How to optimize UTM for uniform campaign typology & tagging

As there are only five UTM parameters we had to develop a technique to squeeze more information into what is available (Google Analytics 4 ... BlogIntroduction Overyearswespentcountlesshoursoptimizingonlinecampaignstomakethemtrulyeffective.Tobeabletodosowerequiredamuchrichersetofcampaignparametersavailableforanalyses.OnesolutionhowtopasssuchinformationforfurtherprocessingisthetraditionalUTMparameters.IncooperationwithmajorperformanceandmediaagenciesandseveralPPCspecialists,wewerelookingfordataentitiesthatcouldhaveanimpactonperformance.Now,ourmeta-modelcoversover60differententitieswithhundredsofdimensions.Forbasicperformancetuningyoudonotneedallofthem,themaximum,wethinkispractical,coversroughly40dimensions.AsthereareonlyfiveUTMparameterswehadtodevelopatechniquetosqueezemoreinformationintowhatisavailable(GoogleAnalytics4hasonlythreeparameters)tosatisfyourneeds.Thisguideisourapproachtohowtoaddressthelimitationandhowtoassureconsistencyandunificationofcampaigntagging. Therearetwooptionshowtoaddressthisproblem,eitheryoucombinemoreparametersintoeachUTMparameter,oryougenerateauniqueidforeachdimensioncombinationandkeepitsmetadatainanexternalsystem.Theexternalmetadatarepositoryisnotasimplesolutionasitrequirescomplexdataintegrationandisthusnotsuitableforthemajorityofonlinespenders.ThisguideisdevelopedforthoseusingGoogleAnalyticsastheirprimarywebanalyticstoolandothertoolsbesidesGoogleAds(thiscanbenativelylinkedtoGAandyoudonotneedUTM). CombiningmoredimensionsaboutthecampaigninitsnameUTMparametercanprovideyouwithinsightintohowtargeting,messagetype,location,etc.impactyourperformance.Youcanusethesedimensionstofilterorcompareresultsbetweencampaigns.Inpractice,thismeansthatyoucaneasilycomparecampaignperformancewhentargetingnewversusexistingcustomers.Differencesbetweensearchandretargetingcampaignsorwhentaggingisunified,soyoucaneasilytestandevaluatetheperformanceofyourchannelmix. Howcanthetypologyofonlinecampaignshelpyou? Taggedcampaignsbearspecialinformationthatcantellyou,fromwhereyourvisitorsarecomingtoyoursiteorwhichofyourcampaignsaredeliveringthebestresults.WithwebanalyticstoolslikeGoogleAnalytics,youcanuseinformationfromUTMparametersasdimensionstoanalyzesuchdetail.IfyouwanttoidentifyhowmanyvisitorscametoyoursitefromaspecificFacebookorTwitterpost,youmustincludetheseUTMtagsintheselinksaswell. Bytaggingindividualcampaigns,youcandistinguishhowmanypeoplecamefromspecificpostsoraspecificbanner.YoucanalsospecifyUTMparameterswithine-mailingcampaigns,cost-per-click(CPC)campaigns,oronyourblog.Therearemanyoptions. ThisarticlewillhelpyouunifytheconfigurationofeachcampaignURLandparametersothatyoucansimply: UniversallyfilterdatainGoogleAnalyticsaccordingtovariouscriteriaandgetmaximuminsightintothesuccessofindividualcampaignsandtrafficonyoursite. Linkcostsandrevenuesfromindividualcampaigns.So,youwillseenotonlyhoweachcampaignperformed,butalsohowmuchmoneyitbrought,i.e.ROI. Let'sstartwiththegeneralprinciples! Considertheserulesbelowasourrecommendation,theyarebasedonourexperienceandyearsofpractice.Ifyousticktothisguideline,itwillminimizethenumberoferrorswhiletaggingcampaigns,helpyoutobemoreeffectiveinanalyzingalargecampaignportfolio,andwillyielddeeperinsight.Simplyitwillallowyoutomakebetterdecisions. Note