UTM parameter targeting - Optimize Resource Hub

UTM parameter targeting allows you to target your Optimize experience at a specific utm_campaign and have it persist while a visitor navigates your website. SkiptomaincontentUTMparametertargetingCreateexperiencesthatpersistacrossyourvisitor'sjourney.UTMparametertargetingallowsyoutotargetyourOptimizeexperienceataspecificutm_campaignandhaveitpersistwhileavisitornavigatesyourwebsite. Relatedtargetingtypes: GoogleAdstargeting–targetaccounts,campaigns,adgroups,andkeywordsfromGoogleAdsandhaveitpersistwhileavisitornavigatesyourwebsite. Queryparametertargeting–targetquerystringvaluesotherthanUTMparameters. WhentouseUTMparametertargeting UsetheUTMparametertargetingtypewhenyouwanttoselectvisitorsarrivingwithaspecificUTMcampaignvalueintheURLforanexperimentorapersonalization.OptimizewillpersisttheUTMcampaignvalueavisitorarrivedonfor24hours.ThisenablesyoutoshowanOptimizeexperimentorpersonalizationtosuchvisitorseveniftheynavigateawayfromthelandingpageandthenreturntoitlaterwithouttheUTMcampaignvalueintheURL.AnotheruseforUTMparametertargetingiswhenyouwanttoshowanOptimizeexperimentorpersonalizationonapagedeepwithinyoursiteinsteadof thefirstpagetheylandon. EXAMPLE1   Youcanrunanoptimizeexperimentorpersonalizationon www.example.com/home.html anditwillbevisibletovisitorswhohaveutm_campaign=spring_saleintheURLwhentheylandon www.example.com/home.html.Theexperiencewillcontinuetobeavailabletothesevisitorsevenafterthey'veleftthepageandreturntoitlaterwithouttheutm_campaign=spring_saleintheURL. EXAMPLE2   Youcanrunanoptimizeexperimentorpersonalizationon www.example.com/checkout.html anditwillbevisibletovisitorswhohaveutm_campaign=spring_saleintheURLwhentheylandon www.example.com/home.html andthenfindtheirwayto www.example.com/checkout.html, atwhichpointtheywillnothaveutm_campaign=spring_saleintheURL. Howpersistenceworks Optimizeusespersistencetopreserveyourvisitor'sUTMcampaignparameterastheymovearoundyourwebsite. Learnmore aboutthetypesofcookiesOptimizeusesontheAnalyticsDevSite. Samesession Ifavisitorarrivesonalandingpageandgetsincludedinanexperienceusingoneofthecampaigntargetingtypes,thevisitorwillstillseetheexperienceiftheynavigatetootherpagesandreturntothelandingpageagain. Ifanexperiencewithcampaigntargetingisrunningonapageotherthanthelandingpage,thecampaigninformationwillstillpersistandtheexperiencewillbeappliedonthatotherpageoncevisited,aslongasallothertargetingconditionsaremet.Thiswillbethecaseevenwhentherearenoexperiencestargetingthelandingpage. Crosssession Ifavisitorgoesbackalandingpageinadifferentsession,butwithin24hoursofthefirstvisitwithacampaignparameter,theywillstillseetheexperience.So,persistenceisacrosssessions,orcrosssession. Ifavisitorreturnstothepagerunningtheexperienceinadifferentsession–butwithin24hoursoftheirfirstvisit–theywillstillseetheexperience.Theywillseetheexperienceeveniftheirsecondvisitdidn'thavethecampaignparameterintheURL. Note:the24-hourclockisrefreshedwhentheuserrevisitsthepagewiththesamecampaignparameterintheURL. Whendoespersistencebegin? ForUTMparametertargeting,persistencebeginswhenavisitorarrivesonawebpagethathasOptimizeinstalledandanactiveexperience(eitherscheduledorrunning)withUTMparametertargeting.Saidanotherway,persistencebeginswhenyouhaveanexperiencewithutm_campaigntargetingandavisitorlandsonthesitewithanon-emptyutm_campaignqueryparameter. Note:Thevisitordoesn'thavetomatchtheconditionforpersistencetobegin.Forexample,anOptimizeexperiencetargetingutm_campaign=spring_salewillpersisttheUTMparameterforanyvisitorsthatarriveonpageswiththiscontainerandanyUTMparameterqueryparameter.Amatchneednothaveoccurredforpersistencetostart. GoogleAdstargeting