When your marketing attribution reports look more like abstract art than actionable insights, the problem might be hiding in plain sight. A leading gym management software company, discovered that their HubSpot Enterprise setup was actually working against them—with 19 active workflows potentially overwriting the very data they needed to prove marketing ROI.

The client came to Hypha with a sophisticated software setup and a frustrating problem: they didn’t trust their attribution reporting enough to make confident marketing decisions.

Despite having access to HubSpot’s most advanced attribution reporting tools—they had just started a Marketing Hub Enterprise trial when they contacted Hypha—their data told an incomplete story. UTM parameters, the foundation of their digital marketing attribution, were disappearing or being overwritten, making it impossible to understand which campaigns actually drove results.

The challenge wasn’t their marketing strategy. It was that their own HubSpot workflows were systematically compromising the data.

“Attribution reporting is only as good as the data that feeds it. No amount of advanced analytics can compensate for workflows that systematically destroy the information you need most.”

The Challenge: When Advanced Tools Work Against You

The Attribution Reporting Crisis

The client had invested in Marketing Hub Enterprise specifically to access multi-touch attribution and customer journey reports. These advanced analytics capabilities promised to show how prospects moved through their marketing funnel, which touchpoints influenced conversions, and where to allocate marketing budget for maximum impact.

Instead, their reports showed gaps, inconsistencies, and missing data that made strategic decision-making nearly impossible.

The Hidden Workflow Problem

The marketing team suspected their HubSpot configuration was part of the problem, but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was going wrong. They knew UTM data was being lost somewhere in their system, with dozens of active workflows and automations.

This data integrity problem wasn’t just frustrating—it was preventing them from optimizing campaigns, allocating budget effectively, and demonstrating marketing ROI to leadership.

The Technical Complexity

Making the situation more challenging, they had a sophisticated HubSpot setup with multiple workflows designed to enhance their marketing operations. These automations served important business functions, so simply turning everything off wasn’t an option. They needed a surgical approach that would preserve valuable data without disrupting essential processes.

The Discovery: A Systematic Workflow Investigation

Our team began with a comprehensive audit of their HubSpot configuration, focusing specifically on how workflows interacted with UTM data and contact properties.

The Forensic Approach

Rather than making assumptions about what might be causing problems, we systematically examined every active workflow to understand:

• Which property fields each workflow was designed to modify
• Whether any workflows were unintentionally overwriting UTM data
• How different workflows might be conflicting with each other
• Which automations were essential versus outdated

The Surprising Discovery

The investigation revealed that 19 active workflows were using property fields that were supposed to remain unchanged. Some of these workflows were directly overwriting critical UTM data, while others were creating cascading effects that corrupted attribution information downstream.

Even more revealing: When accounting for contacts missing UTM data, we identified Safari as the likely culprit. Safari’s strict browser privacy settings prevent the normal tracking mechanisms that capture UTM parameters, creating attribution gaps that many marketing teams don’t realize exist.

The Solution: Surgical Workflow Optimization

Based on our systematic audit, we developed a three-category approach to resolving the workflow conflicts:

Category 1

Critical Workflows Requiring Revision

These workflows served important business functions but needed modification to stop overwriting UTM data. We revised their logic to preserve essential attribution information while maintaining their intended functionality.

Category 2

Outdated Workflows for Archival

Some workflows were no longer serving their original purpose or had been superseded by newer automations. We safely archived these to eliminate unnecessary complexity and potential conflicts.

Category 3

Functional Workflows Left Untouched

Workflows that weren’t causing attribution issues remained active without modification, ensuring we didn’t disrupt processes that were working correctly.

The UTM Preservation Strategy

To prevent future UTM data loss, we implemented an “Original UTM Medium” property field that locks in the first UTM data for each contact. This creates a permanent record of initial attribution that can’t be overwritten by subsequent workflow actions.

Addressing the Safari Privacy Gap

For the Safari browser issue, we proposed implementing a specific UTM parameter to account for privacy-protected visitors, ensuring more complete attribution tracking across all browser types.

The Results: From Data Chaos to Attribution Clarity

Systematic Problem Resolution

The workflow audit successfully identified and resolved conflicts that were corrupting their attribution data. By categorizing workflows based on their function and impact, we eliminated data conflicts without disrupting essential business processes.

Enhanced Data Preservation

The new “Original UTM Medium” property ensures that initial attribution data remains intact, providing a reliable foundation for attribution reporting and creating a clearer story for contacts that reconvert on the website.

Improved Technical Understanding

The project revealed important insights about browser privacy settings that affect attribution tracking, giving their team better understanding of their data limitations and how to account for them.

Positive Client Relationship

The engagement ended with the company expressing interest in continuing to work with Hypha, indicating satisfaction with both the technical solution and our systematic approach to complex HubSpot optimization challenges.

When HubSpot Workflows Attack Your Data: Warning Signs to Watch

Their experience reveals common patterns that many organizations might recognize:

Warning Sign 1

Attribution Reports Don’t Make Sense

If your attribution reports show inconsistent or missing data despite active marketing campaigns, workflow conflicts might be overwriting your UTM parameters or other source data.

Warning Sign 2

UTM Data Randomly Disappears

When contacts that should have UTM data show blank fields, or when attribution changes unexpectedly over time, workflows may be systematically overwriting your tracking information.

Warning Sign 3

Safari Users Show Disproportionate Attribution Gaps

If contacts consistently show missing attribution data, Safari browser privacy settings may be preventing normal UTM tracking from working properly.

The HubSpot Workflow Attribution Audit Framework

Based on our work with the client, here’s a systematic approach other organizations can use to identify similar issues:

Step 1

Property Field Inventory

Document which workflows modify which contact properties, paying special attention to UTM-related fields and any properties that should preserve original values.

Step 2

Workflow Categorization

Classify each workflow as essential, outdated, or potentially problematic based on its current function and property modifications.

Step 3

Attribution Data Analysis

Examine your attribution reports for patterns that might indicate workflow-related data loss, such as missing UTM data or inconsistent attribution over time.

Step 4

Systematic Resolution

Address workflow conflicts through targeted revision, strategic archival, or implementation of data preservation mechanisms like “original value” properties.

Protecting Your Attribution Investment

Many organizations invest in advanced attribution tools without realizing that their own automation workflows might be undermining data quality. Their experience shows that even sophisticated HubSpot setups can develop attribution problems that require systematic diagnosis and surgical fixes.

The key insight: attribution reporting is only as good as the data that feeds it. No amount of advanced analytics can compensate for workflows that systematically destroy the information you need most.

Concerned about your own attribution data quality? Our team specializes in HubSpot workflow audits that identify and resolve data conflicts while preserving essential business processes. Contact us to discuss a systematic review of your marketing attribution setup.