# Acquisition channels: discover where your event registrations come from

**Author:** Vinicius Ribas
**Published on:** November 6, 2026
**Updated on:** November 6, 2026
**Canonical:** https://blog.windfit.app/en/acquisition-channels-discover-where-your-event-registrations

## Quick answer

Acquisition channels show exactly where each registration arrived at your event. Thus, you identify Instagram, WhatsApp or Google as real sources, not just generic visits. Therefore, you can direct investment to the channels that actually convert effectively.

## Key points

- Each registration made through the checkout receives the channel through which the person first arrived at the event.
- The Acquisition Channels card, in Statistics, shows visitors, registrations, revenue and conversion for each channel.
- A campaign is a wfit.app link created for a promotion spot, with its clicks, registrations and confirmations.
- If a campaign link is shared on another network, the registration counts for the campaign and appears in the real channel of the click.

You publish the event artwork on Instagram, share the link in three WhatsApp groups, and give another link to an influencer to promote. Registrations start coming in. But which of these acquisition channels are actually working?

With the same link everywhere, the answer is usually a guess. That’s why the next paid post, the next partnership, and the next batch release end up being decided in the dark.

In this article, you’ll see how WindFit identifies the channel for each registration, where to read these numbers on the dashboard, and how to create a campaign with a unique link for every place you promote.

## What are acquisition channels for an event?

Acquisition channels are the paths through which people reach your event page before registering. An Instagram post is one channel. A WhatsApp group is another, as are a Google search, an email, or a partner’s website.

It’s one of the most important metrics for an event, and one of the most overlooked by organizers. After all, it shows where it’s worth putting effort and money into promotion. Instead of asking whether Instagram works, you look at how many confirmed registrations came from it and how much revenue they generated.

It also clears up wrong impressions. A WhatsApp group may seem like your best channel because many people comment and click the link. In the end, however, almost nobody from there registers. Another channel may bring few visits, but almost every visit turns into a registration.

Google Analytics, for example, groups site visits into channels by fixed rules, such as search, social media, email, and referral ([default channel grouping](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9756891)). WindFit follows a similar logic, but already linked to your event’s registrations.

## How does WindFit discover the channel for each registration?

When someone registers through the checkout, WindFit looks at that person’s visits to your event and searches for the source signal in this order:

1. **UTM parameters in the link**, like `utm_source=instagram`. This is the strongest signal.  
2. **The in‑app browser**, such as the one that opens inside Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, or X.  
3. **The referring site**, like Google, a webmail service, or a partner’s website.  
4. **No signal.** In this case, the registration is recorded as **Direct**.

The rule applies to the first contact. So if a person discovered the event via an Instagram post and later typed the address directly, the registration still counts as Instagram. This way, credit goes to the channel that sparked the interest.

In a purchase with multiple athletes, such as a team, everyone receives the channel of the purchaser. Moreover, changing a payment status never changes the channel of a registration.

## Where to see acquisition channels on the dashboard?

The **Acquisition channels** card is on the event’s **Statistics** page, right below the conversion funnel. At the top of the page, you select the period: 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, or the entire period.

![Acquisition channels card on the WindFit dashboard, showing visitors, registrations, revenue, and conversion for each channel](img:f709a3f9dfd08f086fe7b27577f0d21d33514c32a9e55e58e12e28063c5dfd0e)

Each row of the card displays a channel, with these columns:

| Column | What it shows |
| --- | --- |
| Visitors | People who arrived at the event page through this channel |
| Registrations | Athletes registered via checkout, in any status |
| Confirmed | Paid or organizer‑approved registrations |
| Revenue | Net amount of confirmed registrations |
| Conversion | People who registered, divided by visitors |
| Interest | People who started checkout, divided by visitors |

Conversion and interest count people, so a team registered in a single purchase counts once. Registrations and confirmed count athletes.

In the event’s **Overview**, the **Top acquisition channels** card summarizes the five channels that brought the most registrations in the last 30 days. Below that, the **View all channels** link opens the full card. Finally, the registrants list now includes a **Channel** column, and each athlete’s profile shows their **Acquisition channel**.

## Why does the same link everywhere hide the result?

Many organizers put the main page link on the event artwork in WindFit. That’s good for the athlete, who goes straight to registration. However, with only one link, every registration looks the same, and you can’t tell which artwork, group, or partner it came from. The problem is even bigger in messaging apps. Someone who clicks a generic link from a WhatsApp group usually arrives with no source signal, and the registration appears as Direct.

UTM parameters solve part of this. According to Google, every link with UTM must have at least `utm_source`, `utm_medium` and `utm_campaign` ([Google Analytics URL Builder](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/10917952)). Building these links manually for each post, group, and partner, however, is tedious and opens the door to typos.

In the video below, recorded during a workout, we show why acquisition channel deserves your attention. We also demonstrate how campaigns help measure each link.

[Video on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkKjViA1Zog)

This is where campaigns come in.

## How to create a campaign with wfit.app link?

A campaign is a short link `wfit.app` created for a promotional spot. Whoever opens the link lands on your event page, and WindFit knows which campaign the person came from.

To create a campaign:

1. In the event menu, open **Campaigns**.
2. Click **New campaign**.
3. Fill in the **Campaign name**, for example “Second batch post on Instagram”.
4. Choose the **Channel**: WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Email, SMS, QR Code, Site or Other.
5. If you wish, use the **Channel detail** to separate, for example, the advisory group from the athletes’ group.
6. Check the **Link**. WindFit suggests a code, and you can swap it for something easier to remember, like `wfit.app/meia-floripa`.
7. Click **Create campaign** and then **Copy link**.

