A new property that makes things easier.
HubSpot recently added in a Record Source property to give more clarification around where a record comes from.
Previously, the Original Source property was uneditable and calculated by HubSpot. It meant that if you import records from outside of HubSpot, the Original Source would show as an Offline Sources value. And unless HubSpot could identify the contact using some other fingerprinting, the value would always show the Original Source as Offline Sources.
A HubSpot Super Admin would have to create a different property to track the actual source of the record. This would include tons of workflows and extensive logic to categorize records properly.
But with the introduction of the Record Source property, HubSpot also made the Original Source property editable. Meaning that a user could correct that property for more accurate reporting and workflows.
So the import issue and other similar issues wouldn't be a show stopper for using the Original Source property in reporting.
While it doesn't eliminate all use cases for a custom "Lead Source", "Original Record Source", or something similar, it certainly removes the main struggle.
The Change
With the Record Source property, you can now see how the record was created in your CRM. It's from the technical perspective, not the abstraction that the record in your CRM represents (how a person who's a contact came into contact with you).
The Original Source and Latest Source properties are now editable too. This was not possible before. So if you know you're importing from a specific source, and that means that the contact was from an Original Source you know of, you can fill that in.
It's a great update and a step in the right direction.
Check out HubSpot's Original Source documentation to see the updated functionality and to see the Record Source documentation link as well:
https://knowledge.hubspot.com/properties/understand-source-properties
Reach out if you need more guidance on how attribution and data inside of HubSpot works.
