UTM Tracking Strategy and Naming Conventions

A well-structured UTM strategy enhances reporting accuracy, gives you full visibility into what’s driving results, and allows you to harness data-driven campaign planning.

By Brandon Powell

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Table of Contents

UTM Tracking and Importance

UTM tracking refers to parameters added to the end of URLs that help you track the effectiveness of your campaigns across different traffic sources.

The UTM parameters are appended to a URL using a question mark and look like this:

https://yourwebsite.com/landing-page?utm_source=source&utm_medium=medium&utm_campaign=campaign-name

The question mark in the URL indicates the start of the URL parameters, and each parameter is separated by an ampersand. The parameters are key-value pairs, where the key is the name of the parameter (like utm_source) and the value is what you want to track (like google).

The UTM data is passed from the URL to analytics platforms like Google Analytics, allowing you to see how users interact with your site after clicking on a link.

Using UTM tracking is important because it allows us:

  • Accurate source attribution (e.g., knowing which email or ad drove the visit)
  • Clear insights into campaign performance
  • More informed decision-making on what channels or content pieces are working
  • Ability to plan future campaigns and allocate resources based on real performance data
  • Unified reporting in tools like Google Analytics

Standardize and Document Your UTM Strategy

UTM tracking URLs are a greate start to improving analytics, but without a strategy and consistency, they can cause more harm than good.

Standardizing and documenting your UTM usage ensures:

  • Everyone on your team is using the same terms and format
  • Data stays clean and easy to filter
  • You reduce duplicate or inconsistent entries like email_campaign vs EmailCampaign
  • You can scale your marketing without losing visibility or clarity

Importance of Standardizing UTM Campaign Names

Applying a strategy and consistent naming conventions to your UTM campaign values:

  • Ensures UTM/URL tagging does not break and passes information accurately to all analytics platforms.
  • Keeps naming consistent across channels for easy cross-channel/campaign comparison in analytics platforms.
    • Comparable, consistent attributes across campaigns makes it easier to make decisions related to budget reallocation or targeting adjustments.
  • Including key attributes in the campaign name gives better context and info for anyone looking at analytics/reporting.
    • Including info about targeting (geo, audience, etc) allows for quicker identification and drill-down analysis.
  • Ability to easily and quickly connect data sources via "vlookups" or "joins".
    • Standardized naming conventions allow for easier data connections between platforms like paid media to CRMs or CDPs.
    • Campaigns are usually the unique key between different data sources and other data can be attributed to unique campaign names.
  • Ability to easily automate rules and categorization in multiple platforms/data sources
    • Many platforms are limited when connecting or passing information and naming conventions allow for categorization automation and segmentation.

General UTM Rules and Naming Conventions

To ensure consistency and clarity, follow these overall rules when creating UTM parameters:

  • All lowercase letters - many websites automatically make all URLs lowercase which forces UTM tagging to be lowercase. Connecting campaign names to different data sources can be case sensitive.
  • Use underscores or hyphens instead of spaces. Spaces can cause issues when connecting data sources and for URLs.
  • Use abbreviations when possible so that URLs are shorter but make sure that there is a key/guide so that everyone knows what the abbreviations mean.
  • For campaigns, consider following a pattern that includes medium, source, product/line of business, funnel level, target, and context. Including medium/source info can help avoid inaccurate data sampling.

UTM Medium rules and implications:

  • UTM Medium should show the overall channel such as paid search, paid social, email, organic search, etc.
  • Segmenting reports by medium allows us to compare metrics across channels. This is important for determining or adjusting the budget or resources for different channels based on the relative channel efficacy.
  • Default medium/channels in most analytics platforms: email, referral, organic search, paid search, social, paid social, affiliates, display, audio, cross-network, direct.

UTM Source rules and implications:

  • UTM Source should show the specific source within a channel (medium) such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. For paid search, you would set the source as google or bing.
  • Segmenting reports by source allows us to compare metrics within a channel or medium.
  • This is important for identifying opportunities or issues within a channel and determining or adjusting the budget/resources for different sources based on the relative source efficacy.

UTM Campaign rules and implications:

  • UTM Campaign should show the details of specific initiatives. It should balance specific details with URL length.
  • Segmenting reports by campaign shows us how our focused initiatives performed and allows us to make data-driven decisions when planning future initiatives.
  • Adding medium/source data to the campaign helps avoid sampling issues and database issues with multiple dimensions or joins.

