Using tracking parameters in email marketing

Why basic email metrics fall short

Your email software (like Mailchimp or HubSpot) will tell you how many people opened an email and clicked a link. It usually provides a click-through rate. However, it doesn't show you which of those clicks actually turned into a purchase or a sign-up on your website.

By tagging links in your emails, you pass the data to Google Analytics. This connects the click to the conversion, showing you the real value of your newsletter.

Standardizing email UTMs

A consistent approach makes it easier to analyze your results later. This requires standardizing your parameters:

• utm_source: Clearly identify the email platform or the specific list (e.g., mailchimp, weekly_newsletter, or abandoned_cart).
• utm_medium: This should almost always be email. Keeping this uniform ensures that all email traffic is grouped together in your analytics platform, avoiding common errors.
• utm_campaign: Use this to identify the specific email send. For newsletters, a date format is practical (e.g., newsletter_2023_10_26). For automated flows, use the name of the sequence (e.g., welcome_series).

Granular tracking: using utm_content

A single email often contains multiple links pointing to the same page, such as a hero image, a button, and a text link. In analytics, clicks from these links look identical unless you differentiate them.

This is where utm_content is useful. By assigning a different value to each link type (e.g., utm_content=hero_image vs. utm_content=footer_link), you gain insight into your layout. If you notice that in-text links consistently drive more conversions than large buttons, you can adjust future emails accordingly.

Automation platforms and auto-tagging

Most modern marketing automation tools offer features to automatically append UTM parameters to all links in an email. This is highly recommended.

Auto-tagging prevents human error and saves time. However, review how the platform constructs these URLs. Some platforms use dynamic variables that might result in very long campaigns names. Configure the settings to ensure the generated links align with your overall tracking strategy, avoiding SEO impacts from overly messy URLs.

Link your email efforts to revenue

By using UTM tracking in your email campaigns, you can track the full customer journey from the inbox to the checkout. Return to our How To hub to explore tracking strategies for PPC and social media.