Troubleshooting
Conversation with no source: why the lead shows as Organic
TraceClose decides the source on the first message from a new contact: a click-to-WhatsApp ad click, a tracked link code (#XXXXX) or a recent click on the link. If none of these comes through, the lead is Organic. The most common causes are a contact who already existed, a code deleted from the message and a click more than 7 days old.
How the source is decided
When a new number sends its first message, TraceClose checks, in this order:
- Ad click. A click-to-WhatsApp ad sends the click ID along with the message. Source Paid traffic, method “Ad click”.
- Tracked link code. The message carries a #XXXXX code from a click on your link, up to 7 days old and not used yet. Method “Tracked link”.
- Probable click. No code, but exactly one click on a link for this same number in the last 10 minutes. Method “Tracked link (probable)”.
- None of the above: Organic. If the first message came from the business (someone messaged the customer from the phone), the source is Outbound.
The source is decided once, when the lead is created. If the same contact comes back later through another ad, the lead keeps the source it already had. You can’t edit the source manually in the dashboard.
Common causes of an “Organic” lead
| Cause | How to spot it | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| The contact was already a lead | The lead’s history shows it was created before the ad. | Nothing to do: the source is the one from the first contact. A returning customer shows up in the same conversation. |
| The customer deleted the code from the message | The first message has no #XXXXX. | Keep the prefilled text short, with {codigo} at the end, where the customer won’t touch it. |
| More than one click on the same number within 10 minutes | No code, and several clicks in that window. | The “probable” rule only applies to a single click; with two or more, it’s ambiguous and stays Organic. Keep the code in the message. |
| Click more than 7 days old | The customer clicked, didn’t send, and came back days later. | The code expires after 7 days. There’s no way to recover it. |
| Direct WhatsApp link (wa.me) on the website or in the bio | No click is recorded. | Replace it with the tracked link. |
| Ad that sends people to the website, with no tracked link on the button | The customer went through the website and reached out through a regular button. | Use the tracked link on the website’s WhatsApp button and the URL parameters in the ad. |
| Link previews (bots) | The link was opened by WhatsApp’s or another network’s preview bot. | Bots get the link without a code on purpose, so they don’t use up clicks. Real customers aren’t affected. |
Paid traffic, but no campaign or ad set
Sometimes the lead shows as Paid traffic with “Ad click”, but the dashboard shows only a number in the Ad field and a dash under Campaign and Ad set. This happens when the ad hasn’t been synced yet: the ad account isn’t connected, wasn’t selected under Ad accounts, or the sync hasn’t run yet. The ad ID is kept; as soon as the structure syncs (campaigns, ad sets and ads, every hour), the names show up on the lead on their own. See ad accounts and syncing.
Until then, in the reports these leads appear as “Unsynced ads” under Campaigns and are excluded from CPL, with the notice about paid traffic leads excluded from CPL.
Example
Example Co. saw 40% of the week’s leads as Organic, even though almost all of its spend went to ads pointing to the sales page. The page’s WhatsApp button was a regular link. They created the tracked link /w/sales-page, swapped the button and pasted the URL from the For ad button into the ads. The following week, leads from the page started arriving as Paid traffic, with campaign, ad set and ad.
Didn’t work? See…
- How the source shows on the lead: lead panel and source.
- Why spend isn’t showing: ad spend isn’t showing.
- How to see which ad made the sale: which ad made the sale.
Frequently asked questions
Can I fix a lead’s source manually?
No. The source is decided on the first message and can’t be edited in the dashboard. What you can prevent is the cause: a tracked link with the code in the message, and connected ad accounts.
Does an Instagram boosted post count as an ad?
Yes: when the message arrives with the click ID, the lead comes in as Paid traffic, “Ad click”, even if the boosted post doesn’t carry the ad ID.
See the path from ad to sale in your WhatsApp.
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