UTM Examples for Different Channels

Below are some examples of UTM parameters for different channels:

Email UTM Example

UTM Medium:

  • Default value: email
  • Paid email partners: paid_email

UTM Source:

  • Campaigns from internal lists: int_campaign
  • Alternatives for campaigns: em_int_campaign
  • Automated from internal lists/workflows: int_auto
  • Alternatives for automated: em_int_auto
  • Emails to your website from an external partner list: em_[partner_name]
  • Some marketing platforms have set values for this. For example, Hubspot has values of hs_email and hs_automation.

UTM Campaign:

  • Begin with “em_” for internal email lists or “pem_” for paid email blasts
  • If internal, include “auto” if a drip or autoresponder.
  • If external, use partner name or partner website name.
  • Include the target product, line of business, or brand.
  • If relevant, add targeting and/or segment descriptions.
  • Describe the overall topic/theme/promo for the email.
  • Can add deployment date to the end of the campaign name, or add it to UTM Term.

Examples:
https://yourwebsite.com/landing-page?utm_source=int_campaign&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=em_product1_prospects_black_friday_sale_2030_11_20
https://yourwebsite.com/landing-page?utm_source=int_auto&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=em_auto_ebook_topic_em1
https://yourwebsite.com/landing-page?utm_source=em_partner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pem_partnername_product1_prospects_black_friday_sale_2030_11_20

Events or Tradeshows (In-person) UTM Example

UTM Medium:

  • Default value: event

UTM Source:

  • Default value: [event_name]
  • Alternate: [event_name]_[touchpoint]. Example: ces_presentation
  • Alternate: event_[event_name]_[touchpoint]. Examples: event_ces_presentation, ev_ces_presentation

UTM Campaign:

  • Begin with event_, ev_, or a different abbreviation.
  • Add the name of the event and consider adding the touchpoint.
  • If relevant, include the target product, line of business, or brand.
  • Add any relevant content from the touchpoint. This could be a presentation topic or an offer at a company booth.
  • Can add the event date to the end of the campaign name, or add it to UTM Term.

Examples:
https://yourwebsite.com/landing-page?utm_source=ces_presentation&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=event_ces_presentation_product1_using_ai_2030_11_20
https://yourwebsite.com/landing-page?utm_source=ces&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=ev_ces_presentation_product1_using_ai&utm_term=2030_11_20

UTM Medium:

  • Default value: print
  • Paid ad value: print_ad

UTM Source:

  • Default value: [print_asset_type]. Examples: brochure, direct_mail, flyer
  • Paid ad value: [publication_name]_[print_asset_type]. Examples: rolling_stone_magazine_ad, ces_program_ad

UTM Campaign:

  • For assets that are NOT ads, begin with print_[asset_type].
  • For paid print ads, begin with print_ad_[asset_type]_[publication_name]_ .
  • If relevant, include the target product, line of business, or brand.
  • Describe the overall topic/theme/promo for the print asset.
  • Can add the deployment date or publication date to the end of the campaign name, or add it to UTM Term.

Examples:
https://yourwebsite.com/landing-page?utm_source=brochure&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=print_brochure_product1_tx_houston
https://yourwebsite.com/landing-page?utm_source=direct_mail&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=print_direct_mail_product1_black_friday_sale_2030_11_20
https://yourwebsite.com/landing-page?utm_source=skymall_catalog_ad&utm_medium=print_ad&utm_campaign=print_ad_catalog_skymall_product1_black_friday_sale_2030_11_20

Note: For print assets, consider using a unique vanity URL (hosted on your website) and a QR code that links to the unique vanity URL. The vanity URL should redirect to a destination URL with the correct UTM parameters. This allows you to change the URL and UTM parameters without having to reprint or change the print asset which can take a significant amount of effort and budget.

Process for Creating and Testing UTM Parameters

When you are creating UTM-tagged URLs, you are essentially just appending parameters to your base URL. Here's a basic structure:

https://yourwebsite.com/landing-page?utm_source=source&utm_medium=medium&utm_campaign=campaign_name

Follow this process:

  • Build the URL UTM parameters using the conventions, examples, and builder tools.
  • Enter the URL with UTM parameters into your internet browser to make sure the UTM parameters aren't being removed and that there aren't any redirects.
  • Check analytics platforms to make sure that the data is populating correctly.
  • Test links in the asset by clicking all links and checking that the destination URL/UTMs are correct.
  • Double check analytics to make sure that URLs from the asset are passing data correctly.

Other UTM Resources

Here are some additional resources to help you with UTM tracking:

Recap: Main Takeaways

  • UTM tracking empowers better campaign insight and performance measurement.
  • Without it, your data is incomplete and potentially misleading.
  • Standardization is critical for reliable reporting and collaboration.
  • Naming conventions bring consistency and clarity to your marketing analytics.
  • Set up a clear process, document your standards, and ensure team alignment.