Unlock the Magic of UTM: Track Campaigns Like a Pro

What are UTM Parameters?

UTM parameters, also known as UTM tags, are snippets of text that are added to the end of a URL. These parameters allow marketers to track the effectiveness of their online campaigns by providing data on where website traffic is coming from.

UTM parameters consist of five different pieces of information:

1. Source: utm_source - This parameter specifies the source of the traffic, such as Google, Facebook, or an email newsletter.
2. Medium: utm_medium - This parameter specifies the medium through which the traffic was generated, such as paid search, social media, or email.
3. Campaign: utm_campaign - This parameter specifies the specific campaign that the traffic is associated with, such as a sale or a product launch.
4. Term: utm_term - This parameter specifies the specific keywords that were used to generate the traffic, such as the terms someone searched for on Google.
5. Content: utm_content - This parameter specifies the specific content that was used to generate the traffic, such as a specific blog post or landing page.

Using UTM parameters allows marketers to see which campaigns are most effective at driving traffic and conversions. For example, a marketer might use different UTM parameters for a social media campaign and a paid search campaign to see which one is more effective at driving traffic to their website. To use UTM parameters, marketers simply add them to the end of a URL using the following format:

http://www.example.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid+search&utm_campaign=?summer+sale&utm_term=beach+towels&utm_content=banner+ad

UTM parameters can be added to any link, including links in emails, social media posts, and online ads. They can also be used to track traffic from offline campaigns, such as print ads or direct mailers, by adding the UTM parameters to the landing page URL.

To track the effectiveness of campaigns using UTM parameters, marketers can use a tool such as Google Analytics. By setting up goals and tracking the UTM parameters, marketers can see which campaigns are driving the most traffic and conversions.

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10 Common Mistakes with UTM Tags and how to avoid them

1) Mixing lowercase and uppercase letters

UTM tags are case-sensitive. You should consistently use the same format when tagging your links, otherwise, your campaigns will show up on different lines in Google Analytics.

2) Incorrectly using ‘&’, ‘=’, ‘?’ and ‘#’ symbols in UTM tags

Make sure you use a question mark (?) before the first query parameter and then separate all others with ampersands (&).

3) Not testing tagged links before using them

Always test your UTM tags before you start to use them. Just enter your tagged URL into your browser and see what happens. If your UTM tags disappear after the page loads, they are not working properly. If they remain at the end of the URL, it’s very likely that this information is captured and sent to Google Analytics.

4) Making spelling mistakes when using Google Analytics UTM tags

Make use of excel or word document to minimize the risk of making typos and keeping everything consistent.

5) Not following a consistent naming convention for UTM campaigns.

Consistency is paramount when using UTM tags.

6) Not using the mandatory utm_source parameter

The utm_source parameter is required. If you only include utm_medium or utm_campaign, campaign tracking won’t work! It’s strongly recommended to use all three parameters (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign) but technically only the utm_source parameter is required.

7) Mis-tagging Social Media links and not separating paid and non-paid social campaigns

Use “social” as a medium when tagging your organic social media posts and the domain as a source (facebook.com, linkedin.com, twitter.com, etc.). To separate your paid and organic social media traffic, I recommend using “paid+social” as a medium.

8) Setting the medium to “cpc” when tagging Social Media campaigns

If you use “cpc” as a medium, by default it will go under the Paid Search Channel (not social media) in Google Analytics. You can change it by modifying your Default Channel Grouping settings (or creating your own Custom Channel Grouping).

9) Using UTM tags to track internal links.

This may result in the original referrer being overwritten and your data will be messed up. You should never use campaign tagging for internal links.

10) Mixing Google Ads auto-tagging and manual tagging

If you’ve decided to use both auto-tagging and UTM parameters in your URL at the same time, you should change your Google Analytics property settings to allow manual tagging to override auto-tagging. Otherwise, you might encounter data discrepancies.

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Tracking Conversions in Leadmonk

To track conversions directly within Leadmonk, add UTM parameters to your booking links. Using these customized booking links will allow you to see what sources in your campaign are driving the most scheduling traffic. If you've embedded Leadmonk booking link your website using the code snippet provided in 'Add to website' option, the embed code will automatically look for the following UTM parameters in the URL address on the parent web page:

• utm_source
• utm_medium
• utm_campaign
• utm_content
• utm_term

You can add UTM parameters directly by modifying Javascript calls. These UTMs will be tracked throughout the booking flow. The parameters manually set will overwrite those set in the parent window.

• Once you’ve defined what UTM codes you’d like to use, you can append them to the end of your Leadmonk booking link by adding a '?' after the link.
• Then, add your UTM codes using ‘&' to separate each new code (i.e. utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter).
• Spaces are not allowed in URLs and thus not in UTM parameters. If you use spaces in your campaign names you need to replace each space by %20.

Your link could look something like this:

https://bookme.ldmk.io/stevejohnson/30min?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=summer-sale

When sharing your booking link, append the URL and include the title of your campaign or source. You can track the campaign, source, medium, content, or term. If you were running a campaign across different social media platforms, you can easily track how many appointments come from each source. Once an appointment is scheduled by an invitee who followed the unique link, Leadmonk will begin tracking the parameters you've set.

In conclusion, UTM parameters are a useful tool for tracking the effectiveness of online campaigns and understanding where website traffic is coming from. By adding these parameters to URLs and tracking them using a tool like Google Analytics, marketers can gain valuable insights into which campaigns are most successful at driving traffic and conversions.

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