How to Use UTM Parameters to Track Marketing Performance

Ever wondered if that expensive Facebook ad or your monthly newsletter actually resulted in a sale? Without UTM parameters, Google Analytics just sees 'Social' or 'Email'—it doesn't tell you the full story, and in the competitive Brisbane business landscape, guessing is a luxury you can't afford.

UTM parameters are simple snippets of text added to the end of a URL that tell Google Analytics exactly where a visitor came from. By the end of this guide, you’ll be able to track every click with surgical precision, ensuring your marketing budget is spent on what actually works.

What You’ll Need Before We Start

• A website for your business.
• A Google Analytics 4 (GA4) account already installed on your site.
• A spreadsheet (Excel or Google Sheets) to keep track of your links.
• About 20 minutes to get your head around the naming conventions.

---

Step 1: Understand the Five UTM Parameters

• Source (utm_source): This is the platform. Where is the traffic coming from? (e.g., facebook, newsletter, google).
• Medium (utm_medium): This is the high-level channel. How is it getting to them? (e.g., cpc for ads, email, social_post).
• Campaign (utm_campaign): The specific promotion or sale. (e.g., summer_clearance_2024 or brisbane_expo_leads).
• Term (utm_term): Mostly used for paid search to track specific keywords.
• Content (utm_content): Used to differentiate similar ads. If you have two different images in one Facebook ad, you might use blue_banner and red_banner to see which performs better.

Step 2: Use the Google Campaign URL Builder

• Go to the Google Campaign URL Builder.
• Website URL: Paste the full link to the page you want to send people to (e.g., https://yourbusiness.com.au/services).
• Campaign ID: You can usually skip this unless you're syncing with a CRM.
• Campaign Source: Type your source (e.g., facebook).
• Campaign Medium: Type your medium (e.g., paid_social).
• Campaign Name: Give it a clear name (e.g., march_promo).

Step 3: Shorten Your Links (Optional but Recommended)

• For Ads: You don't need to shorten them. The user sees the 'Display URL', and the long UTM string is hidden behind the button click.
• For Social Posts: Use a tool like Bitly or even the built-in shortener in the Google tool. It makes the link look much cleaner: bit.ly/3XYZ123.

Step 4: Create a 'Source of Truth' Spreadsheet

Create a simple Google Sheet with these columns:

• Date Created
• Destination URL
• Source
• Medium
• Campaign Name
• Final UTM Link

Whenever you or your team create a new link, log it here. This ensures that everyone uses the same naming conventions (e.g., always using email instead of newsletter).

Step 5: Test Your Link

• Copy your generated UTM link.
• Open an Incognito/Private browser window.
• Paste the link and hit enter.
• Ensure the page loads correctly (sometimes extra characters at the end of a URL can break poorly coded websites).

Step 6: Verify Data in GA4

• Log in to your Google Analytics 4 account.
• Go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.
• By default, it shows "Session primary channel group". Click the small blue plus (+) icon or the dropdown arrow and change it to Session source/medium.
• You should see your specific tags appearing in the list (e.g., facebook / paid_social).

Step 7: Apply UTMs to Your Local Marketing

• Google Business Profile (formerly GMB): Don't just link to your site. Use utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gbp_profile. This helps you see how many people clicked your 'Website' button on Google Maps versus a standard search result.
• Email Signatures: Have your staff link to the site with utm_source=staff_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=signature. You might be surprised how much traffic this generates!
• QR Codes: If you have a physical shop in West End or a stall at the Milton Markets, use a UTM on your QR code: utm_source=physical_signage&utm_medium=qr_code&utm_campaign=market_stall_oct.

---

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Using spaces: URLs cannot contain spaces. If you want to separate words, use underscores (summer_sale) or dashes (summer-sale). Spaces will result in ugly %20 codes in your links.
• Ignoring case sensitivity: As mentioned, Email and email are different. Stick to lowercase for everything.

Troubleshooting

• "My data isn't showing up!" Check if you have an ad-blocker enabled on your browser during testing. These often block Google Analytics scripts from firing.
• "The URL looks broken." This usually happens if your website already uses a question mark in the URL (e.g., mysite.com.au/shop?category=shoes). If you add another ? for the UTM, it breaks. The builder tool usually handles this, but keep an eye out for double question marks.
• "Everything is showing as 'Unassigned' in GA4." This happens if you use custom Medium names that Google doesn't recognise. Try to stick to standard terms like cpc, email, social, and organic.

Next Steps

• Audit your current social media bios (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn) and replace the links with UTM-tracked versions.
• Update your Google Business Profile link.
• Start your 'Source of Truth' spreadsheet today.

Tracking your marketing shouldn't feel like guesswork. If you're finding the technical setup of GA4 or campaign tracking a bit overwhelming, we're here to help. You can reach out to our team for a hand with your analytics at https://lmgroup.au/contact.

Happy tracking!