Most automations do work for you, like sending emails or assigning tasks. But you can also build an automation map just to measure something. There's no special feature for this. You use the same triggers, waits and goals as any other map, and Performance Mode does the reporting. In this lesson, we'll build one that answers a common question: which lead source brings in the most buyers?
Here, a lead source is where a new lead first found you and joined your database, usually by filling out a form. A customer is a contact who's bought something. So the map needs a trigger for each lead source, and a goal for each purchase you want to track. Leave out emails, texts and tasks. This map doesn't contact anyone. It just counts.
Go to Automations, then New Automation, and start from scratch. If you've turned on other objects, like Companies or Deals, you'll find automations under Contacts instead.
Add a Contact submits a form trigger and pick the form, like your newsletter signup. Then add another trigger for each other way leads come in, like the opt-in form for a free guide. A map can have as many triggers as you need, side by side across the top.
Check each trigger's settings. Under "If contact is already on map, then…", Ignore this trigger leaves a contact where they are. Add here again when triggered adds them at this trigger again. Choose based on whether a contact who fills out a second form should enter the map again from there.
Under your first trigger, click What Happens Next?, choose Goal, then Add Goal, and pick Purchases product and the product. It counts purchases made any way, including order forms, manual entries and the API. If your products differ a lot in value, like one-on-one coaching and a membership, add a separate goal for each one so you can compare them. Each goal has a wait above it that, by default, holds contacts until they achieve the goal.
Now bring your other triggers to the same place. Under each one, add a Go to element, then drag its handle to the wait above your goal. Go to paths can't connect straight to a trigger or a goal, so the wait is where they join. Now every lead, from every source, waits at the same goal. Keep the map as small as you can while still answering your question.
You don't have to stop at the first sale. Goals can go anywhere below a trigger, so you can add more further down for other milestones, like buying an upsell or filling out a form that shows they've finished onboarding. They don't all have to be about sales.
Before you can publish, every What Happens Next? box needs an element. Finish each path with an End element. Contacts stay on the End and remain on the map. Then click Publish, then Save & Publish.
Once it's live, the map opens in Performance Mode, which is available on every plan. Set the date range first. Only contacts added during that range are counted, and All Time Data shows everything. Then pick a report from the Report dropdown.
Contact Flow shows how many contacts came in through each trigger, and how many reached each goal. That's your first answer. Funnel Conversion shows conversion rates from goal to goal, starting with a trigger, which helps you compare your sources. Goal Conversion Rate shows the likelihood of contacts achieving a goal you select, and which elements perform best.
Lifetime Value shows the total and average amount spent by contacts who reached each element, so you can see which source brings in your biggest spenders. And Goal Conversion Time shows how long new leads took to reach each goal, which helps you forecast how long conversions take by lead source.
If the numbers don't add up, remember that a contact can be in more than one place on a map, and the "were here" stats count each contact only once.
If your links carry UTM tracking, you get another angle. On Pro and above, the Tracking dropdown filters the same map by UTM values, like source or campaign. The Lead source tracking in Performance Mode lesson covers it step by step.
If you only need one overall number, a conversion rate metric on your Metrics Dashboard is the simpler choice. A reporting map is for when you want the breakdown, source by source, on the map itself. And if you'd like a ready-made example, the Measure automation performance article in the Support Center has two prebuilt reporting maps to download: one for customer lifetime value in the first three years, and one for the high-level customer lifecycle.
So: add a trigger for each way in and a goal for each result, connect them with Go to elements, publish, and let Performance Mode show you what's working. The same approach works for any process, not just sales. That wraps up Dashboard reports. Next up, we start Sales and automation reporting with Google ecommerce tracking.