Engagement Creation and Attribution Logic

  • Updated on Jun 29, 2025
  • Published on Jun 4, 2025
  • 3 minute(s) read
Prev Next

All Attribution information in Salesforce lives on the Engagement object. It is layered onto Leads, Contacts, and Opportunities with formula fields via their relationships to Engagements, but it is managed on the Engagement. For more info, see the Quick-Start Guide.

Here are the most common ways Engagements are created and where their attribution info comes from:

Use Case

Triggering Logic

Engagement Record Type

Where Attribution Comes From

New Lead/Contact (more info)

  • Every New Lead created

  • Every New Contact created (not from a Lead conversion)

Always created as an Activation

From Lead “Processing” fields if they have values, otherwise Lead Source. If both are blank, the system sets “[Lead/Contact] Created without UTMs or Lead Source by [User’s Name]”

Fallback for Opp without eligible Engagements (more info)

If an Opportunity has no Contact Roles or no eligible Activation Engagements, the system will automatically create an Activation to ensure every Opportunity gets attribution via the same mechanism through the Attribution Activation relationship

  • If the Opportunity has a value in Lead Source, it's used for Medium and Engagement Type

  • If Lead Source is blank, Medium and Type default to "Opportunity Created without eligible Contact Role or Lead Source"

  • Source defaults to "[Owner Role] - [Opportunity Owner Name]" (e.g., "AE - John Smith")

Dormant Contact Added to Open Opportunity (more info)

Dormant Contact added to an Open Opportunity

  • Medium: “[Role] Engagement” (e.g., “BDR Engagement”) based on the user who created the Opp Contact Role

  • Source “[Role] - [Full Name]” (e.g., “BDR - Jane Doe”) based on the user who created the Opp Contact Role

  • Campaign and Engagement Type: “Dormant Contact Added to Opportunity”

Interaction from existing Lead/Contact

Lead or Contact “Processing” fields are updated - the system infers a new form has been submitted or a list was uploaded

Created as an Activation if the Lead/Contact is dormant at the time, otherwise created as anInfluencing Engagement.

See Reactivation Eligibility article.

The values in the Processing fields on the Lead/Contact are pulled into the “Raw” fields on the resulting Engagement

Task Logic (more info)

Engagement triggered by a Task meeting criteria configured in the Admin Console

Configured in the Admin Console

Campaign Logic (more info)

Engagement created from a Salesforce Campaign that is configured to create Engagements

Configured on the triggering Salesforce Campaign record

Troubleshooting

‘Triggered By’ and ‘Medium Value Input Method’ Fields

Three system-populated fields help admins understand how each Engagement was created and where its attribution originated.

These troubleshooting fields on the Engagement object are not meant for aggregate reporting, but rather for investigating individual records. For that reason, they are as descriptive as possible, including record IDs when relevant.

Triggered By

This field describes why the system created the Engagement record and which related record triggered it.

Medium Value Input Method

For each of the two RAW Medium fields on the Engagement object, there is a corresponding Input Method field to help admins understand where that value came from:

  • RAW FC UTM MED → described by RAW FC UTM MED Input Method

  • RAW LC UTM MED → described by RAW LC UTM MED Input Method

These Input Method fields contain a description of how the system captured each RAW Medium value.

Related Articles