Acquisition Report
The Acquisition Report in SegMetrics shows you everything you need to understand how people are finding your business and becoming leads and customers. This report focuses on the first stage of the customer journey, helping you identify which marketing channels, pages, and campaigns are most effective at attracting and converting new contacts.
In this article
- Understanding the Acquisition Report
- Top-line KPI metrics
- Widgets and visualizations
- Using the Ledger
- Viewing customer journeys
- Attribution models
- Data Explorer and custom reports
- Frequently Asked Questions
Understanding the Acquisition Report
The Acquisition Report is designed to answer critical questions about your marketing performance:
- Which marketing channels drive the most traffic and conversions?
- What pages are most effective at converting visitors into leads?
- Where are your visitors coming from geographically?
- Which segments or campaigns generate the highest-value leads?
- How do visitors move through multiple touchpoints before converting?
This report allows you to explore your data from high-level KPIs down to individual contact details, all within the same interface. You can start with aggregate metrics and drill down to see the specific people and actions that make up those numbers.
Top-line KPI Metrics
At the top of the Acquisition Report, you'll see six key performance indicators that provide an at-a-glance view of your acquisition performance. Each KPI shows the current value for your selected timeframe, along with a percentage comparison to the previous period.
Page Views
What it shows: The total number of pages viewed on your website during the selected timeframe.
Where it comes from: Page view data is tracked by the SegMetrics pixel installed on your website. Each time a page loads with the pixel, it records a page view.
Why it matters: Page views indicate the overall traffic volume to your site. A significant change in page views can signal changes in your marketing reach, seasonal trends, or technical issues with your tracking.
Visitors
What it shows: The total number of unique visitors who came to your website during the selected timeframe.
Where it comes from: SegMetrics tracks unique visitors using a combination of cookies and privacy safe browser identifiers. A single person who visits multiple times is counted as one visitor.
Why it matters: While page views show volume, visitors show reach. The ratio of page views to visitors indicates how engaged your audience is with your content.
New Leads
What it shows: The number of new contacts who opted into your CRM or email platform during the selected timeframe.
Where it comes from: New leads are tracked when contacts are created in your connected CRM or ESP integrations (such as ActiveCampaign, Drip, HubSpot, etc.).
Why it matters: New leads represent the growth of your marketing database. This metric shows how effective your lead generation efforts are across all channels.
Customers
What it shows: The number of new customers who made a purchase during the selected timeframe.
Where it comes from: Customer data comes from invoices sent to SegMetrics via your connected payment processor or revenue source (such as Stripe, Shopify, ThriveCart, etc.).
Why it matters: Customers represent the conversion of leads into paying buyers. This is the ultimate measure of your acquisition effectiveness.
Revenue
What it shows: The total revenue generated from new customers during the selected timeframe.
Where it comes from: Revenue is calculated from the total amount of all invoices from customers who made their first purchase during this period.
Why it matters: Revenue shows the financial impact of your acquisition efforts. Combined with your marketing costs, this helps you understand the return on investment for your marketing channels.
New Lead Value
What it shows: The average revenue generated per new lead during the selected timeframe.
Where it comes from: This is calculated by dividing total revenue by the number of new leads (Revenue ÷ New Leads = New Lead Value).
Why it matters: New Lead Value helps you understand the quality of leads from different sources. A high new lead value indicates that your marketing is attracting buyers, not just browsers.
Widgets and Visualizations
The Acquisition Report includes several widgets that break down your performance data in different ways. Each widget provides unique insights into your acquisition performance.
Chart Analysis
The chart analysis chart shows your page view trends over time, comparing the current period (blue line) to the previous period (gray line).It defaults to page views but you can select any of the top line metrics and the chart will adjust and reflect that data.
What it shows: Any top line metric throughout your selected date range, with comparison data from the equivalent previous period.
How to use it:
- Hover over any point on the chart to see exact numbers for that day
- Click the tabs at the top to switch between "Previous" (comparison view), "Channel" (breakdown by traffic source), or "Other" dimensions
- Identify patterns, spikes, or drops in traffic that correlate with marketing campaigns or external events
- This is where the marketing log feature can be incredibly impactful
Why it's useful: This visualization helps you spot trends and anomalies in your traffic. A sudden spike might indicate a successful campaign launch, while a drop could signal technical issues or seasonal changes.
Top Sources
The Top Sources table breaks down your acquisition performance by marketing channel, showing which sources drive the most visitors, leads, and revenue.
What it shows: Performance metrics broken down by channel (email, social, paid, search, display, affiliate, etc.).
Metrics included:
- Visitors: Unique visitors from each channel
- New Leads: Contacts who became leads after visiting from this channel
- Revenue: Total revenue from customers who came through this channel
How to use it:
- Click column headers to sort by any metric
- Use the dropdown at the top to switch between "Channel", "First Channel", or "Other" dimensions. Other will show all UTMs.
