Google Analytics UTM parameters;

What are UTM parameters?

UTM parameters thus provide insight into where the website traffic comes from. Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) tagging was developed by the Urchin organisation, also the creator of Urchin Analytics. The parameters are designed to be appended to the end of a URL, so that a link and a possible click contain the correct information about where it came from.

The UTM parameters are divided into 5 parts:

• Source: The channel the traffic is coming from
• Medium: The form/kind of the traffic
• Campaign: Name of the campaign (can also be used outside advertising)
• (Optional) Term: Targeting/audience/keywords of the message
• (Optional) Content: The content/form of the message

If the first three required elements are appropriately combined, this information can be found in Google Analytics. It's crucial to have a single structure when adding the parameters for all marketing initiatives. It is simpler to compare various channels, campaigns, and messages and to execute the proper optimisations when everything is organised and interpreted in the same way.

How is a UTM parameter made?

It's not difficult to create a UTM parameter, but as previously mentioned, it's crucial to use a consistent name throughout and to put the proper information in the right spot. This also implies that both capital and small letters must be considered. We provide some examples to give you an idea of what the final UTM parameters might resemble:

Concert campaign for Facebook aimed at the remarketing target group by means of a video advertisement:
Source: facebook
Medium: cpc
Campaign: concert campaign
Term: remarketing
Content: MP4
Full URL: https://example.nl/concert?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=product campagne&utm_term=remarketing&utm_content=mp4

Organic post on Instagram with an image:
Source: instagram
Medium: organic
Campaign: weekend promotion
Term: not applicable
Content: png
Full URL: https://example.nl/weekend?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=weekend-actie&utm_content=png

Discount banner for the lunchtime concert in the January newsletter aimed at classical music lovers:
Source: email
Medium: newsletter
Campaign: Classic-January
Term: lunchtime concert
Content: discount banner
Full URL: https://example.nl/lunchconcert?utm_source=email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=klassiek-januari&utm_term=lunchconcert&utm_content=kortingsbanner

Collaboration with ticketmaster for a concert by Stef Bos:
Source: ticket master
Medium: collaboration
Campaign: Stef-bos
Term: not applicable
Content: text link
Full URL: https://example.nl/stef-bos?utm_source=ticketmaster&utm_medium=samenwerking&utm_campaign=stef-bos&utm_content=text link

Google ads campaign aimed at your own brand name (this is automatically generated by Google if auto-tagging is enabled, you can find this under account settings in Google Ads):
Source: google
Medium: cpc
Campaign: Branded (Google automatically adopts the capital letters here)
Term: not filled in by Google
Content: not filled in by Google
Full URL: https://example.nl/home?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Branded

If the Google Ads account is linked to Google Analytics, it is also possible to distinguish between different ad groups in Analytics.

Generate a URL with UTM parameters

To create a URL including UTM parameters, it is not necessary to write out the full URL. There are several pages that help you generate the full URL, you just need to fill in the correct fields. Google Analytics | Demos & Tools is an example of such a page. Enter the landing page and the desired parameters here (source, medium and campaign are mandatory) and the website will generate the full URL with UTM parameters.

Track your mailings

Do you wish to evaluate how well your mailings are working? UTM codes are also helpful in this case. All clickable content, including buttons and images with hyperlinks, is automatically given a UTM code in Peppered's Mailings module. Additionally, based on the mailing's title, emails are given an automatic utm_campaign. This UTM can also be changed, allowing you to, for instance, make numerous mailings for a campaign that all use the same utm_campaign.

Using UTM parameters to analyse website traffic in Google Analytics

Google will save this information in a cookie if the various marketing activity parameters have been entered correctly. There will be sufficient data after a predetermined amount of time for Google Analytics analysis. Several reports contain the data. The 'Traffic Acquisition' report is helpful when examining traffic. You can find this report by choosing 'Reports' from the left menu in Google Analytics, and then choosing 'Traffic acquisition' under 'Acquisition'.

You may find all website traffic in this report. You can enter various values for the overview at the top of the report. Different values, such as session source, session medium, session campaign, term, and content, can be supplied in order to find the data from the parameters. Additionally, the session source and medium may be added as a single variable. Also, filters can be set, allowing you to compare, for example, the different types of ad traffic.