Understanding the value of UTM in marketing

Technology, privacy and transparency, as we know, continues to evolve. It leaves marketers regularly looking for ways to understand how their campaigns are performing.

Say hello to UTM, or Urchin Tracking Module.

UTM has five variants of URL parameters used by marketers to track the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns across traffic sources and publishing media. When used correctly, it can be a very powerful marketing analysis tool.

The parameters are source, medium, name, term and content.

Here is an example of a new with a UTM applied:

 https://www.westbendtheatreco.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=ourtown

As you can see with this setup, the UTM source was set as "Facebook" with the medium being "link" and campaign being "Our Town."

This data will provide you terrific insight onto where your users are coming from (source), what they're clicking on (link) and, in this case, what post led them to the page (campaign).

All this can be tracked within Google Analytics.

Also, it is recommended you use URL shortening tools like Bit.ly or Rebrandly to make the URL more appealing.

I like Rebrandly because you can change the URL after the "/" to whatever you want it, to make it more personable and realistic.

Here are a few great resources to help you with understanding and setting up your own UTMs:

• Campaign URL Builder
• What Are UTM Codes? UTM Tracking Explained
• Collect campaign data with custom URLs

Then, how do you find the results in Google Analytics?

You log in to your Google Analytics and click on "Acquisition," then "Campaigns".

Then use primary dimension as "Campaign" and look for what you labeled the UTM under category.

Or, you can find it via "Medium."