ForGoogleAdstargeting,thevisitorhastomatchthespecifictargetingconditioninoneoftheexperiencesfortheGoogleAdsIDstopersist. Whendoespersistenceend? Avisitor'slastutmcampaignisreset24hoursafterthemostrecentvisitfromthatcampaigntype.Ifthevisitorarrivesonanypagefromadifferentadcampaignorutm_campaigntheircorrespondinglastcampaignparameterwillbeupdated. Thevisitorwillnolongerseetheexperienceforacampaign24hoursafterhislastlandingonthesitewiththecampaignvalueset.Ifthevisitorlandsonthesiteagainwiththesamecampaignwithin24hours,theexpirationofthatcampaignisextendedbyanother24hours. Thevisitorwillnolongerseetheexperienceforacampaignifthevisitorlandsonthesitewithadifferentcampaignforthesametype.ForUTMparametertargeting,thishappenswhenavisitorlandsonthesitewithanynon-blankutm_campaignqueryparameter. Thelastvalueofacampaigntypemaystillbestoredinclientstorageforupto24hoursafterallexperiencesusingthatcampaigntypehavestopped. EXAMPLE1   IfExperienceAistargetingutm_campaign=aandExperienceBistargetingutm_campaign=banyvisitorarrivingwithutm_campaign=aseesExperienceA.Tenminuteslater,ifanExperienceAuserarrivesfromanewcampaign(utm_campaign=b)theywon'tseeExperienceAfromthatmomentforward,they'llseeExperienceBinstead. EXAMPLE2   IfauserseesExperienceB,leavesyoursite,andreturnstwominuteslater(evenwithnoUTMparameter)they'llseeExperienceB,becausetheirpriorcampaignpersisted. TargetaUTMparameter TotargetyourOptimizeexperienceataUTMparameter: Createanexperience. SelectUTMparameterduringtargeting. ConfigureyourUTMparametersettings. UTMparametersettings ThenextstepistoenteryourUTMparametersettings: Variable–utm_campaignisselectedbydefault. Matchtype–equalsisselectedbydefault. Value(s)–enterthevalueoftheUTMparameteryouwishtotarget. Example TheUTMparameterinthescreenshotaboveiscreatedwiththefollowingcondition:   Variable Matchtype Value utm_campaign equals spring_sale   Thisconditionwillevaluatetrueif: thevalueofthefirstmatchingutm_campaign(unescaped)equalsspring_sale. Thisconditionwillevaluatefalseif: therearenoutm_campaignsthatequalspring_sale. Checkyourrule OptimizeincludesaconvenientabilitytoenteranyURLandverifywhetherthepagetargetingcondition(s)aboveitwillapply.EnterafullURL(copiedfromyourbrowser’slocationbarandincludestheprefixhttp://orhttps://)intheEnterURLfieldthenclickCheck.IftheconditionyoucreatedaboveappliestotheURL,you’llseeagreencheckmarknexttoit.Iftheconditiondoesn'tapplytotheURL,you’llseearedcirclewithalinethroughit. Toensurethataconditionappliestovisitorsofyourregularwebsite(http://)andyourSSLwebsite(https://)simplyusethe“or…”sectionoftheconditionbuildertoaddbothunderpagetargeting.ThentheconditionwillapplytovisitorsofbothURLs. Matchtypes ThefollowingmatchtypesareavailableinUTMparametertargeting: Equals/doesnotequal Contains/doesnotcontain Startswith/doesnotstartwith Endswith/doesnotendwith Equals/doesnotequal EverycharacterinyourUTMparameterfrombeginningtoend,mustbeanexactmatchoftheenteredvaluefortheconditiontoevaluateastrue.Aconditionusingdoesnotequalwillevaluateastruewhentheutm_campaigndoesnotequalanyoftheenteredvalues. Example1: Usecampaigntargetingtoreachvisitorsfromthespring_saleUTMparameter: Variable Matchtype Value utm_campaign equals spring_sale Willevaluatetruefor: https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=spring_sale Variable Matchtype Value utm_campaign doesnotequal spring_sale Willevaluatetruefor: https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=summer_sale https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=holiday_sale https://www.example.com/store/landing.html Example2: UsecampaigntargetingtoreachvisitorsfromanyUTMparameter: Variable Matchtype Value utm_campaign doesnotequal undefined Willevaluatetruefor: