Tut # 1: How to REALLY Set Up Your UTM Tags, Starting with UTM_Medium

Hi, I am absolutely delighted that you registered for our UTM Tracking Crash Training Course.

Day 1 Takeaways:

  • What UTM link tracking really is and how it needs to fit into your reporting process
  • What UTM_Medium really is and why I recommend a limited number of Mediums
  • What to expect next

Why We Really Need UTM Link Tracking

Today, digital marketing takes up the largest share of the marketing budgets. And digital advertisement investments keep growing each year. In 2022 alone, that number was $602 billion. It is expected to grow up close to $900 billion by 2026.

The problem is that most marketers are struggling to measure digital spend ROI. Not for the lack of trying though – likely it is because they are dealing with poor quality data.

There is a well established mechanism to track digital marketing performance and collect the data you need to measure digital spend ROI. It is informally known as UTM link tracking.

The challenge is that for the mechanism to work and provide value, it needs to be applied consistently and uniformly across all external (paid and earned) digital channels, so that the data it produces is reliable and accurate.

How Do We Make the UTM Link Tracking Process Work

PREREQUISITE:

  • First, we need to remember that digital link tracking is an integral part of our web analytics process.
    • Although our analytics tool does not create the tracking links for us, we need it to read the tracking information in these links and provide insights that will help us drive better ROI.
  • So, to avoid reporting inconsistencies and data issues, the format and setup of our link tracking strategy has to be aligned with that of our web analytics tool.

      Let’s start with UTM_Medium and our Web Traffic

        1. If you are using Google Analytics, you know that it segments website traffic into several main buckets, called channels:

        • Visits from Email
        • Visits from Organic Search
        • Visits from Social, and more.
        Google Analytics Default Channel Grouping

        2. The dimension used to segment the traffic into these main channels, is called “medium”, also known as utm_medium – one of the main UTM tags that you need to use for your link tracking.

        ACTION ITEM:

        • The channels are set up via the default Channel Grouping in Google Analytics and accessible for reporting through the Acquisition>All Traffic>Channels.
          • Edit the default Channel Grouping defined by Google Analytics to add new channels that complete your marketing strategy requirements.
          • I would recommend a limited, set number of utm_medium tags. You should correlate these with your CRM as well. Remember – the utm_medium serves to group your traffic into your main highest-level reporting buckets.
          • The names and number of the utm_medium tags used for your link tracking strategy should be the same as those in your Google Analaytics.
          • If they aren’t, work with your analytics team to set it up. If they don’t match, your reports will have accuracy issues.

          Quick Tip:

          Google Analytics tells you exactly how you have to set up your UTM_Medium for Social, Email, Other paid advertising, and displays – so you should follow these standardized formats and your setup should be super easy!

          • Example 1: for paid search, pick either utm_medium=cpc, ppc, or paidsearch – see image above
          • Example 2: for affiliates, your utm_medium has to be “affiliate”.

          What do you need to setup UTM_Medium in CampaignTrackly

          Now that you are a pro when it comes to UTM_Medium, create an excel spreadsheet that has all of your final UTM_Medium tags and make sure they are all aligned with your analytics platform. Once we have covered utm_source, you will be able to head over to our Settings>UTM Channel Tags to put things in place. We let you combine UTM_mediums with UTM_sources to achieve economies of scale with one-click tagging. But if you feel that we should separate these – we would like to hear your feedback and considerations!

          What to Expect Next

          Tut #2 will continue looking at your UTM Link tracking strategy within the framework of your analytics and reporting tool. We will delve into UTM_Channel, what it really is and how to set it up.