What Are UTM Codes and Why Should You Care?
Matt Bell-Watson • 5 May 2021
Both UTM codes and digital marketing did not exist when John Wanamaker famously said “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half,” more than 100 years ago.
Today, UTM codes can help solve that problem. A UTM code is a string of text that is added to the end of a URL so that marketing activity can be tracked, attributed and analysed in Google Analytics.
Most UTM codes look like this example, with up to five different parameters providing insight into where site visitors come from. In this case, traffic can be attributed to Google Ads.
As well as tracking where visitors come from, UTM codes make it possible to track how they behave. Do they download a whitepaper, request a meeting or exit the site in seconds?
What’s more, UTM codes can provide an insight into which campaigns, content, channels or messages are driving conversions. This can be very useful when managing paid media campaigns.
What Does UTM Stand For?
UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module. It was invented by Urchin Software, a web analytics programme that was acquired by Google in April 2005 and ultimately became Google Analytics.
How to Create UTM Codes
There are many ways to generate UTM codes. If you’re just creating one or two, it’s easy to use Google’s free Campaign URL Builder or you can create them manually one by one by writing the text string and adding it to the end of a URL. Alternatively, many content marketing platforms now provide the functionality to create UTM codes when scheduling content to publish on social media.
If you’re creating lots of UTM codes, you can also use an Excel spreadsheet. By inputting all of the data for each parameter, you can use a formula to instantly generate all of the codes at once.
But regardless of how you choose to create your UTM codes, there are five different UTM parameters to consider, of which three are required by Google Analytics. It doesn’t matter which order you list the UTM parameters. However, there are a few things to be aware of:
- Consistency is really important. If you don’t use the same codes for all campaigns, it can make it tricky to track performance. For instance, Paid_Social and PaidSocial will appear in Google Analytics as two different mediums.
- UTM codes should not contain spaces. Instead, it is best practice to use an underscore or plus symbol. For instance, Streaming_Report or UK+Streaming+Market.
- UTM codes are case-sensitive. As above, consistency is important. If you use Google for one campaign and google for another it’s not the end of the world, but it will make tracking more complicated, as Google and google will appear in Google Analytics as two different sources.
How to Setup UTM Parameters
A UTM code is made of 3-5 parameters. Each parameter provides data about where visitors came from, so this can be tracked, attributed and analysed. These parameters include:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Source | The source parameter is required. You can use it to track where visitors are coming from. This might be a search engine, a social network, a newsletter or another source, like a press release.
Example: utm_source=Google |
| Medium | The medium parameter is required. You can use it to track which channel visitors arrived through. For instance, this could be paid or organic social, email, CPC or another channel, such as an affiliate partner or media outreach.
Example: utm_medium=CPC |
| Campaign | The campaign name parameter is required. You can use it to track the performance of specific campaigns. For instance, a product launch, promotion or a lead gen campaign.
Example: utm_campaign=Streaming_Report |
| Term | The term parameter is used to track specific paid search campaigns. You can use it to track the performance of specific keywords that you have paid to target using Google Ads.
Example: utm_term=UK+Streaming+Market |
| Content | The content parameter is used to track the performance of specific ads, social posts or internal links. This is useful if you’re using the same link in several different ads, but want to know which is generating the most conversions.
It can be used for A/B testing of copy, creative, messaging and CTA and other variables, such as the type of link used on a website or where a link is placed. Example: utm_content=GenZ_Insights |
Optimising Performance Using UTM Codes
If you’re already using Google Analytics on your site, it’s easy to start tracking the performance of your links. You can do this by clicking on “Acquisition” then “Sources” and then “Campaigns.”
From there you can analyse performance by clicking on the campaign name or any of the tabs. These include source, medium and source/medium. In addition, you can set a secondary dimension to look at links by content or term, if you want to take a granular look at campaign performance.
Source: Google Analytics
If you already have goals set up in Google Analytics, you can see how many conversions each link has delivered and the conversion rate, for all goals and specific goals too. In addition, you can also look at important metrics like bounce rate or time on site, to examine how engaged visitors are.
UTM tracking is particularly useful for evaluating the effectiveness of campaigns and optimising activity. For instance, if you find that a particular ad is delivering below-average results, you might choose to pause it or reduce how much budget is allocated towards it. Likewise, if an ad is delivering above-average results, you may want to allocate more budget towards it or extend the campaign.
Depending on the UTM parameters used, you can also gain some insight into why some campaigns are performing better than others, so that campaign activity can be optimised with this in mind. For instance, UTM links are great for A/B testing of copy, creative and messages, as you can take a granular look at campaigns. However, if you’re using UTM links for this purpose, it’s important to make sure that other variables are considered. In paid social campaigns, for instance, the target audience, campaign duration and budget allocation should all be the same to make a fair comparison.