The"text"writtenin{}bracketseverywhereinthisdocumentindicatesthatitisa"text"thatmustbereplacedwitha"specificexpression"whenusedinpracticalterms.Forexample, p_{productcategory} referstoacampaignthatwillhaveitsownnameforeachproductcategory,whichyouaddyourselfbasedonthetypeofcampaignbeingprepared,e.g. p_shoes or p_glasses . Usedelimiterscorrectly Underscore_ Donotusespaces!Ifyouhavealreadyusedthem,replacethemwithanunderscore.Forinstance,renamethecampaigncalled"summersale"tosummer_sale. Tilde~ Thewavylineisreservedasacomponentseparator,fromwhichthegivenUTMparameteriscomposed.Therefore,ifyouwanttoseparatethecampaignnamefromthereportnameintheUTMparameter,youcandosoasfollows:brand~scott.Itindicatesthe"brand"campaignandagroup(adGroup,report)named"scott".Or,ifyoubuyadsviaanRTBplatform,youcanidentifytheRTBplatformtypethroughthesourceparameter. Example ihned.cz~adf ,where“ihned.cz”isthewebsiteonwhichtheadisdisplayedand”adf”isthenameoftheplatform(Adform). Uselowercaseletterswithoutaccents GoogleAnalyticsdistinguishesbetweenuppercaseandlowercaseletters.ThecampaignnamesummersaleisnotthesameastheSummer_sale.GoogleAnalyticsevaluatessuchtagsastwodifferentcampaigns.Therefore,werecommendusinglowercaseforcampaignnames. WhileitispossibletoinsertaccentedcharactersintoUTMparameters,wedonotrecommendyoutodoso.Infact,whencopying,importing,etc.,thesignmaybelostormisinterpretediftheencodingissetincorrectly. UnifythenamesofthecampaignsandvaluessentinUTMparameters UTMparametersserveasthekeystoconnectGoogleAnalyticsandmarketingoradvertisingplatforms(Sklik,AdWords,etc.).Iftheplatformcan'texporttheconfiguredUTMparameters(andthisisoftenthecase),oriftheUTMparametersdon'tmatchthecampaignname,thenwecan'tlinkdatafromtheseplatforms.Therefore,yououghttoassignthesamenamestocampaigns,adGroups,andotherparametersthatyoualsouseinUTMparameters.Thesamecampaignshouldbenamedthesameondifferentplatforms. Example Ifthecampaignmanagementsystem(likeSklik)allowsyoutouseauto-taggingviaUTMparameters,thenyoucan,forexample,create utm_campaign as {campaign}~{adgroup} . UTMparameters Source(utm_source) Inthe"source"parameter,wealwaysinsertthenameofthewebsitewheretheadisdisplayedorthenameofthecompany(platform)throughwhichtheadspaceisserved.Inthe"source"parameter,theword"direct"etc.canalsoappearasareservedwordinGoogleAnalytics,sothesereservedvaluesshouldnotbeusedinUTMparameters.GoogleAnalyticsautomaticallyrecognizesdifferentsourcesofvisitsandifthesourceisnotexplicitlydefined,itmustbeset.Forexample,whenavisitorcomesfromanorganicsource,thesourceisassignedtothecompanythatmanagesthatsearchengine.Inordertoanalyzetheimpactofaspecificcompanyonthetraffic/profitonyourwebsite,werecommendusingthecompanynameinsteadoftheplatformnamewhenbuyingvisitsfrommultipleplatforms(e.g.AdWordsorSklik),forexample: Google-thelabelforGoogleSERP(SearchEngineResultPage),AdWordsormerchant Seznam-thelabelforSeznam.cz,Zboží.czorSklik.cz other Oftenitisgoodtohidethesourcefromwhichthecustomerscame.ThesourceisthereforeidentifiedbyacodestoredinanexternaltableoraddedtothetransformationfiltersinGoogleAnalytics.Suchacodeisindicatedbytheprefixxd_. Incaseyouuseoneormoreplatformsforaddistribution,itisnecessarytodistinguishthroughwhichtooltheadwaspurchased.Inordertocomparetheperformanceoftheplatforms,theadplacementiscreatedinthe"source"asacombinationoftheplatformnameandthepublisher'ssitename.Theplatformcodeshouldbethenpartofthe"source"oralternativelyinsertedinthe"medium". Platforms: