How One Successful Partner Tracks Results From Their Group Blog Membership

An impressive stat shared at Directions NA 2026 is that Western Computer had attributed approximately $2 million in Microsoft Dynamics 365 pipeline over a 12-month period to ERP Software Blog.

That is an impressive number, but it also raised an important question: How did they know?

I recently asked the VP of Marketing to walk me through exactly how Western Computer tracks the traffic and leads it receives from ERP Software Blog. Western Computer has been a member since 2016, so their approach has evolved considerably over the years.

I think their process is worth sharing because I often hear members say they aren't sure whether they are getting leads from the blog. Sometimes the problem isn't that the results aren't there. The problem is that attribution is complicated, and they aren't looking in all the places where those results can appear.

(Although this example comes from ERP Software Blog, the same principles apply to CRM Software Blog and ERP Cloud Blog members.)

Don't Rely on One Source of Attribution

One of the biggest things I learned from Amanda is that Western Computer doesn't depend on a single report to tell them whether ERP Software Blog is working.

They look at it several different ways.

Today, Western Computer uses HubSpot, which automatically captures referral information. The marketing team can look at the original traffic source, drill down into referrals, and identify visitors who came from ERP Software Blog.

Before HubSpot, Western Computer used Marketo. They had tracking set up so that traffic from ERP Software Blog was tagged, and when someone eventually filled out a form, that source information could follow the person into their marketing system.

When they migrated from Marketo to HubSpot, they preserved ERP Software Blog as a detailed source for those contacts. That meant they didn't lose the history they had spent years building.

The lesson isn't that every member needs HubSpot or Marketo. It is that you need some way to preserve the source of a lead after that person leaves our site and enters your own marketing and sales process.

Ask Prospects How They Found You

Western Computer also uses one of the simplest attribution methods available: they ask.

Their website forms include a "How did you find us?" dropdown, and ERP Software Blog is one of the choices.

Amanda checks those self-reported responses in addition to the automatically captured referral data.

I like this because analytics will never capture every buyer journey perfectly. Someone might discover your company on ERP Software Blog, come back days later, search for your company by name, and then contact you. The final visit doesn't necessarily tell you how the relationship started.

Sometimes the prospect can.

If you aren't currently asking "How did you hear about us?" on your forms, this is probably the easiest idea in this article to implement.

Look at Your Referral Traffic in Google Analytics

You don't need sophisticated marketing automation to start tracking results.

Years ago, this blog member used Google Analytics to look at referral traffic from ERP Software Blog. She could see not only how much traffic was arriving but also where on ERP Software Blog it came from.

Was it an article? Their company profile? An industry page? A regional listing?

This was particularly interesting to me because Western Computer has many listings in our regional partner directory. Amanda said that historically she could see traffic arriving at Western Computer's website specifically from ERP Software Blog state listing pages.

That is a good reminder not to judge your membership solely by the traffic generated by your latest blog posts. Your older content, company listings, directories and other pages can all be working for you.

How to check this in GA4

In Google Analytics 4, go to:

Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition

Then change the primary dimension to Session source or Session source / medium and search for the Group Bloggers site you belong to, such as ERP Software Blog.

Google defines Session source as the publisher or website from which a session originated, so this report can help you identify traffic being referred to your website from another site.

Don't just look at the number of sessions. Look at what those visitors do after they arrive. Do they view additional pages? Do they trigger key events or conversions? Do they reach important pages on your site?

Follow the Lead All the Way to Sales

Traffic alone isn't the goal.

Amanda described how Western Computer's measurement evolved over the years. In the early days, they wanted traffic. Then they became more focused on qualified leads and whether those leads actually moved to sales.

That is an important distinction because if you can identify ERP Software Blog as a source in your CRM or marketing automation system, you should not stop tracking when the lead reaches your website. Follow it through the funnel.

Did it become an MQL? Was it qualified by sales? Did it turn into an opportunity? How much pipeline did it generate?

That is how Western Computer was ultimately able to identify approximately $2 million in Dynamics 365 pipeline over a 12-month period associated with ERP Software Blog.

If they had only looked at website traffic, they would have missed the most important part of the story.

AI Is Making Attribution Even Harder

There is one newer wrinkle that I think all members need to understand.

Buyers increasingly do their research in ChatGPT and other generative AI tools before they ever visit a vendor's website.

Amanda told me:

"The majority of our searches of generative chat on AI links to ERP Software Blog as a source."

She also showed me data indicating that, for Western Computer's ideal customer profile, ERP Software Blog was the number-one domain for citations during the period she was analyzing.

That creates an attribution problem.

A prospect could ask an AI tool about Microsoft Dynamics partners, see information about Western Computer supported by an ERP Software Blog citation, and then type Western Computer directly into their browser. Google Analytics may classify that visit as direct because it has no clear referral source.

So the absence of a referral click does not necessarily mean another website played no role in the buyer's research.

This is another reason I think self-reported attribution and CRM source tracking are becoming more important, not less.

5 Ways to Start Tracking Your Own Group Blog Results

You don't need to duplicate Western Computer's entire marketing technology stack. Start with what you can do today and build from there.

1. Add "How did you hear about us?" to your forms.Include ERP Software Blog, CRM Software Blog or ERP Cloud Blog as an option rather than relying exclusively on free text.

2. Check your GA4 referral traffic.Go to Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition and look at Session source or Session source / medium. Search for your Group Bloggers site and see how much traffic it has sent you. Google confirms that the Traffic acquisition report is designed to show where both new and returning visitors are coming from.

3. Record the source in your CRM.When you know a lead came from one of our sites, don't let that information disappear. Attach the source to the contact so you can follow what happens next.

4. Track leads through the sales funnel.Traffic and form fills are useful, but qualified opportunities and pipeline tell a much more valuable story.

5. Don't ignore direct traffic and AI visibility.Attribution is getting less tidy. If prospects are researching companies in AI before visiting vendor websites, some influence will not show up as a neat referral click.

Western Computer is also an active member. They publish regularly, maintain multiple regional directory listings, and have deliberately increased their use of ERP Software Blog. Amanda was careful to tell me that she hasn't established a direct cause-and-effect relationship between publishing more frequently and generating more results. I think that distinction is important.

But they are doing something I would encourage every member to do: they are actively using their membership, and they are actively measuring it.

If you're not sure what you're getting from your Group Bloggers membership, don't start with the assumption that nothing is happening.

Start by making sure you're looking for it.