UTM Parameters
UTM parameters are tags added to a URL that tell analytics tools where a visit came from, such as the source, medium and campaign.
What are UTM parameters?
UTM parameters are short tags added to the end of a URL that tell analytics tools such as Google Analytics 4 where a visit came from. A tagged link looks like this: example.com/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=de_whitepaper_q4.
The five standard parameters:
- utm_source: the platform or sender, e.g. linkedin, newsletter, partner-site.
- utm_medium: the channel type, e.g. email, paid_social, cpc.
- utm_campaign: the campaign name.
- utm_term: optional, usually the keyword.
- utm_content: optional, to tell apart ads or links within a campaign.
Use UTMs for every link you control outside your website: emails, social posts, partner links, QR codes and ads on platforms without automatic tagging. Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising tag clicks automatically with click IDs, so UTMs there are optional.
Rules that keep data clean:
- Use one naming convention, always in lowercase – analytics tools treat “LinkedIn” and “linkedin” as different sources.
- Never use UTMs on internal links; they overwrite the original source of the visit.
- Keep a shared list of approved values.
For international marketing, add the market or language to the campaign name (for example de_ or mx_). That makes it easy to compare results across countries and keeps reports consistent when several teams or agencies run campaigns (attribution model).