
Your buttons, your number and your customers’ chats stay exactly as they are. We set it up with you.
John Smith WhatsApp lead Source Google Ads Campaign Cybersecurity Landing page /cybersecurity Journey Google Ad → Landing page → WhatsApp → Enquiry // not just: John Smith, WhatsApp.
Run ads to WhatsApp. No website required.
Sending an ad straight to WhatsApp usually means the campaign that paid for the click never meets the chat it started. A WhatsApp landing page sits in between: a branded page, hosted by Lead Source, with your business name, your headline and one button that says Continue to WhatsApp.
The visit is recorded on the way through, so the chat that follows arrives as a lead with its campaign attached. One page per campaign or offer, and you can tell every entry point apart. No website needed to get started.
Google Ads ↓ Branded page Continue to WhatsApp ↓ WhatsApp “Hi, is Saturday free?” ↓ Attributed lead Google Ads · Weekend Offer // a landing page with one job.
A WhatsApp lead you can count, and a source you can trust.
A lead is a message, not a tap
Lead Source creates a WhatsApp lead only when a real customer message reaches your number. Taps, opened chats, read receipts and your own replies never count.
The source of every chat
Each chat carries the channel, campaign, landing page and the pages read before it, exactly like a form lead.
Three messages, one lead
“Hi”, “Can I get” and “a quote?” sent in a row is one enquiry. It arrives as one lead, and a customer carrying on an existing conversation does not become a new one.
No email address needed
A WhatsApp lead counts without one, because the conversation is already the follow-up. It sits in Lead Source next to your form leads and shows up in the same reports.
Never guessed
A chat from a number saved months ago or a forwarded message still arrives as a confirmed lead, marked Unattributed. It is never pinned on a campaign that did not earn it.
The conversation stays in WhatsApp
Lead Source records who messaged, when, and which visit sent them. It does not store what they wrote. Phone numbers are encrypted, and nothing is shared between accounts.
Count the WhatsApp chats Google Ads paid for. Not the taps.
Most WhatsApp conversions in Google Ads are button taps. Lead Source for WhatsApp hands Google the people who actually wrote to you, with the click that sent them.
Why the conversion column flatters you
A Tag Manager trigger on a wa.me link fires the moment WhatsApp opens. Google’s own message assets add a Leads from Messages goal, described on its message assets help page. A click on the asset is reported as a conversation started, as Google’s Ads Liaison confirmed in November 2024.
So both count intent to open an app. Smart Bidding then goes looking for more people who tap. It is very good at finding them.
What Google Ads gets back
- Real conversations. Only chats where someone actually wrote to you count. Taps stay out.
- The keyword that started it. Each chat carries the campaign, the keyword and the click from the ad that sent them.
- The sale, sent back. Import the chat and then the sale as offline conversions, and Smart Bidding learns from buyers instead of tappers. The Google Ads WhatsApp guide covers the import.
What advertisers keep asking for, and what they get
The same four questions come up again and again in Google Ads communities on Reddit. Each one has a straight answer here.
“Only count people who actually send a message”
A WhatsApp lead exists only once a real message reaches your number. Taps and opened chats never count.
“Tell me which keyword started the chat”
Each chat carries the campaign, keyword and landing page from the click, the same as a form lead.
“Send the WhatsApp sale back to Google”
The click is on the lead, ready for an offline conversion import. Google accepts one for up to 90 days after the click.
“Stop clicks inflating my conversions”
Keep the tap as a secondary action and bid on received messages. Three messages in a row still count once. Google Ads lead tracking covers the form side.
Every channel that sends a visit can now take credit for the chat.
If it sends you a visitor, it gets the credit for the chat. No per-channel setup.
Meta
Facebook and Instagram campaigns that send people to your site get the credit for the chats they start. Click-to-WhatsApp placements are reported by Meta and land in Lead Source as confirmed WhatsApp leads.
Microsoft, TikTok and LinkedIn
Any paid channel that sends visitors to your site gets the credit for the chat, campaign included.
ChatGPT ads
A ChatGPT ads visit that ends in a WhatsApp chat is credited to the ChatGPT campaign.
Organic search and Google Business Profile
The searcher who found your page and messaged you is recorded as organic, with the landing page they entered on. Your Business Profile gets credit for the chats it starts.
Email, referrals and partners
A newsletter link, a partner site or a directory listing that sends a visit gets the credit for the chat that follows it, on the same terms as a form lead.
Forms and WhatsApp, side by side
Run both. WhatsApp leads land in the same dashboard as your form leads, under the same channels. One report shows which channels bring enquiries of either kind.
Sign up for the Lead Source for WhatsApp beta.
Lead Source for WhatsApp is built and running for a small group of accounts first. Leave your details and we will switch it on for yours.
- You sign up here. Name, email and the site you want to track.
- We switch it on. We connect your WhatsApp Business number with you.
- You send a test message. Watch it land as a lead with its source attached. Nothing shows as working until it has actually worked.
New to Lead Source? Start free and install the snippet now. Your forms are tracked from the first visit. WhatsApp joins them when your account is switched on.
Common questions, answered.
What is Lead Source for WhatsApp?
Lead Source for WhatsApp is WhatsApp lead source attribution. It ties each WhatsApp enquiry to the marketing that produced it: the channel, campaign, keyword and landing page behind the visit that started the chat. Without it, every chat arrives as a phone number and a message.
Does a tap on the WhatsApp button count as a lead?
No. Lead Source creates a WhatsApp lead when a real customer message reaches your WhatsApp Business number. A visitor who opens the chat and closes it is never counted. Neither is a double tap or a bot.
What if a chat arrives with no tracked visit behind it?
The chat still becomes a lead. It is marked Confirmed and Unattributed, with WhatsApp as its source. Lead Source never guesses which campaign a chat belongs to. The same applies to a chat started from a saved number, a forwarded message or a QR code with no tracked visit behind it.
Can I send WhatsApp chats to Google Ads as conversions?
Yes. A WhatsApp lead started from a Google Ads click carries the gclid from that visit. Import it into Google Ads as an offline conversion, then the sale it turns into. That gives Smart Bidding a conversation to learn from instead of a button tap. The Google Ads WhatsApp guide walks through the setup.
Does it work with Meta click-to-WhatsApp campaigns?
Partly, and on purpose. A Meta campaign that sends people to your website first is attributed like any other visit. A click-to-WhatsApp placement opens the chat with no website visit. Meta reports it in Ads Manager. Lead Source records the chat as a confirmed WhatsApp lead without a website source.
What do I need to join the beta?
Lead Source on your website and a WhatsApp Business number. Sign up through the form on this page and we set the rest up with you.
Lead Source for WhatsApp. Count the chats that buy.
Install Lead Source today and your forms are tracked from the first visit. WhatsApp joins them the day your beta place opens.
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