adf(adform) adb(adobe) dtx(dataXu) xnt(Xa.NET) svp(silverpop) unc(unica) mch(MailChimp) bee(PPCBee) other Examplesofuse utm_source=google utm_source=list utm_source=heureka.cz utm_source=xd_145eer47 utm_source=list~adf utm_source=internal~svp(internalemailssentviaSilverpop,ifinternalistoogeneralandthepurposeis,forexample,topromotebetweeninternalwebsites,itcanbereplacedbythedomainorcompanynamefromwhichtheemailaddresseswereobtained) Medium(utm_medium) "Medium"referstothemediumortechnologythroughwhichthevisitorwasbroughttothesite.Italsoindicatesthetypeofpaymentmodelusedtopayforadvertising.Forexample,whenauto-taggingisturnedoninAdWords,GoogleusestheCPClabelbutdoesnotdisplayanyinformationaboutwhatmediumwasused.ThisinformationispassedbetweenAdWordsandGoogleAnalyticsinternally.Someplatformsusedifferentcodesforthesamething-CPMandCPT,forexample.We,therefore,recommendthatyoustandardizethisterminologyanduseconsistentcodes.Itisgenerallypreferredtousethenameofthemediumfor"medium"ratherthanthepaymentmodeltype.Thisisbecausethemediumhasahigherinformationvalueforsubsequentevaluation.Forsystemswherethereisnointernaldataaggregation,itwillprovideawiderrangeofinformationinreturn. Paymentmodels CPC(costperclick) CPM(costperthousand) CPT(costperthousand) CPV(costperview) CPA(costperacquisition) CPP(costperpoint,priceperaffectedpopulation) other Medium product email affiliate display/banner discount social offline paid post jobpost(jobadvertisement) fix(paidatafixedpriceregardlessofthenumberofimpressionsorclicks) other Examplesofuse utm_medium=cpc utm_medium=cpa utm_medium=email utm_medium=social utm_medium=banner Campaign(utm_campaign) "Campaign"isacomplexattributethatshouldcontaininformationabouthow,towhom,when,where,andforwhatpurposetheadwasdisplayed.Forexample,theobjectiveofacampaignmaybetopromotebrand,product,orservice.ItisimportantthatthenameofthecampaigninthemarketingplatformisthesameasthenameintheUTMparameter.Werecommendcreatingthecampaignnameasacompositeattributethatcontainsmetadataaboutthecampaignitself,whichwillallowittobecomparedwithsimilarcampaigns.Forexample,acampaigndisplayedinaSERPhasadifferentperformancethanacampaigndisplayedasabanneronawebpage. Displaytype Campaignsareclassifiedbytypeandlocation: s(search)-Theadisdisplayedinresponsetodataprovidedbyauser(SERPonGoogleorList). d(display,visualadvertisement)-Theadvertisementisdisplayedintheformofagraphicortextelement,thedisplayisbasedoninformationcollectedabouttheuseroraboutthewebsitewheretheadvertisementisdisplayed. p(product,productsearch)-Thisisacombinationofsearcheswhereauserentersakeywordandthendisplaysapredominantlygraphicelementwithanadvertisementforaproductorservice. m(message)-Aformofapaidmessagesentmainlyonsocialmedia,suchasFacebook's"promotedpagepost"orLinkedIn"sponsoredupdates". v(video)-AvideoadshownontelevisionprogramsoronYouTubethatallowsdirectmeasuring. Targetingtype r(remarketing/retargeting,re-targeting)-re-targetinganalreadyrecognizedvisitor.Thisistheuseofcustomerbehaviorinformation.Forexample,ifavisitorabandonsacart,theyaresubsequentlycommunicatedviaadisplayadshowingthecontentoftheircart. bhv-behavioraltargetingbasedonuser’sbehavioracrosstheinternet,theirintent,interests,etc. src-searchtargetingbasedonuser’sintentexpressedbysubmittingspecifickeywordstosearchconsole. Segmenttype