There are a few different options available to you for tracking campaign performance. One of the methods we recommend is using UTM data.But what are UTMs? How do you set them up?We’ll break it all down for you in this article along with some best practices.
There are a few different options available to you for tracking campaign performance. One of the methods we recommend is using UTM data.
But what are UTMs? How do you set them up?
We’ll break it all down for you in this article along with some best practices.
UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module. It’s named after Urchin Software, the web analytics company that Google acquired back in 2005 — which eventually became Google Analytics. So the name stuck, even though it sounds a little weird and doesn’t really describe what it does anymore.
UTM parameters are little bits of text you can add to the end of a URL to track where your website traffic is coming from. They’re super handy for marketers because they let you see exactly which campaign, ad, or social post is driving clicks.
For example, you can tag a link in your newsletter with a UTM source like “email” and a campaign name like “spring_sale,” and when someone clicks it, that data shows up in Google Analytics or Shopify. It’s a simple way to make your links smarter and your reports more insightful.
You’ve probably seen them before and didn’t realize it. Ever pasted a link to a friend and the link is super long with lots of “&” in it? Look closer and you’ll probably see “utm” in there somewhere, indicating the brand that you copied a link from is using UTMs to track traffic from that link.
If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed and worried that UTMs are going to be too technical, have no fear. They’re actually really easy to understand and set up. You don’t need any coding experience either.
First I’ll explain the different parameters of a UTM, then I’ll explain how to string it together and add it to a link.
A typical UTM link might look something like this:
?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign={{campaign.name}}&utm_content={{ad.name}}&utm_term={{adset.name}}
Looks like a mouthful, right? But don’t worry — it’s not as complicated as it seems. Let’s break it down.
Each part of the link — like utm_source, utm_medium, and so on — is a UTM parameter. These are the standard "tags" that Google Analytics and other tools recognize. The text before the equals sign (like utm_source) needs to stay exactly as-is. The part after the equals sign is customizable — that’s where you get to define what the data should say.
Here’s what each piece means:
utm_source: This tells you where the traffic is coming from — the platform or source. If your link is going in a Facebook ad, you’d use utm_source=facebook. For an email from Klaviyo? Try utm_source=klaviyo. Other examples: google, bing, tiktok, pinterest, or even just organic.
Tip: Keep it consistent and simple — lowercase is best.
utm_medium: This tells you the type of traffic. For paid ads, the go-to is utm_medium=cpc (which stands for cost-per-click). If you're linking from unpaid social posts, you might use utm_medium=organic.
Tip: Stick to cpc for paid traffic — analytics platforms often use that to group paid campaigns automatically.
utm_campaign: This is the name of your campaign. It’s up to you how you name it, but make it something that’s easy to recognize when you’re skimming reports. I typically like to keep it the exact same as the campaign name I’m using the UTM in so it’s easy for anyone to figure out which campaign UTM data refers to.
For example, If your campaign name is “TOF Sales 2025 March 15”, the full utm_campaign code would be utm_campaign=tof-sales-2025march15 (As a reminder, TOF = top-of-funnel.)
Tip: Avoid spaces — use dashes or underscores to keep things clean.
utm_term: This one can vary depending on where the link is used. For Facebook, it’s common to use the ad set name here. For example, if your ad set is named “TOF Tequila Brands 2025 March 15,” your utm_term would be "utm_term=tof-tequila-brands-2025march15."
For search ads (like Google Ads), you’ll often want to use a dynamic keyword insertion so you can track which specific search term triggered the ad — we’ll get into that a little later.
utm_content: This usually identifies the specific ad or piece of content. If your ad is called “TOF Bottles on Table,” your UTM might look like: utm_content=tof-bottles-on-table
This helps you differentiate between different ads under the same campaign or ad set.
Once you’ve built your UTM code, the next question is: where does it actually go?
You’ve got a couple of options.
The most straightforward way is to stick it right on the end of your ad’s URL. So if your landing page is www.flaviar.com, your full link with UTMs might look like this:
www.flaviar.com?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=tof-sales-2025march15&utm_term=tof-tequila-brands-2025march15&utm_content=tof-bottles-on-table
That’s it — just paste the UTM code right after the “.com” (don’t forget the question mark ? before the first parameter).
But here's the good news: most ad platforms now have a dedicated field just for UTMs, so you don’t have to mess with your main URL.
On Facebook, scroll to the bottom of the ad setup page and look for the field called “URL Parameters.”
On Google Ads, you’ve got options to add UTMs at different levels:
In any of those fields, just paste in your UTM string — like this:
utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=brand-search&utm_content=brand-keywords&utm_term={keyword}
The platform will automatically attach it to your ad’s URL when the ad runs, so you don’t need to manually build the full URL yourself.
Super simple, super trackable.
Here’s a little trick that’ll save you a ton of time (and copy-pasting): Dynamic Variables. These let your ad platform automatically fill in parts of your UTM code using real-time data from your campaigns — so you don’t have to manually update each link.
Sounds a little techy, but it’s actually super simple once you see it in action.
Facebook gives you a few built-in dynamic tags you can use in your UTMs:
Note: You’ll still need to hard-code utm_source and utm_medium since Facebook doesn’t have dynamic values for those.
So a UTM link for Facebook using dynamic variables might look like this:
utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign={{campaign.name}}&utm_content={{ad.name}}&utm_term={{adset.name}}
When your ad runs, Facebook will swap out those curly-braced placeholders with the actual campaign, ad set, and ad names you’re using. Super helpful for keeping your tracking clean and automated — especially when managing lots of ads.
Google Ads works a little differently, using {braces} instead of {{double braces}}. Here are a few of the most useful dynamic parameters:
That {keyword} one is gold for search campaigns — plug it into utm_term to see exactly which keywords are bringing in traffic (and conversions).
Here’s what a sample Google UTM might look like:
utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign={campaignid}&utm_content={creative}&utm_term={keyword}
Once the ad runs, Google swaps in the real values behind the scenes, so you can get more granular insights without manually tagging every URL.
Using dynamic variables = less manual work + better tracking. Total win.
I highly recommend using dynamic variables and the built-in URL Parameters fields for all your campaigns. It’s a simple move that saves you from a ton of future headaches. When you copy an ad or duplicate a campaign, the dynamic UTM setup travels with it — so everything stays accurate and up to date without you lifting a finger.
Every digital marketer has been there: you hard-code your UTMs, duplicate the ad, update the content… but totally forget to update the tracking links. Now your data’s all pointing to the wrong stuff. Womp-womp.. Dynamic variables help you avoid that mess entirely.
Using UTMs might seem tedious at first, but once you get the hang of it, they’re an absolute game-changer for understanding your traffic. Plus, they make your analytics reports way more useful.
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