UTM parameters, or Urchin Tracking Module parameters, are snippets of text (URL parameters, actually) that can be added to the end of a URL to track marketing campaigns. UTM parameters are supported by most web analytics tools, including Google Analytics.
https://brandoncaples.com/2023/utm-parameters?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_content=reel-ga4-utm&utm_campaign=blog_promotion
These parameters can be used to track the performance of individual marketing campaigns, as well as the overall effectiveness of different marketing channels. For example, you could use UTM parameters to track the number of visitors to your website from a specific social media post, or to track the conversion rate of visitors who came to your website from a paid search campaign. You could even track the effectiveness of a printed mailer by using a QR code embedded with UTM parameters.
UTM parameters are a powerful tool that can help you to track the effectiveness of your online marketing campaigns and make informed decisions about your marketing strategy.
How to use UTM parameters
UTMs are case-sensitive like URL parameters. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) evaluates UTM parameters as lowercase values, so all parameters should be lowercase. Google Analytics 4 supposedly converts data to lowercase values, but this isn’t 100% reliable.
UTM parameters should only be used when the source and destination for a link are not measured by the same Google Analytics property. In other words, don’t use UTM parameters to track internal links; doing so can distort your data. If you need to track specific internal link clicks, I recommend creating an event or using event parameters that allow you to filter your reports appropriately.
For Google Analytics 4 to classify default channel groups appropriately, UTM parameters should meet certain standards. GA4 associates channels based on values of the two most important UTM parameters: utm_source and utm_medium. Other useful parameters are utm_content and utm_campaign.
The UTM parameters
A tracking URL is made up of four main parameters: utm_source, utm_medium, utm_content, and utm_campaign. These parameters do not need to be in any particular order. To use UTM parameters, simply add them to the end of a URL, beginning with a question mark and separated by ampersands. For example, the following URL uses UTM parameters to track the web traffic from an email:
https://brandoncaples.com/?utm_source=product-a&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2023_spring_sale&utm_content=button-homepage
(When a URL contains parameters, the start of the parameter string is always ?, as indicated above. Then each parameter, and its value, is separated by &. These URL parameters can sometimes determine the content on the page, but only if the website is programmed to interact with parameters in that way. Otherwise, parameters do not affect the user experience, since they are largely for analytics.)
When a user clicks on this link, the UTM parameters will be sent to GA4. You can then view reports to see how many visitors came to your website from this link, and how they went on to interact with your website.
UTM Source
The utm_source parameter should identify where the link lives—the source of the user who clicked. The utm_source is often a website domain, like brandoncaples.com or edx.org. For some media, the source can be more flexible but should still identify where the original click came from.
UTM Medium
The utm_medium parameter is more rigid and should follow Google’s standards identified in the documentation. It is the vehicle for the message that the user interacted with. It could be a referral from another website, an email, a printed document, or some other mode of communication.
As mentioned previously, if you want GA4 to appropriately identify and organize default channel groups, you need to be intentional about utm_medium, even more so than utm_source. GA4 monitors values of both to organize default channel groups, but I’ve found that following stricter rules with utm_medium values allows for more flexibility when assigning utm_source values. (You can also define custom channel groups to work with an existing naming convention in place.)
The table below provides utm_medium values that work with the GA4 default channel grouping rules. There are other values that work, and they are documented on the Analytics Help site. Custom values can also be added as you see fit, but you may need to define additional channel grouping rules.
| Medium | Convention | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Printed Materials | The word print | |
| The word email | ||
| External Website | The word referral | referral |
| Affiliate Links | The word affiliate | affiliate |
| Social Media | The word social | social |
| Digital Ads | The type of ad (e.g. cp*, ppc, retargeting) or the word paid | cpc cpm ppc retargeting paid |
| Display Ads | The type of display ad (e.g. display, banner, expandable) | display banner expandable interstitial cpm |
| Audio Ads | The word audio | audio |
| Text Message | The word sms | sms |
| App Notification | The word mobile | mobile |
(Since the channel group is determined based on the combined values of utm_source and utm_medium, the source will determine whether a digital ad is attributed to Paid Social, Paid Search, or another paid channel group.)
UTM Campaign
The utm_campaign parameter is intended to identify a promotional campaign by name and can be used in any way that’s helpful. I recommend coming up with a naming convention for campaigns to make it easy to identify the various campaigns showing up in reports.
UTM Content
The utm_content parameter is used to differentiate creatives. Though it’s intended for advertising, utm_content is a very flexible parameter that can be used in any meaningful way. It can differentiate links within the same email—for example, a text link, a button, and a linked image all directing to the same web page. If needed, it could also be used to distinguish the destination of the link, e.g. utm_content=link-about_page.
Because of its association with ads, utm_content can be found in GA4 as the Session manual ad content dimension, or sometimes simply as Ad content. (It may not be available in standard reports but can be used in Explore reports.)
Examples
The following link lives on Instagram in a reel featuring Shaquille O’Neal for the brand awareness campaign.
?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_content=reel-shaq&utm_campaign=2023_brand_awareness
This link is in the footer of the second email (“donor appeal”) in the October 2023 fundraising campaign.
?utm_source=2-donor-appeal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=link-footer&utm_campaign=2023-10_fundraising
The following is a shortlink printed on the reply envelope of the October 2023 fundraising letter.
?utm_source=fundraising-letter&utm_medium=print&utm_content=reply-envelope&utm_campaign=2023-10_fundraising
The following link is on Facebook in the ad with a product focus, which is part of a retargeting campaign.
?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=retargeting&utm_content=product-focus&utm_campaign=2023_social_advertising
This affiliate link is on an influencer’s blog. Tracking parameters are only needed if the link directs to a website not tracked by a GA4 property’s cross-domain settings. If this link originated on a subdomain of the destination site, tracking parameters would not be needed. In this case, the tracking link is needed since the influencer’s blog site is likely not tracked by the same GA4 property as the destination site.
?utm_source=influencer.blog&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_content=try-this-awesome-product&utm_campaign=2023_influencers
This link is the first CTA link in the first email (“content delivery”) of the brand awareness campaign.
?utm_source=1-content-delivery&utm_medium=email&utm_content=cta-1&utm_campaign=2023_brand_awareness
This link is in an app’s settings, directing to a contact form.
?utm_source=settings&utm_medium=app&utm_content=contact&utm_campaign=app_ios
The following link is from a brand ad on Facebook in an awareness campaign.
?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=brand-focus&utm_campaign=2023_brand_awareness
This link is from a QR code titled “Community” in a printed Bible study.
?utm_source=book_galatians&utm_medium=print&utm_content=qr-code_community&utm_campaign=product_bible-studies
UTM parameters make it much easier to collect marketing data. Anything that can hold a link can be tracked with UTMs.