![Creating a campaign with wfit.app link in the WindFit dashboard](img:103950322c4eb5032c9deb292c2d9b3c3ccb41bece70aed6b07a8a23c33e03d3)

For the Site channel, the dashboard also asks for the partner website address. The link code accepts 3 to 50 letters, numbers and hyphens, and the dashboard notifies you while you type whether it is available. Once created, however, the code does not change. Therefore, choose a name that works well in the artwork, the post and printed material.

> [!TIP]
> Create a campaign for each place where the link will appear, not one per channel. Thus, two different WhatsApp groups become two separate rows in the results.

Common campaigns for the same event:

- one for WhatsApp running group A and another for group B;
- one for each influencer who will promote the race;
- one for the pinned Instagram post of the event;
- one with the QR Code channel for printed artwork, such as the poster in a partner store.

## What does each campaign show?

On the **Campaigns** page, each row displays the name, channel, link and three numbers:

- **Clicks**: people who opened the link, excluding link previews and bots.
- **Registrations**: registrations that came through the link.
- **Confirmed**: the paid or approved ones among them.

Campaigns also appear inside the acquisition‑channel cards, below their channel, with “via” and the campaign name. This way, you see in the same place how much Instagram contributed in total and how much came from each post.

Moreover, wfit.app links identify the actual channel of each click, even when someone forwards the link elsewhere. For example, if someone takes the campaign link from the WhatsApp group and shares it on Instagram, the registration counts for the WhatsApp‑group campaign. In the channel card, however, it appears under the Instagram channel because that’s where the person clicked. Thus, you know which link brought the athlete and through which path they actually arrived.

The campaign also follows the first contact: if a person first opened the WhatsApp‑group link and later the Instagram one, the registration counts for the WhatsApp campaign.

## How to use this data in promotion?

The numbers become more useful when you compare one channel to another. Here are some questions the card helps answer:

- Which channel brings the most confirmed registrations, not just more visitors?
- Does any channel bring a lot of people who don’t register? In that case, review the message or audience of that post.
- Did the partnership with a website bring enough registrations to repeat in the next edition?
- Which post yielded the most sales openings?

If you work with [registration batches](https://blog.windfit.app/lotes-de-inscricao-quantos-criar-e-quando-um-lote-so-basta), create a campaign for the promotion of each batch shift. That way you discover which call got more people to lock in the price before the increase.

The panel’s AI assistant also started using the channels. It alerts you when a channel brings a large share of visitors but converts well below the event average. It also highlights the channel that converts well above average, so you can reinforce what already works.

Promotion is one of the factors that explain [why some races sell out quickly](https://blog.windfit.app/por-que-algumas-provas-esgotam-rapido). With acquisition channels, you can measure this factor instead of guessing.

## Who can see and create campaigns?

Every event collaborator can view the Campaigns page and the channel cards, including those with the Viewer role. Creating campaigns is reserved for those with the Organizer or Admin role.

Clicks appear only in totals: the dashboard never shows who clicked a link. Registrations without a recorded source appear as **Untracked**. Registrations that the organization adds through the dashboard appear in their own row, **Added by organizer**, and are not included in conversion rates.

## Conclusion

Promoting an event in multiple places has always been part of the job. Now you can know what each place contributed. Acquisition channels show where registrations come from, and campaigns separate each post, group and partner with its own link.

Before the next round of promotion, create a campaign for every place where the link will appear. Then, monitor the card on the Statistics page and invest in what brought confirmed registrations.

**Organize sports events?** Discover WindFit for organizers at [event.windfit.app/organizadores](https://event.windfit.app/organizadores).

## Frequently asked questions

### Do I need to set up anything to see the acquisition channels of my event?

No. Every registration made through the checkout receives the channel automatically, and the card appears on the event's Statistics page. Campaigns are optional: they serve to separate the result of each place where you promote, with a dedicated wfit.app link for each.

### What if someone shares the campaign link elsewhere?

The registration continues counting for the campaign because the link is the same. The channel, however, is that of the click: if a WhatsApp group link is shared on Instagram, the registration appears under the Instagram channel, with the campaign name right below.

### Can I edit or delete a campaign after it’s created?

Not through the dashboard. The wfit.app link code is fixed and cannot be changed after the campaign is created. If you need a different name or channel, create a new campaign and start promoting its link.

### Why do some registrations appear as Direct?

Direct is the visit that arrived with no source signal: without UTM parameters, outside an app browser and without a referrer site. This is common with typed links or links opened from messaging apps. A campaign link solves this, because it carries the source together with the click.

### Who can create campaigns in the event dashboard?

Collaborators with the Organizer or Admin role create campaigns. Those with the Viewer role see the Campaigns page and channel numbers, but do not see the New Campaign button. Clicks appear only in totals: the dashboard never shows who clicked a link.

### What happens to registrations that have no recorded source?

They appear in the Untracked row of the channels card, separated from identified channels, and do not count toward any campaign. Registrations that the organization adds via the dashboard appear in the Added by Organizer row and are not included in conversion rates.

## Sources

1. [URL builders: Collect campaign data with custom URLs](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/10917952) — Google Analytics Help
2. [Default channel group](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9756891) — Google Analytics Help
3. [Dashboard da Windfit](https://event.windfit.app) — Site da WindFit