Five Types of UTM and its Code

UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are your new best friend if you want to evaluate the results of your online marketing efforts and improve your tactics. In this article, we'll look at the five different types of UTM and how you can use them to up your digital marketing game. Let's begin now!

UTM Parameters: What Are They?

To track your online marketing efforts' source, medium, campaign, term, and content, you can append UTM parameters to the end of your URLs. You can measure the effectiveness of each marketing channel and gain insightful knowledge about how users engage with your campaigns by using UTM parameters.

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Are you sick of basing your marketing decisions on speculation? UTM parameters give you the clarity you need by clearly identifying the sources of your website traffic. They make it possible for you to precisely attribute the success of your campaigns and allocate your marketing budget. With UTM parameters, you can find out important information like which social media site attracts the most visitors or which email campaign has the highest conversion rates.

To track how many users clicked through to a website and how long they stayed there, a business might, for instance, add a UTM code to a link in an email campaign. UTM codes give marketers an in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of their campaigns, including the number of clicks, the origin of the clicks, the devices the clickers used, and the landing page that was visited. This aids marketers in campaign optimization and improving target audience comprehension.
 

The Components of a UTM Code

Let's understand the structure of a typical UTM code before we delve into the various types of UTM parameters. Several essential components make up a UTM code:

• URL: This is the web address of your landing page or content.
• Source: The platform or website that sends traffic to your URL. As an illustration, "Twitter" would be the source if you shared a link on Twitter.
• Medium: The type of marketing medium used, such as email, social media, or banner ads.
• Campaign: A particular marketing initiative you are running.
• Term: Optional. This is used to track particular keywords in paid search campaigns.
• Content: Optional. This is used to distinguish various content or advertising types within a single campaign.

 
Following are the five different UTM parameter types and their codes:
1. Source (utm_source):
You can identify the specific website, search engine, or advertising network that is sending visitors to your site using the source parameter. Utilising unique identifiers allows you to distinguish between various sources and determine which platforms are bringing in the most visitors. Google, Facebook, Twitter, and email are examples of popular utm_source values.

Example UTM code: ?utm_source=facebook

2. Medium (utm_medium): 
You can classify the type of marketing channel being used, such as social media, email, or a particular advertising campaign, using the medium parameter. By correctly tagging your URLs, you can evaluate the effectiveness of various distribution channels and identify which ones are driving the most engagement and conversions.

Example UTM code: ?utm_medium=email

3. Campaign (utm_campaign): 
You can measure the success of particular marketing promotions or campaigns using the campaign parameter. The campaign code will enable you to assess the performance of each initiative separately, regardless of whether you're promoting a holiday sale, introducing a new product, or experimenting with various messaging techniques.

Example UTM code: ?utm_campaign=summer_sale
 
4. Term (utm_term): 
Paid search campaigns typically use the term parameter to track their keywords. When users click on your ads, it enables you to determine the precise keywords that they are looking for. You can improve your campaigns and return on investment (ROI) by analyzing the performance of various keywords.

Example UTM code: ?utm_term=best_laptops

5. Content (utm_content): 
The content parameter is frequently used in A/B testing to compare the success of various calls-to-action or ad variations. You can compare the performance of various content elements by giving each one a different value, allowing you to determine which iterations are most effective with your target audience.

Example UTM code: ?utm_content=cta_button_red

Here's an illustration of how you might include UTM parameters in a URL:

https://www.example.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=summer_sale

As part of the summer sale campaign, the URL in this example would be tracked as coming from Facebook via social media. UTM codes are necessary for precisely tracking the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives. You can learn important information about the efficiency of various channels, campaigns, and strategies by including these five types of UTM codes in your URLs: source, medium, campaign, term, and content. With this information, you can make data-driven decisions and ultimately improve the results of your marketing efforts. Start using UTM codes right away to unleash the potential of data-driven marketing.