The social media detour
You run Google Ads. A potential customer clicks your ad, visits your site, and instead of filling in the form, they tap your Instagram link and send you a DM. You got a lead, but Google Ads has no idea.
This is especially common with younger demographics, lifestyle brands, and visual businesses like photography, interior design, fitness, and beauty.
How to track it
Tagless detects social media links on your site — including Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and other platforms. When someone clicks through to your Instagram profile from your website, the GCLID is captured.
The limitation is that Tagless can't see inside Instagram — it doesn't know if a DM was sent. You qualify this manually: check your DMs, match the timing, and confirm which ones came from ad traffic.
It's not as seamless as WhatsApp or form tracking, but it's infinitely better than zero attribution.
Is it worth tracking?
If Instagram DMs are a significant lead channel for your business, yes. Even approximate attribution is better than none. If you find that 20% of your leads come through Instagram and none of them are being credited to Google Ads, that's a major blind spot in your optimisation.