- Click any channel name to add it as a filter and see more detailed data
- Click the filter icon next to a channel to drill down into that specific source
- Use the magnifying glass in the bottom left hand corner to search within the widget for a particular channel or UTM
Why it's useful: This table identifies your highest-performing marketing channels. You can quickly see which channels drive the most valuable traffic and allocate your marketing budget accordingly.
Top Pages
The Top Pages table shows which specific pages on your website are most effective at driving acquisition.
What it shows: Individual page URLs with their corresponding visitor, lead, and revenue metrics.
Metrics included:
- Visitors: Unique visitors to each page
- New Leads: Contacts who became leads after visiting this page
- Revenue: Total revenue from customers who visited this page
How to use it:
- Use the pagination controls at the bottom to browse through all pages
- Switch between "Page", "Host", "First Page" views using the dropdown
- Click any page URL to filter the entire report to just that page
- Identify your best-performing content and lead magnets
- Use the magnifying glass in the bottom left hand corner to search within the widget for a particular page
Why it's useful: This table reveals which content pieces drive the most conversions. You can identify successful lead magnets, optimize high-traffic pages with low conversions, and understand what content resonates with your audience.
Countries
The Countries widget displays a geographic breakdown of your visitors using an interactive world map.You can also switch this to a table by selecting “country” next to map.
What it shows: The geographic distribution of your visitors, with color intensity indicating volume.
How to use it:
- Hover over any country to see specific visitor numbers
- Toggle between "Map", "Country", or "Other" views
- Use the scale at the bottom to understand volume ranges
- Click any country to filter the entire report to that location
Why it's useful: Geographic data helps you understand where your audience is located, identify expansion opportunities, and spot regional trends. This is especially valuable for planning time-sensitive campaigns or identifying markets for localization.
Segments
The Segments widget breaks down your acquisition performance by contact tags, lists, and/or custom fields from your CRM/ESP. To see all of your new contact’s custom fields, simply select “other” and choose from the drop down.
What it shows: Performance metrics organized by contact tags or list segments.
Metrics included:
- New Leads: Number of contacts in each segment
- Revenue: Total revenue from customers in this segment
- Lead Value: Average revenue per lead in this segment
How to use it:
- Toggle between "Tags", "Lists", or “Other” custom field views
- Sort by any column to identify your most valuable segments
- Click any segment to filter the entire report
- Identify which campaigns or lead magnets attract the highest-value customers
- Use the magnifying glass in the bottom left hand corner to search and filter within the widget for any particular metric listed
Why it's useful: Segment analysis reveals which marketing campaigns, lead magnets, or customer types generate the most value. This is very useful for tracking metrics like booked calls, webinar registrations, etc.
Multi-touch Journey
The Multi-touch Journey widget visualizes how customers move through multiple marketing touchpoints before converting.
What it shows: A Sankey diagram displaying the flow of customers through up to three stages of touchpoints before purchase.
How to read it:
- Stage 1: The initial touchpoint (e.g., purchase, optin, email, social)
- Stage 2: The second interaction in the journey
- Stage 3: The final touchpoint before conversion
- Flow thickness: Indicates the volume of customers following that path
- Numbers: Show people count and revenue for each touchpoint
How to use it:
- Hover over any flow line to see specific numbers
- Click the "Channel" toggle to switch between different views
- Identify common multi-touch patterns in your customer journeys
- Understand which channel combinations work best together
Why it's useful: This top level visualization reveals the complex reality of modern customer journeys. You'll see that customers rarely convert on the first touchpoint, and you'll understand which sequences of touchpoints are most effective at driving conversions.
Using the Ledger
One of SegMetrics' core principles is trust in your data. The Ledger feature ensures you can verify every metric by showing the individual data entries that make up any number.
How to access the Ledger:
- Either select a top line metric or scroll down to any widget in the Acquisition Report
- Click the number of any KPI metric (like "New Leads" or "Revenue")
- The Ledger window opens, displaying all individual records included in that metric
What the Ledger shows:
- Individual contact information (name, email)
- Relevant data for the metric you clicked (order IDs, amounts, dates)
- Active filters at the top showing what's included in this view
- Pagination controls if there are many records
Why it's useful: The Ledger provides complete transparency into your data. You can verify metrics, identify specific contacts for follow-up, export lists, or troubleshoot data discrepancies.
Viewing Customer Journeys
Sometimes aggregate data only tells part of the story. The Customer Journey feature lets you view the complete timeline of actions for any individual contact.
How to access Customer Journeys:
- Click any people metric in a table (like "New Leads" or "Customers")
- The Ledger opens showing individual contacts
- Click on any email address in the Ledger
- The Customer Journey window opens for that contact
What the Customer Journey shows:
- Every page view with timestamps
- All email opens and clicks
- Tag additions and list subscriptions
- Form submissions and opt-ins
- Purchases and order details
- Custom attributes and field updates
Why it's useful: Customer Journeys help you understand the complete path a person took through your marketing. You can verify attribution, troubleshoot issues with individual contacts, identify patterns in successful conversions, and provide better customer service.
