UTM codes are an integral part of campaign tracking and has been around for over a decade. Funraisin has built in support for working with UTMs, this article will show you what is involved to maximise your campaign tracking.
What Are UTM Tracking Codes?
UTM parameters are simple snippet codes that you add to the end of a URL to track the performance of campaigns and content. You can track 5 standard variants of UTM parameters: source, medium, campaign, term, and content. Dimensions you track via UTM codes show up in your Google analytics reports to give you a clearer insight into marketing performance.
A UTM code looks something like this:
http://yourwebsite.com/your-post-title/?utm_source=google
The part starting after '?' is the UTM code. As you might have guessed, this particular code tracks who sent the traffic to the page (i.e. the source).
Why Are UTM Codes So Important?
The code only serves one purpose: to help your analytics tool track the source of your visitor.
For agency marketers, this means you can use these UTM parameters to calculate the impact of your campaigns.
What Can You Track With UTM Parameters?
There are five different UTM parameters. The first 3 are by far the most used parameters (Source, Medium, Campaign), but for additional insights, you may also choose to track all 5. Here's exactly what you can track with each:
1. Traffic Source
Use traffic source UTM parameters to track where the traffic originated from. The parameter added to your URL is utm_source. Traffic sources could be Facebook, Google, Bing, inbound.org, or the name of an email list. Remember, this should be the main traffic source and not a specific social media post (we'll get to that later).
UTM Parameters Example: &utm_source=twitter
2. Medium
The medium UTM parameter tracks what type of traffic the visitor originated from – CPC, email, social, referral, display, etc.
These
UTM tags help differentiate between paid social media ads and organic
social media traffic based on viral Instagram posts, for example. The parameter is utm_medium.
UTM Parameters Example: &utm_medium=cpc
3. Campaign Name
The campaign parameters allow you to track the performance of a specific campaign. For example, you can use the campaign parameter to differentiate traffic between different Facebook Ad campaigns, Google ads campaign ID, or email campaigns. (See more on naming conventions below.) The parameter is utm_campaign.
UTM Parameters Example: &utm_campaign=example-campaign
4. Content
In case you have multiple links pointing to the same URL (such as an email with two CTA buttons or various social media links), use UTM parameters to track which link was clicked. The UTM parameter is utm_content.
UTM Parameters Example: &utm_content=navlink
5. Keyword Term
The keyword UTM parameter allows you to track which keyword term a website visitor came from. This parameter is specifically used for paid search ads. The parameter is utm_term.
UTM Parameters Example: &utm_term=growth+hacking+tactics
How To Use the UTM Parameters in Funraisin
When a visitor first lands on any page on your Funraisin website, if there are UTM codes in the url we capture these in the user's session and then should then go on to make a donation or signed up to an event etc we will record those UTMs against their record within Funraisin.
You are then able to extract any of the 5 UTMs stored against any record via Data Exports or you can even sync them to external platforms e.g. Campaign Monitor, Salesforce etc
