How to use UTM codes to measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns

What are UTM codes?

UTM stands for "Urchin Tracking Module" and refers to pieces of code that you add to the end of a URL. These codes help you track traffic to your website and provide insight into where your visitors are coming from and which marketing campaigns are driving the most traffic.

UTM codes consist of several parameters, such as source, medium and campaign, that you can set specifically to find out which campaign or platform is responsible for the traffic. By using these codes properly, you can accurately analyse which efforts produce the best results.

Step 1: Understanding the key UTM parameters

Before we go into how to create UTM codes, it is important to understand what parameters you can use. Here are the five most important UTM parameters:

• utm_source: This parameter indicates where the traffic comes from, such as Google, Facebook or a newsletter.
• utm_medium: Specifies the type of channel, such as CPC (for paid ads), email or social.
• utm_campaign: You use this parameter to name the specific marketing campaign, e.g. "spring_sale" or "newsletter_March_2024".
• utm_term: Optional and especially relevant for paid search campaigns; it allows you to track the keyword used.
• utm_content: This is often used in A/B testing or when you have different variants of ads. For example, you can track which ad performs best.

Step 2: Creating a UTM code

Now that you know the basic parameters, it's time to create a UTM code. Fortunately, you don't have to type the code yourself; there are handy tools that automate this process, such as the Google Campaign URL Builder.

Here are the steps you follow to create a UTM code:

• Enter the URL of your landing page. This is the page where your visitors will land after clicking on your link.
• Enter the utm_source parameter. This could be "Facebook", "Google" or "Newsletter", for example.
• Add the medium. Use terms like "social", "email" or "CPC".
• Give your campaign a clear name. This will help you easily identify campaigns in Google Analytics, for example "spring_2024".
• Add any additional parameters such as utm_term or utm_content, depending on how detailed you want to track.

After filling in the parameters, the tool automatically generates the full URL with the UTM code that you can use in your marketing campaigns.

Step 3: Adding the UTM codes to your campaigns

Now that you have generated your UTM codes, you can start adding them to your marketing links. You do this in, for example:

• Social media posts: For example, if you run an ad on Facebook, you can add the UTM code to the link to track how much traffic this ad generates to your website.
• Email campaigns: Add UTM codes to the links in your newsletters to measure how effective these campaigns are.
• Paid search campaigns: In Google Ads, you can add UTM codes to your landing pages, so you know exactly which ad generates the most traffic.

Step 4: Analyse results in GA4

Now that your UTM codes are active in your campaigns, it's time to look at the results in GA4. GA4 works slightly differently from Universal Analytics, as it focuses on events (events) and users rather than sessions. As a result, GA4 offers more flexibility and insight into the entire customer journey, from first interaction to conversion.

Here's how to analyse the results of your UTM codes in GA4:

• Log in to your Google Analytics 4 account.
• From the left-hand menu, click Reports.
• Go to Acquisition and then choose Traffic Acquisition or User Acquisition. Here you will see a summary of the traffic that came to your website through various sources and mediums.
• To view UTM data, click on Sessions or Users and select the Campaign, Medium, or Source/Media dimension in the secondary dimensions. This allows you to see exactly which campaigns are performing well based on your UTM codes.

In GA4, you can also do deeper analysis by using custom reports and explorations, giving you more control over how you visualise the data.

Step 5: Optimise your campaigns

Now that you have insight into how your various campaigns are performing, it's time to take action. Here are some tips to improve your marketing strategies based on the data:

• Focus on what works: Use data from Google Analytics to discover which sources and mediums are generating the most traffic and conversions. Focus on scaling up the channels that are performing best.
• Experiment with different UTM content: Try different variants of ads or emails and use the UTM content parameter to determine which version produces the best results.
• Optimise for conversions: Use the insights to not only focus on traffic, but also to see which campaigns lead to the most conversions and thus deliver the most for your business.

Conclusion: take your marketing to the next level with UTM codes

UTM codes are an indispensable tool for understanding the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. By using UTM codes correctly and analysing the results in Google Analytics, you can make targeted improvements that lead to better results. Need help setting up UTM codes or analysing your campaigns? Then contact us. We would love to help you take your marketing campaigns to the next level!