Guide: using UTM tags for optimal campaign measurement

Everything you need to know to track your online and offline campaigns effectively.

Which marketing campaigns, channels, or pieces of content actually deliver the most value? Without proper tracking, it's often just guesswork. UTM tags (Urchin Tracking Module) are the solution to accurately measure what works and what doesn't, allowing you to optimize your marketing budget.

1. What are UTM tags and why should I use them?

What is a UTM tag or UTM code?

A UTM tag is a short snippet of code that you add to the end of a URL. When a visitor arrives on your website via that link, the code sends information about the traffic source to your analytics tool, such as Google Analytics or Plausible Analytics (My favorite analytics tool 😊).

Why should I use UTM tags?

UTM tags are essential for accurate attribution. They enable you to precisely measure:

Which newsletter generated the most clicks.
Which banner ad in your campaign performed the best.
How much traffic and conversions each specific social media post generated.

In short: They help to accurately determine the performance of different sources, which is crucial for optimizing your marketing campaigns.

2. The 5 standard UTM parameters

There are 5 standard parameters. The first three are considered mandatory in practice to obtain meaningful data.

Parameter	Purpose	Example	Usage
utm_source	The Source of the traffic. (Where is the visitor from?)	`facebook`, `linkedin`, `newsletter`	Required
utm_medium	The Medium/Channel of the traffic. (Through which type of channel?)	`cpc`, `social`, `email`, `display`	Required
utm_campaign	The Campaign or promotion.	`summer_sale`, `product_launch`, `whitepaper_a`	Required
utm_term	The Search term or keyword.	`red_shoes`	Optional (Mainly for manually tagged search campaigns)
utm_content	The Content of the link. (For A/B testing or distinguishing between links)	`banner_yellow`, `textlink_top`	Optional

The key difference: `utm_source` vs. `utm_medium`

Source (utm_source) is the specific place: Facebook, LinkedIn, Newsletter-Name.
Medium (utm_medium) is the general type of channel: social, email, cpc (paid).

Example: A paid advertisement on Facebook.

utm_source=facebook
utm_medium=cpc

3. Implementation: how to create and use a UTM Link

Step 1: create the link

You are not meant to type the tags manually. Always use a tool to avoid errors:

➡️ Recommended Tool: Use a Campaign URL builder like the one on our homepage. You fill in the base URL and the desired parameters, and the tool generates the complete, correctly formatted URL for you.

Step 2: the structure of the URL

You connect the tags to the URL using special characters:

The first parameter starts after the question mark (?).
All subsequent parameters are separated by an ampersand (&).

Base URL: https://www.yourwebsite.com/product

Full UTM URL:
https://www.yourwebsite.com/product?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=winter_promo

Step 3: where to place UTM tags

Place UTM tags on every external link that you control and that leads to your website, such as:

Links in newsletters/email marketing.
Links in social media posts (organic and paid).
Banner and display ads.
Links in e-books, whitepapers, or PDFs.
Links from partners or affiliates.

Rule: only use UTM tags for links that come from outside your website.

4. common mistakes and best practices

This is the most critical point for using UTM tags consistently and successfully.

Mistake or question	Answer and best practice
Case sensitivity	UTM tags are case-sensitive! `Facebook` and `facebook` are seen as two separate sources. Solution: always use only lowercase letters to avoid inconsistent data.
Spaces and punctuation	Avoid spaces and special characters (except for the ampersand and question mark). Solution: Replace spaces with underscores (`_`) or hyphens (`-`).
Internal Links	Never use UTM tags for links within your own website. This disrupts your data and breaks the original session, causing the real traffic source to be lost.
Naming Consistency	Crucial! create and use a documented naming convention (a document with agreements). Ensure everyone on your team uses the same source and medium names.
Other parameters	Ensure the first UTM parameter always starts with a question mark (`?`), even if there are already other parameters in the URL. (This is an advanced adjustment that the campaign URL builder usually handles correctly).

5. Where to find the data in Google Analytics

After you start using UTM tags, you can view the results:

Go to the Reports section in Google Analytics.
Navigate to Acquisition > Traffic acquisition (or similar reports, depending on your GA version).
You will now see data sorted by 'Session default channel grouping'.
Use the primary dimension to switch to:
- Session source (utm_source)
- Session medium (utm_medium)
- Session campaign (utm_campaign)

With these insights, you can see which of your marketing efforts are performing best and adjust your budget accordingly!

6. Where to find the data in Plausible Analytics

Plausible Analytics is designed for simplicity and automatically recognizes UTM tags without any configuration.

Go to your website's dashboard in Plausible.
In the "Top Sources" report on the main dashboard, you can see your traffic sources (utm_source).
To see all UTM tag details, click on a source in the list (e.g., "Newsletter" or "Facebook").
A detailed view will open, showing you a breakdown by:
- Source (utm_source)
- Medium (utm_medium)
- Campaign (utm_campaign)
- Content (utm_content)
- Term (utm_term)

Plausible's interface makes it very easy to filter and analyze the performance of your tagged campaigns directly from the source report.