What Are UTM Codes and Why Should You Care?
Matt Bell-Watson • 5 May 2021
Both UTM codes and digital marketing did not exist when John Wanamaker famously said “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half,” more than 100 years ago.
Today, UTM codes can help solve that problem. A UTM code is a string of text that is added to the end of a URL so that marketing activity can be tracked, attributed and analysed in Google Analytics.
Most UTM codes look like this example, with up to five different parameters providing insight into where site visitors come from. In this case, traffic can be attributed to Google Ads.
As well as tracking where visitors come from, UTM codes make it possible to track how they behave. Do they download a whitepaper, request a meeting or exit the site in seconds?
What’s more, UTM codes can provide an insight into which campaigns, content, channels or messages are driving conversions. This can be very useful when managing paid media campaigns.
What Does UTM Stand For?
UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module. It was invented by Urchin Software, a web analytics programme that was acquired by Google in April 2005 and ultimately became Google Analytics.
How to Create UTM Codes
There are many ways to generate UTM codes. If you’re just creating one or two, it’s easy to use Google’s free Campaign URL Builder or you can create them manually one by one by writing the text string and adding it to the end of a URL. Alternatively, many content marketing platforms now provide the functionality to create UTM codes when scheduling content to publish on social media.
If you’re creating lots of UTM codes, you can also use an Excel spreadsheet. By inputting all of the data for each parameter, you can use a formula to instantly generate all of the codes at once.
But regardless of how you choose to create your UTM codes, there are five different UTM parameters to consider, of which three are required by Google Analytics. It doesn’t matter which order you list the UTM parameters. However, there are a few things to be aware of:
- Consistency is really important. If you don’t use the same codes for all campaigns, it can make it tricky to track performance. For instance, Paid_Social and PaidSocial will appear in Google Analytics as two different mediums.
- UTM codes should not contain spaces. Instead, it is best practice to use an underscore or plus symbol. For instance, Streaming_Report or UK+Streaming+Market.
- UTM codes are case-sensitive. As above, consistency is important. If you use Google for one campaign and google for another it’s not the end of the world, but it will make tracking more complicated, as Google and google will appear in Google Analytics as two different sources.
How to Setup UTM Parameters
A UTM code is made of 3-5 parameters. Each parameter provides data about where visitors came from, so this can be tracked, attributed and analysed. These parameters include:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Source | The source parameter is required. You can use it to track where visitors are coming from. This might be a search engine, a social network, a newsletter or another source, like a press release.
Example: utm_source=Google |
| Medium | The medium parameter is required. You can use it to track which channel visitors arrived through. For instance, this could be paid or organic social, email, CPC or another channel, such as an affiliate partner or media outreach.
Example: utm_medium=CPC |
| Campaign | The campaign name parameter is required. You can use it to track the performance of specific campaigns. For instance, a product launch, promotion or a lead gen campaign.
Example: utm_campaign=Streaming_Report |
| Term | The term parameter is used to track specific paid search campaigns. You can use it to track the performance of specific keywords that you have paid to target using Google Ads.
Example: utm_term=UK+Streaming+Market |
| Content | The content parameter is used to track the performance of specific ads, social posts or internal links. This is useful if you’re using the same link in several different ads, but want to know which is generating the most conversions.
It can be used for A/B testing of copy, creative, messaging and CTA and other variables, such as the type of link used on a website or where a link is placed. Example: utm_content=GenZ_Insights |
Optimising Performance Using UTM Codes
If you’re already using Google Analytics on your site, it’s easy to start tracking the performance of your links. You can do this by clicking on “Acquisition” then “Sources” and then “Campaigns.”
From there you can analyse performance by clicking on the campaign name or any of the tabs. These include source, medium and source/medium. In addition, you can set a secondary dimension to look at links by content or term, if you want to take a granular look at campaign performance.
Source: Google Analytics
If you already have goals set up in Google Analytics, you can see how many conversions each link has delivered and the conversion rate, for all goals and specific goals too. In addition, you can also look at important metrics like bounce rate or time on site, to examine how engaged visitors are.
UTM tracking is particularly useful for evaluating the effectiveness of campaigns and optimising activity. For instance, if you find that a particular ad is delivering below-average results, you might choose to pause it or reduce how much budget is allocated towards it. Likewise, if an ad is delivering above-average results, you may want to allocate more budget towards it or extend the campaign.
Depending on the UTM parameters used, you can also gain some insight into why some campaigns are performing better than others, so that campaign activity can be optimised with this in mind. For instance, UTM links are great for A/B testing of copy, creative and messages, as you can take a granular look at campaigns. However, if you’re using UTM links for this purpose, it’s important to make sure that other variables are considered. In paid social campaigns, for instance, the target audience, campaign duration and budget allocation should all be the same to make a fair comparison.
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