Itisnecessarytodistinguishwhethertheadvertisementisintendedtoattractnewvisitors(acquisitions)orexistingcustomers(retention). l(lead)-Acquisitionadvertisingaimedtoacquirenewcontacts n(new)-Acquisitionadvertisingaimedtoacquirenewcustomers c(customer)-Retentionadvertisingaimedtomaximizecustomervalue Advertisingtarget Advertisingtargetspecifiesthesubjectoftheadvertisementthatisbeingofferedtothecustomerorindicatesthecustomer'sexpectedactions.Forageneraladvertisementforthesaleofgoodsthattargetsbycategory,thecategorynamewillsuffice;thehigherlevelofdetailcanbespecifiedatthereport/adgrouplevel. Example Ifanadvertisementpromoteshats,thenyoucanusetheword"hats"inthename.Itcanalsobeacategory,collection,brand,product,other,oraspecificproductnameoracombinationoftheabove. Anotheroptionistostatetheobjectiveoftheaddescribingthecustomerbehavioryouwanttoachieve.Examplesincludecampaignsaimedatcompletinganorderorrepurchasing.Inthiscase,thenameofthecampaignshouldcontainthephaseoftheshoppingcycleinwhichthecustomeriscurrentlylocatedorthegoalthatheshouldachieve,respectively.whatheshoulddo,suchasorder_completion,order_delivery_type,etc.Similarly,itcanbeanactionavisitorshouldtake,suchasregister_demoordownload_study. Youshouldalwaysfollowaterminologyhierarchy-fromlefttorightandfromgeneraltospecific.However,thetargetoftheadcanalsobeagroupofsearchparametersthatareincludedinacampaign. CrossMastersTip Inacampaigntogettherightkeywords s_broad ,campaigntitlesshouldalwaysbeinasinglelanguage. WerecommendusingEnglishnames. Brandadvertising Thereareseveraltypesofbrandcampaigns.Itiseitheranadvertisementofyourownbrand,productpromotion,ortakeoverofthecompetition. brandor{brand}isanadpromotingyourownbrand interbrand_{competingbrandname}isanadvertisementthatcapturesvisitstoacompetingbrand intrabrand_{product}isanadforpromotingproductsthroughthebrandnameoftheproduct Other In"Other",providefurtherdetailsofthecampaign,suchas: typeofmotivator-eg"sale","promo","bonus", adlaunchtime-suchasemailsthataresentdailyorweekly. campaignlocation-eg"brno","prague",thene.g."branches"or"cz" targetingmenorwomen,etc. reports|adgroup|advertisement Differentplatformsallowyoutosplitcampaignsintosubgroups,reports,etc.Acampaignisthenacollectionofdifferentsubsets,forexample,anAdGroupinAdWords.TheparametersentintheUTMshouldthereforeincludeboththecampaignnameandthereportname. Example Ifyouhaveacampaignusedfortextsearch,itwillbemadeofsubgroupsanditsgoalistopromoteabrand,thenthenameofthecampaignmightlooksomethinglikethisforillustration: s_interbrand~{encryptedcodeofcompetingcompany} Example Acampaignthattargetsincompleteordersthroughremarketingcouldbenamedlikethis: dr_order_complete Date Forrecurringcampaigns,werecommendaddingthedatethecampaignwasactivatedtothenameofthecampaign.Inanemailcampaignwiththename"Newsletter",itisdifficulttodistinguishwhenspecificemailsweresentout.Soforrecurringemailcampaigns,weadviseusingthedateasanadditionalparameter.Inbasicform,itissufficienttohavethecodeinYYMMDDformat,butforbetterevaluationdirectlyinGoogleAnalytics,itismoreefficienttoextendthedatecode.Thenyouwillbeabletodirectlyevaluatecyclicalsegments,forexample,tocomparetheperformanceofaspecificday.Forcampaignssentweekly,werecommendusingacodecontainingtheweeknumber. Example Campaignscodedcode21w46tuand21w46wearesentinthe46thweek(ISOweekisused)onTuesday,andWednesday. Example Monthlycampaignsareassignedacode.Forexample,the21m09w2tucampaignisacampaignsubmittedinSeptember,thesecondweek,andonTuesday. Codestoindicatethedaysoftheweek