Think back to your time in school, every classroom had at least one know-it-all. Always raising their hand, reminding the teacher about the homework that was given, and acing every test. The Lisa Simpsons, Sheldon Coopers, or Amy Santiagos of the world; knowing everything going on at all times.
The time has come to let bygones be bygones and put all that angst towards your personal teacher’s pet away. When it comes to your digital marketing you need someone like Lisa Simpson by your side.
I’m not telling you to hire another employee, I’m telling you to incorporate UTM tracking into every aspect of your digital marketing so you can be the know-it-all when it comes to your data. My goal is for you to go from Homer Simpson, Jake Peralta, or Penny Hofstadter and become Lisa, Amy, or Sheldon!
What the Heck are UTMs?!
UTM, short for Urchin Tracking Module, allows you to attach specific parameters (additional information) to a URL, making it possible to measure campaign performance with pinpoint accuracy. Whether you're running paid ads on Google, social media campaigns on Facebook, or sending emails, UTMs help you keep tabs on what works and what doesn’t. And the best part? It doesn’t cost a dime! Anyone can use UTMs to gain control of their data measurement.
Understanding UTM Parameters
Understanding the five key UTM parameters is the first step to mastering campaign tracking:
- utm_source: Pinpoints the traffic source, like Google or Facebook.
- utm_medium: Specifies the marketing medium, such as email or cpc (cost-per-click).
- utm_campaign: Names the marketing campaign (e.g., Summer_Sale_2024).
- utm_term: Tracks keywords related to paid search ads.
- utm_content: Differentiates ad versions or calls-to-action.
Each of these parameters adds depth to your tracking, giving you a full picture of how users are arriving at your site and interacting with your content. It’s like having a backstage pass to your marketing analytics! Source, medium, and campaign are required for the UTM to be picked up and tracked inside Google Analytics, while term and content are optional.
UTM Code Best Practices
Marketers who master UTMs understand the importance of consistency. Here are some pro tips that have taken our own reporting to the next level:
- Always use lowercase: This avoids confusion in reporting.
- Avoid special characters: They can cause issues when URLs are parsed by Google Analytics.
- Dashes over underlines: I like using “-” rather than “_” but that’s a personal preference. Do what feels right to you and your company.
- Be clear with naming: Your UTM names should be descriptive enough to make sense at a glance.
- Length: Teaching people to use UTMs, I always notice their campaign, term, and content are always the longest. They need to be short & concise!
- Long: utm_campaign = summer-sale-discount-code-for-outdoor-products
- Short: utm_campaign= sale-outdoor-products
- Term & Content: I tend to use these to better describe my campaign, I don’t hold overly “true” to their definitions. If you want to stick to that, go for it. If you feel like you can better use these two sections, feel free!
- Consistency matters: Ensure that your parameters are consistent across campaigns. This is especially important when working with a team of marketers.
By sticking to these best practices, you’ll avoid the nightmare of messy analytics and ensure your reports are as reliable as possible. Remember, know-it-alls have these best practices memorized.
Finding Your UTM Codes in Google Analytics 4
Once your UTM-tagged campaigns are live, you can track their performance in Google Analytics 4 (GA4). The process is simple, but it provides incredible insights into what’s working (and what’s not).
- Log into GA4 and navigate to the “Reports”.
- Click the Acquisition dropdown
- Navigate to Traffic Acquisition
- Change the primary dimension from Default Channel Group to session source/medium
- Click the blue plus button and bring in the session campaign
- Compare how different traffic sources and campaigns perform based on your UTM tracking.
By using GA4 UTM tracking, you can make data-driven decisions, cut the fluff, and optimize your campaigns in real-time. Why guess when you can know?
How You Can Avoid UTM Failure and Mis-Tracking
Even seasoned marketers can fall into beartraps when setting up UTMs. Avoid these common mistakes:
- Using generic UTM parameters: Vague terms like “campaign1” or “email-drip” make it impossible to measure performance accurately. The goal of UTMs is to ensure that anyone looking at these parameters can easily tell what data they’re looking at.
- Not testing UTMs: Always test your UTM links before launching a campaign. It seems unnecessary but you never know, there could be a misspelling or worse, could lead to a 404 page!
- Ignoring your data: What’s the point of UTM tracking if you’re not reviewing the data and optimizing your campaigns? You and your team should know where to look in GA4 or build a report in Google Looker Studio to showcase those results.
- Too many hands in the cookie jar: at the end of the day there should only be one person who controls the data governance. While the entire marketing (and sales team) can create and use UTMs, there should be one user who dictates how the UTMs are created.
By steering clear of these pitfalls, you’ll ensure your campaigns run smoothly and your insights are on point.
What Kind of Tools Do You Need to Create UTMs?
There is one tool that rules them all and that is Google’s URL Builder. It provides a very straightforward interface to input all of your parameters and then it will spit out the URL to use.
Want a UTM Tool that Has a History or an Extra Level of Tracking?
The biggest issue with Google’s URL Builder is that there is no historical data there. If you have a multi-person marketing team, everyone involved in a project needs to know what the campaign name is or the “F” in facebook is lowercase. I have one paid and one free solution for you!
- UTM.io – UTM.io is the best way to build, share, and sync your UTMs with your team. Stop using messy spreadsheets and get good campaign data in your analytics.
- A Google Sheet – There is a formula that you can insert into a spreadsheet in which you can create a URL Builder for free in your Google Drive.
Maximize Campaign Effectiveness with UTMs
UTMs aren’t just for tracking—they’re for understanding. By using GA4, UTM tracking, and following best practices, you can transform guesswork into measurable results. Whether you're running ads on Google or launching an email campaign, UTM tracking is your roadmap to success.
Don’t leave your marketing campaigns up to chance. Harness the power of UTMs and make data-driven decisions that elevate your results! This is your chance to become ultra-picky!! With data getting harder and harder to track with privacy laws and a cookie-less world looming down the road, UTMs will be one of the only ways you can be sure of the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Need help setting up your UTMs and tracking them in Google Analytics? Let’s chat!
John comes to the flyte new media team with a motivation to help clients grow their business and online presence. He brings a lot of enthusiasm and a positive attitude to flyte’s marketing department. He is Google Analytics and Google Ads certified which is where his true work passion lies, SEO, Local SEO, and paid search. He can be kind of a data nerd but that’s never a bad thing.
An avid sports fan, a day doesn’t go by where John doesn’t catch that game, that score, or that highlight play. He continuously joins way too many fantasy sports leagues but don’t worry, his win percentage is still very high. John can also be found adventuring with his wife, their daughter, and Goldendoodle, Harper Lee.