Lead Gen Event Schema: The Complete Reference

A complete reference for lead generation analytics. All events — from first form view to SQL handoff — with parameters, data types, and data layer examples you can copy into your tracking plan.

Lead gen tracking is deceptively simple. Most teams fire a single form_submit event and call it done. But that tells you nothing about which forms convert, where leads drop off, or how marketing spend connects to pipeline. This reference gives you a structured schema covering the events that actually tie lead generation to revenue.

I’ve implemented this schema across B2B SaaS companies and service businesses in Europe. The structure scales from a simple contact form to a multi-step qualification funnel with demo bookings and call tracking.

Lead Gen Funnel Overview

Lead generation analytics tracks users through four stages. Each stage has distinct events that map to specific pipeline metrics.

Form Interaction Events

Forms are the backbone of lead generation. But tracking only submissions misses the full picture. Measuring views, starts, and field-level interactions reveals where your forms leak leads.

The form_type parameter is your segmentation key. Use consistent values like contact, newsletter, demo_request, quote, gated_content, or callback. This single parameter lets you compare conversion rates across all form types without creating separate events.

Track time_to_complete in seconds. When I implemented this for a B2B client in Munich, we discovered their quote request form averaged 4.5 minutes — three times longer than their contact form. Shortening it from 12 fields to 7 increased submissions by 35%.

Data Layer Example: Form Submit

window.dataLayer.push({
  "event": "form_submit",
  "form_name": "contact_main",
  "form_id": "cf-001",
  "form_type": "contact",
  "field_count": 5,
  "time_to_complete": 42,
  "page_path": "/contact/"
});

CTA & Click Events

Not every lead interaction starts with a form. Tracking CTA clicks, phone number taps, and download buttons shows you what drives users toward conversion — and what gets ignored.

Use cta_location to track where CTAs perform best: hero, sidebar, inline, footer, exit_intent, or sticky_bar. Combined with cta_type values like button, banner, or text_link, you can optimize placement without guessing.

Data Layer Example: CTA Click

window.dataLayer.push({
  "event": "cta_click",
  "cta_text": "Get a Free Quote",
  "cta_location": "hero",
  "cta_type": "button",
  "destination_url": "/request-quote/"
});

Demo & Consultation Events

For B2B companies, demos and consultations are the highest-intent actions. Tracking the full lifecycle — from request to completion — connects marketing spend to actual sales opportunities.

The meeting_booked to meeting_attended gap is one of the most undertracked metrics. In my experience, no-show rates for B2B demos range from 15% to 40%. Tracking days_until_meeting helps you optimize: meetings booked 1-2 days out have significantly lower no-show rates than those booked a week ahead.

Note that meeting_attended and meeting_no_show are server-side events — they come from your CRM or calendar API, not from the browser. If you’re running server-side GTM, route these through your server container. Otherwise, fire them via the GA4 Measurement Protocol.

Lead Qualification Events

Qualification events bridge the gap between marketing and sales. They track when a lead moves from “someone who filled out a form” to “someone worth calling.”

Use qualification_type values like mql (Marketing Qualified Lead), sql (Sales Qualified Lead), or pql (Product Qualified Lead). The qualification_source parameter tells you what triggered the qualification: score_threshold, manual_review, demo_completed, or product_usage.

These events are almost always server-side. They originate from your CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive) and should be sent to GA4 via the Measurement Protocol or server-side GTM to close the loop between marketing attribution and sales outcomes.

Data Layer Example: Lead Qualified (Server-Side)

// GA4 Measurement Protocol payload
{
  "client_id": "stored_ga_client_id",
  "events": [{
    "name": "lead_qualified",
    "params": {
      "qualification_type": "sql",
      "lead_score": 85,
      "qualification_source": "demo_completed",
      "days_to_qualify": 12
    }
  }]
}

Call Tracking Events

Phone calls are still a major conversion channel for service businesses, real estate, healthcare, and high-ticket B2B. If you’re running Google Ads call extensions or have phone numbers on your site, these events connect calls to your analytics data.

Use call_outcome values like qualified, voicemail, wrong_number, not_interested, or booked_meeting. The call_duration parameter (in seconds) helps define quality thresholds — calls under 30 seconds are rarely genuine leads, while calls over 120 seconds often indicate high intent.

Proposal & Pipeline Events

These events track what happens after qualification — when leads move through your sales pipeline toward becoming customers. They’re essential for connecting marketing attribution to actual revenue.

The deal_won event is your ultimate conversion. When you fire it with the original GA4 client_id via the Measurement Protocol, you can see the full journey: which ad campaign brought the visitor, which page they landed on, which form they submitted, and ultimately how much revenue that generated. This is the closed-loop attribution that most lead gen teams struggle with.

Complete Event Map

Here’s every lead gen event at a glance, organized by funnel stage with recommended GA4 key event status.

Key events (formerly “conversions” in GA4) should be reserved for actions that represent genuine business value. Mark form_submit, demo_requested, lead_qualified, meeting_attended, and deal_won as key events. Keep discovery and micro-interaction events as regular events — they’re valuable for funnel analysis but shouldn’t clutter your conversion reports.

GTM Implementation Guide

Here’s how to implement the core lead gen events in Google Tag Manager. The exact triggers depend on your form technology, but the pattern stays the same.

Critical: for form_submit, never trigger on the native form submission event. Most modern forms use AJAX — the page doesn’t reload. Instead, listen for the success callback from your form plugin (HubSpot, Typeform, Gravity Forms all push to the data layer) or use a custom dataLayer.push() after server-side validation confirms the submission went through.

Parameter Naming Conventions

Consistent parameter naming across all lead gen events saves you from GA4’s 50 custom-dimension limit and makes analysis straightforward.

This reuse pattern is key. Five shared parameters cover 15+ events. Without it, you’d burn through your custom dimension quota within a single project.

Validation Checklist

Before going live with your lead gen tracking, verify each item:

FAQ

Further Reading

• GA4 Recommended Events Reference — Google Analytics
• GA4 Measurement Protocol — Google Analytics
• Key Events in GA4 — Google Analytics Help
• GTM Form Tracking Guide — Analytics Mania

Lukas Meier

Product Analytics Specialist based in Munich. Helping teams implement clean, actionable analytics since 2015.