mo(Monday) tu(Tuesday) we(Wednesday) th(Thursday) fr(Friday) sa(Saturday) su(Sunday) Valuesforthecampaignname AttributenameAllowedvaluesParameter Displaytypes,d,p,m,vutm_campaignTargetingtyper,src,bhvutm_campaignSegmenttypen,l,cutm_campaignAdvertisingtargetSeeabovefordifferentvaluesutm_campaignOtherSeeabovefordifferentvaluesutm_campaignSeparator\~utm_campaignDateSeeabovefordifferentvaluesutm_campaign Content(utm_content) "Content"containsvariationsofsizesandtextsinadvertisements,typesofbannersused,etc.Thisparameterisusefulfortestingcontent. Waailahomepage CheckyourparameterswithWaailaandvalidateyourUTMtagging. GotoWaaila Term(utm_term) "Term"containsthekeywordthatwasusedforthesearch.Thenameofthewebsitewheretheadwasdisplayedcanbeinsertedinthisparameteraswell.Youcanalsoaddthecategoryofcontentthatthevisitorwasbrowsingbeforeclickingonthead.Forsometypesofcampaigns,suchaspaidsearch,itisaddedautomatically. Datatransformation Anumberofbusinessesusevariousdistributionpointsorkiosks.Awebsitevisitfromsuchakioskshouldthereforeberecordedasaspecialcampaignormedium.SuchdetectionisdonethebestviaaspecialGoogleAnalyticssetting. Asimilarcasearepaidads,whereforsomereasontheuseoftheUTMparametersisnotappropriate.Forexample,itcouldspoilthesite'sreputationorarousesuspicionamongvisitors.SoifitisnotappropriatetouseUTMparameters,thenthedatatransformationisdoneforexamplefromdocument.referrer. Example _bulbs.heureka.cz_ istransformedbyinserting“bulbs”intothecampaignnameandtoreferrerpathacustomvariableisinserted. Id(utm_id) Somecompaniesaredevelopingcomplexcampaigntagginglogiccausinghighcomplexityinvaluesofutmparameters.AlotofinformationcoveredinURLscanbeconfusingforusersanditmaycontainsensitivedataaboutthemarketingstrategyofthecompany.Also,anumberofutmparametersmightnotbesufficientandmorecampaigndimensionsareneededforproperanalysis.Thecomplexityofsendingallutmparameterscanbeavoidedbyusingparameterutm_id.ItisanIdassignedtoaspecificcampaignperformed.InURLonlythisIdissent,alladditionalparametersarestoredseparatelyinatablewhereyoucanstorebothstandardandcustomcampaigndimensions.YoucanimportthismappingtabletoGoogleAnalyticsandassignallthedimensionstospecificutm_id. Example Youperformemailingcampaignondiscountedbulbswithalinktoaspecificproductonyourwebsite.Whenassigningtags,insteadofallutmparameters,youadd utm_id=123xyz toURLofthelink. Thenatablewithmappingofyourcampaigndimensionsneedstobecreatedinthefollowingstructure: ga:campaignCodega:sourcega:mediumga:campaignga:contentga:dimension11123xyzemailnewsletterm\~bulb\~discbulbscompetitor_name ToimportthedatainGoogleAnalytics,youcaneitherimportitas.csvfileorusemanagementAPI.Detailedinformationaboutthecampaigndataimportcanbefoundhere. Conclusion Congratulations,youreadthearticletotheend!Webelievethattheinformationhasbeenbeneficialtoyouandhelpedyouorientyourselfinthewildwatersofthecampaignnamingtypology.Themostimportantthingtorememberis:stayconsistentandalignedwithmarketingstrategy. Thankstomutualdiscussionandfeedback,wecaninspireeachotherandbeonestepfurther.Sharewithusyourobservation,knowledge,tips,andoriginalsolutionsfromyourexperience. Ifyoudonotfullyunderstandsomethinglistedhereorwouldliketosdiscussspecificissues,contactus.Wecanansweryourquestionsandhelpyouwithyourcampaigntagging. 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