Lesson objectives
- Build correct UTM links
- Create a naming convention
The five parameters
- utm_source - where the traffic comes from (newsletter, facebook, partner-name).
- utm_medium - the type of channel (email, paid-social, cpc, referral).
- utm_campaign - the specific campaign (spring-launch, webinar-oct).
- utm_content - optional; distinguishes links or creatives (header-button, video-ad-2).
- utm_term - optional; typically for paid-search keywords.
https://example.com/guide/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=funnel-basics&utm_content=footer-link
Naming rules that prevent chaos
- Always lowercase - most analytics tools treat 'Email' and 'email' as different values.
- Use hyphens, not spaces.
- Keep a shared sheet of approved values.
- Never use UTMs on internal links within your own site - they can overwrite the original source.
Action steps
- Create a UTM naming sheet
- Tag every link in your next email
Checklist
- Lowercase, hyphenated values
- No UTMs on internal links
- Shared naming sheet exists