https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=winter https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=summer Willevaluatefalsefor: https://www.example.com/store/landing.html Contains/doesnotcontain Thecontainsmatchtype(alsoknownasa"substringmatch")allowsyoutotargetanyoccurrenceofasubstringwithalongerstring.ContainsisusefulwhentargetingaUTMparameterthatappearsinmultipleURLs. Example: Variable Matchtype Value utm_campaign contains spring_sale Willevaluatetruefor: https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=spring_sale_na https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=spring_sale_emea https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=spring_sale_apac Variable Matchtype Value utm_campaign doesnotcontain spring_sale Willevaluatetruefor: https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=summer_sale https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=holiday_sale https://www.example.com/store/landing.html Startswith/doesnotstartwith Thestartswithmatchtypematchesidenticalcharactersstartingfromthebeginningofthequerystringuptoandincludingthelastcharacterinthestringyouspecify.Usethestartswithmatchtypewhenyourqueryparametersaregenerallyunvaryingbutcanincludestringsattheendthatyouwanttoexclude. Example: Variable Matchtype Value utm_campaign startswith spring_sale Willevaluatetruefor: https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=spring_sale_na Variable Matchtype Value utm_campaign doesnotstartwith spring_sale Willevaluatetruefor: https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=summer_sale Endswith/doesn'tendwith AnexactmatchoftheenteredvaluewiththeendoftheURL.Youcantargetutm_campaignsthatendwithsale. Example: Variable Matchtype Value utm_campaign endswith sale Willevaluatetruefor: https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=spring_sale Variable Matchtype Value utm_campaign doesnotendwith sale Willevaluatetruefor: https://www.example.com/store/landing?utm_campaign=summer_sale Operators OR TheORoperatorisusefulfortargetingonekindofpagewithmultipleURLconfigurations.ConditionsusingtheORoperatorwillevaluateastruewhenanyofthevaluesaremet.YoucanuseORbyaddingadditionalvaluesinaURLtargetingrule.WhentargetingURLs,ORisautomaticallyappendedtoyourfirstURLafterpressingreturn.SimplytypeadditionalURLs(followedbyreturn)tocontinuebuildingconditionswiththeORoperator. Example: Totargetwebsitevisitorsarrivingfromutm_campaign=spring_saleorspring_email,createarulewithtwositesearchintheValuefield.You'llnoticethatORisautomaticallyaddedafteryoupressenter. Variable Matchtype Value utm_campaign equals spring_saleor...spring_email   TheORoperatorissupportedwithinindividualconditions butyoucan'tuseittocombine multipleconditions.Forexample,youcanbuildaconditionlikethis:"pathequals/storeOR/shop"butyoucan'tuseORacrossmultipleconditionslikethis:"pathequals/storeORhostequalsexample.com"   Relatedtargetingarticles IntroductiontoOptimizetargeting URLtargeting QueryParametertargeting Audiencetargeting Behaviortargeting Geotargeting Technologytargeting First-partycookietargeting DataLayervariabletargeting JavaScriptvariabletargeting CustomJavaScripttargeting GoogleAnalyticsCookieUsageonWebsites–AnalyticsDevelopers Wasthishelpful?Howcanweimproveit?YesNoSubmitNeedmorehelp?Trythesenextsteps:AsktheHelpCommunityGetanswersfromcommunityexpertstrueHelpTargetingoverviewURLtargetingAudiencetargetingGoogleAdstargetingBehaviortargetingGeotargetingTechnologytargetingJavaScriptvariabletargetingFirst-partycookietargetingCustomJavaScripttargetingQueryparametertargetingDataLayervariabletargetingUTMparametertargetingSearchClearsearchClosesearchGoogleappsMainmenuSearchHelpCentertrue101337false