Attribution Models
Attribution models determine how SegMetrics assigns credit for conversions across different marketing touchpoints. The Acquisition Report supports four attribution models that can be changed at any time.
You can select between attribution models next to the date range in the top right hand corner of the report
Full Funnel
How it works: Allocates 100% credit across all touchpoints in the customer journey. If someone interacted with three different channels before converting, they’ll be in each channel as each will receive credit.
When to use it: Use Full Funnel when you want to understand the complete picture of which channels contributed to conversions. This model shows you every touchpoint that played a role.
What it means for reporting: Conversions will appear in multiple channels because each touchpoint receives credit. The total across all channels will exceed your actual conversion count.
First Engagement
How it works: Gives 100% credit to the first touchpoint within your report's timeframe.
When to use it: Use First Engagement for lead-nurturing strategies where you want to understand what initially brought people into your funnel during a specific period or what lead to a purchase within a time period.
What it means for reporting: Only the first channel a person interacted with (within your date range) receives credit. This helps identify which channels are best at creating engagement within a window of time.
First Click
How it works: Gives 100% credit to the very first touchpoint that led to customer acquisition, regardless of when it occurred. This first origin click is the first time the user is exposed to your brand.
When to use it: Use First Click when you want to understand what originally attracted customers to your business. This is crucial for understanding top-of-funnel marketing effectiveness. This is the most common and recommended model to use in the acquisition report to figure out where your leads are coming from.
What it means for reporting: The channel that first brought someone to your website gets all the credit. This helps identify which channels are best at initial acquisition.
Last Touch
How it works: Gives 100% credit to the last touchpoint before a purchase.
When to use it: Use Last Touch when you want to understand what finally convinced people to buy. This is great for optimizing conversion-focused strategies.
What it means for reporting: Only the final interaction before purchase receives credit. This helps identify which channels are best at closing sales.This can frequently be hogged by referral or direct traffic.
How Filters Affect Attribution Models
Standard filters are applied BEFORE the attribution model calculates credit. For example, if you filter to only show Facebook ads, the attribution model will only consider Facebook ad touchpoints when assigning credit, even if other channels were involved in the journey.
To filter AFTER attribution is calculated, use Attribution Model Filters (click the XX icon in tables instead of the filter icon).
Data Explorer and Custom Reports
While the Acquisition Report provides powerful pre-built analysis, the Data Explorer allows you to create and save completely custom reports with your own metrics, dimensions, and visualizations.
Accessing the Data Explorer:
- Click the "explore" icon in the top right of any widget
- Or navigate to "Reports" in the left sidebar
What you can do:
- Select any data source (Acquisition, Orders, Subscriptions, etc.)
- Choose from dozens of metrics and dimensions
- Create custom visualizations (tables, charts, graphs)
- Save reports for future reference
- Share reports with team members
Note: A separate, comprehensive guide on using the Data Explorer is available. The Data Explorer provides advanced functionality for users who need analysis beyond the pre-built reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What's the difference between Visitors and New Leads?
A: Visitors are anonymous people who came to your website, while New Leads are people who hit your website and opted into your email list or CRM. Not all visitors become leads. The conversion rate from visitors to leads helps you understand how effective your opt-in process is.
Q: Why does revenue appear in multiple channels or not add up to topline revenue metric?
A: It depends on the attribution model you are using. In a full funnel model, all clicks and therefore revenue, are distributed equally across all attribution taken by the customer within the timeframe. Other models are one click per person but they may not add up if there is missing click data. For example, someone who is on a subscription plan didn't visit the website in the last 30 days. Their revenue will not appear in the attribution channels because there was no click associated with them.
Q: Why don't my customer numbers match what I see in my payment processor?
A: SegMetrics shows new customers based on the date range and filters you've selected in the report. Your payment processor shows all transactions. Additionally, SegMetrics requires contacts to be matched to email addresses in your CRM, so customers without matched email addresses won't appear in reports.
Q: How does SegMetrics track which channel a visitor came from?
A: SegMetrics uses finger print tracking involving a combination of UTM parameters in URLs, referrer data from browsers, and the SegMetrics tracking pixel to identify traffic sources. For the most accurate tracking, use UTM parameters in all your marketing campaigns.
Q: Can I see data for specific campaigns within a channel?
A: Yes! Click the dropdown menu above any widget to change the breakdown dimension. You can switch from "Channel" to see campaign, ad set, or other detailed breakdowns depending on your integrations.
Q: Why is my direct traffic source so high?
A: This is typical when you are using a full funnel model. Every click in the user journey is recorded. This includes for ex. going from an About Us or product page, to a checkout page. That is considered direct traffic. If you see direct traffic as a first touch, that means people are finding your site using links that do not have UTMs on them. You want to limit this as much as possible. Ideally direct as a first touch source, is last on the attribution channel list.