Creating UTMs

UTM Generator - to be updated and subsequently linked

What is a UTM, and why do we use it?

The acronym UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module. A UTM is a set of parameters (or UTM code) added to URLs to identify and track website traffic generated by a specific marketing campaign and traffic sources (social media marketing, pay-per-click ad campaigns, email, etc.). This is useful when you’re testing what promotion methods work best and allows us to track the performance of certain content pieces.

Below is a list of standardized UTM codes that should be used when creating custom links or redirects:

utm_source (from where is the traffic coming?):  

• pardot 

• bigmarker 

• partner-name  

  • (refer to “Partner UTM Name” column of Partner UTM Tracking Process + Partner Naming Conventions document for the naming format!!!)  

• vendor-name 

  • (use for anyone who is a non-partner, e.g., Social Work Today, Disability Scoop; use hyphens between each part of the vendors title, e.g., vendor-disability-scoop) 

• instapage 

  • (if you’re adding UTMs to the get-started demo link on an instapage: source=instapage / medium=referral)  

• offline 

  • (e.g., for a tradeshow/event/etc., QR code most often used lately: source=offline / medium=collateral)  

  • (e.g., Print ad that won’t be connected to a vendor/partner? Campaign/request example: https://relias.lightning.force.com/lightning/r/Campaign/701RM000006N81SYAS/view ) 

•  speaker  

  • (for any webinar speaker, whether internal or external)

• internal 

  • (e.g., sales/csm/another internal employee promoting an asset: source=internal / medium=link-share) 

utm_medium (how is the traffic getting here?): 

• email  

• webinar 

  • (this will likely solely be used when promoting resource links in BigMarker for webinars/events) 

• collateral 

  • (most likely to be paired with source=offline, e.g., a QR code on a tradeshow poster: source=offline / medium=collateral / utm_content=qr-code)  

• referral 

  • (referral should really be only specific to a website vs. a personal promotion; this most likely will only be paired with source=instapage) 

• link-share

  • (for internal or external webinar speakers, OR sales reps, CSMs, and other internal folks regardless of where (email, LinkedIn, etc.) they are sharing the link; e.g., source=speaker / medium=link-share; source=internal / medium=link-share)  

    • use this medium for a partner/vendor link as well only if the requestor does not provide the channel in which they are promoting the asset (e.g., paid ad, newsletter, etc.)

• newsletter  

• paid-ad 

• paid-email 

  • Follow our current custom link/redirect process for partners/vendors: If it's a paid redirect/custom link, the medium will most likely be paid-email (if it's a paid email/newsletter) or paid-ad (for a paid ad, like a banner/text ad) 

utm_content/utm_term (flexible parameters; this is not an exhaustive list):  

These parameters should live in the campaign name and description but could also be used as a utm_content parameter or term, though they are not required:  

utm_content (some previous examples used below):   

• qr-code 

• print-ad 

• direct-mail 

• poster

Example campaign here with a utm content parameter: [REL] CM_Insta 24-03-11 HCCA Tradeshow Demo - Booth Poster QR Code

utm_term: this will most often be used for speaker names

• e.g., utm_term=speaker-aamar (only use the speaker’s last name so it’s very clear) 

Chart for another visual representation of various utm parameters: