UTM Parameter Tracking Fundamentals and Best Practices
Published on: December 7 2022 by Paid Media Pros
UTM Parameter Tracking Fundamentals and Best Practices
The above is a brief introduction to UTM Parameter Tracking Fundamentals and Best Practices.
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Table of Contents About UTM Parameter Tracking Fundamentals and Best Practices
UTM Parameter Tracking Fundamentals and Best Practices
| startTime | durationTime | text |
| 00:00:00 | 00:00:05 | utm parameters are an integral part of |
| 00:00:03 | 00:00:06 | tracking your performance for your paid |
| 00:00:05 | 00:00:08 | media campaigns across multiple |
| 00:00:06 | 00:00:10 | different channels |
| 00:00:08 | 00:00:11 | tactiks audiences all sorts of different |
| 00:00:10 | 00:00:14 | stuff |
| 00:00:11 | 00:00:16 | into a singular third-party platform |
| 00:00:14 | 00:00:17 | like a crm like hubspot |
| 00:00:16 | 00:00:20 | or a different platform like google |
| 00:00:17 | 00:00:22 | analytiks basically we take a set of |
| 00:00:20 | 00:00:24 | five standardized parameters |
| 00:00:22 | 00:00:26 | give them different values and then have |
| 00:00:24 | 00:00:28 | all of that information imported |
| 00:00:26 | 00:00:30 | into those platforms so we can make |
| 00:00:28 | 00:00:32 | smart advertising decisions |
| 00:00:30 | 00:00:33 | based on how those strategies are |
| 00:00:32 | 00:00:35 | performing |
| 00:00:33 | 00:00:37 | with a set of data that is directly |
| 00:00:35 | 00:00:39 | comparable and utilizes the same |
| 00:00:37 | 00:00:40 | tracking type |
| 00:00:39 | 00:00:42 | recently i've had a number of people |
| 00:00:40 | 00:00:44 | asking me about best practikes |
| 00:00:42 | 00:00:46 | or my personal preferences when it comes |
| 00:00:44 | 00:00:48 | to utm tagging because there are |
| 00:00:46 | 00:00:49 | personal preferences that can be taken |
| 00:00:48 | 00:00:51 | into account |
| 00:00:49 | 00:00:53 | so i thought what better way to tok |
| 00:00:51 | 00:00:54 | about that than putting together a video |
| 00:00:53 | 00:00:57 | so in this i'm going to go through the |
| 00:00:54 | 00:00:59 | fundamentals of some of the utm |
| 00:00:57 | 00:01:01 | parameter tracking and then tok through |
| 00:00:59 | 00:01:02 | some best practikes or considerations |
| 00:01:01 | 00:01:03 | when you're starting to use them in your |
| 00:01:02 | 00:01:06 | campaigns |
| 00:01:03 | 00:01:07 | let's start with the fundamentals of utm |
| 00:01:06 | 00:01:08 | tracking parameters i'm going to tok |
| 00:01:07 | 00:01:10 | about what they are |
| 00:01:08 | 00:01:12 | how they work and give you the structure |
| 00:01:10 | 00:01:15 | behind it first thing is |
| 00:01:12 | 00:01:15 | what are utm parameters like i said in |
| 00:01:15 | 00:01:18 | the intro |
| 00:01:15 | 00:01:19 | they are added to the end of urls so you |
| 00:01:18 | 00:01:22 | can |
| 00:01:19 | 00:01:24 | track your performance in analytiks or |
| 00:01:22 | 00:01:26 | crm platforms or something in the like |
| 00:01:24 | 00:01:28 | this is something to hopefully make |
| 00:01:26 | 00:01:30 | all of your tracking come together in a |
| 00:01:28 | 00:01:31 | single platform so you can compare |
| 00:01:30 | 00:01:33 | between different platforms |
| 00:01:31 | 00:01:34 | tactiks all that good stuff like i said |
| 00:01:33 | 00:01:37 | they're appended to the |
| 00:01:34 | 00:01:39 | end of a url or the landing page that |
| 00:01:37 | 00:01:41 | you're going to use in the sake of |
| 00:01:39 | 00:01:43 | ad campaigns like we typically use so i |
| 00:01:41 | 00:01:43 | want to show you an example real quick |
| 00:01:43 | 00:01:45 | first |
| 00:01:43 | 00:01:47 | i'm sorry the formatting of this is |
| 00:01:45 | 00:01:47 | terrible but let's run through this |
| 00:01:47 | 00:01:50 | really quick |
| 00:01:47 | 00:01:52 | basically the landing page here would be |
| 00:01:50 | 00:01:53 | the paid mediapros.com website and then |
| 00:01:52 | 00:01:55 | everything after that is going to be a |
| 00:01:53 | 00:01:58 | tracking parameter you can see |
| 00:01:55 | 00:01:59 | the question mark after the com that |
| 00:01:58 | 00:02:02 | signifies that anything |
| 00:01:59 | 00:02:04 | after that question mark is considered |
| 00:02:02 | 00:02:06 | tracking and it's not part of the page |
| 00:02:04 | 00:02:07 | instead if you wanted to have a page in |
| 00:02:06 | 00:02:09 | there it would be com |
| 00:02:07 | 00:02:11 | slash and then something else but the |
| 00:02:09 | 00:02:14 | question mark helps separate |
| 00:02:11 | 00:02:15 | the page url itself from tracking |
| 00:02:14 | 00:02:17 | parameters we then have a handful of |
| 00:02:15 | 00:02:18 | parameters in here which are going to be |
| 00:02:17 | 00:02:21 | designated by utm |
| 00:02:18 | 00:02:22 | underscore so we've got utm underscore |
| 00:02:21 | 00:02:24 | source equals google and then you'll see |
| 00:02:22 | 00:02:26 | there's an amber sand |
| 00:02:24 | 00:02:28 | and then you'll see utm medium although |
| 00:02:26 | 00:02:31 | it's broken up a little bit equals cpc |
| 00:02:28 | 00:02:33 | basically that amber sand means that the |
| 00:02:31 | 00:02:34 | first tracking parameter the utm source |
| 00:02:33 | 00:02:36 | equals google |
| 00:02:34 | 00:02:38 | is finished and the new tracking |
| 00:02:36 | 00:02:38 | parameter begins that's a way to segment |
| 00:02:38 | 00:02:40 | them out |
| 00:02:38 | 00:02:43 | but rather than go down that path i want |
| 00:02:40 | 00:02:45 | to focus on the parameters themselves |
| 00:02:43 | 00:02:46 | basically the way these utm parameters |
| 00:02:45 | 00:02:47 | work are that the language is always |
| 00:02:46 | 00:02:49 | going to say |
| 00:02:47 | 00:02:51 | utm underscore that part is going to be |
| 00:02:49 | 00:02:53 | stable and then the parameter itself |
| 00:02:51 | 00:02:54 | which i have here in parentheses |
| 00:02:53 | 00:02:56 | is going to be different and then there |
| 00:02:54 | 00:02:57 | will be an equal sign and then whatever |
| 00:02:56 | 00:02:59 | the value |
| 00:02:57 | 00:03:01 | is that you want assigned to that |
| 00:02:59 | 00:03:03 | parameter so you'll remember for the |
| 00:03:01 | 00:03:05 | example that we saw just a second ago |
| 00:03:03 | 00:03:06 | this is the same url from the previous |
| 00:03:05 | 00:03:09 | slide we now have |
| 00:03:06 | 00:03:10 | a handful of parameters in here we now |
| 00:03:09 | 00:03:13 | have utm source |
| 00:03:10 | 00:03:17 | equals google utm medium equals cpc |
| 00:03:13 | 00:03:19 | utm campaign equals campaign name utm |
| 00:03:17 | 00:03:21 | term equals keyword and utm content |
| 00:03:19 | 00:03:23 | equals search ads |
| 00:03:21 | 00:03:24 | so in these examples the parameter is |
| 00:03:23 | 00:03:27 | going to be |
| 00:03:24 | 00:03:29 | the source medium campaign term and |
| 00:03:27 | 00:03:30 | content and the value assigned to them |
| 00:03:29 | 00:03:33 | is going to be google |
| 00:03:30 | 00:03:35 | cpc campaign name keyword and search ads |
| 00:03:33 | 00:03:36 | when you apply these to your landing |
| 00:03:35 | 00:03:38 | pages in |
| 00:03:36 | 00:03:40 | the ad platforms there are a couple |
| 00:03:38 | 00:03:42 | different ways that you can do that so |
| 00:03:40 | 00:03:44 | i'm going to show you really quickly in |
| 00:03:42 | 00:03:45 | google ads and facebook where those can |
| 00:03:44 | 00:03:48 | be applied |
| 00:03:45 | 00:03:50 | in google ads under the add url options |
| 00:03:48 | 00:03:51 | there'll be a tracking template |
| 00:03:50 | 00:03:53 | that's where these are going to live |
| 00:03:51 | 00:03:54 | there is some different formatting that |
| 00:03:53 | 00:03:56 | you would need to do for this which i'm |
| 00:03:54 | 00:03:58 | not going to get into today but |
| 00:03:56 | 00:03:59 | basically this is where you would add in |
| 00:03:58 | 00:04:00 | all of the different utm parameters that |
| 00:03:59 | 00:04:03 | you want to use |
| 00:04:00 | 00:04:05 | or any custom parameters for facebook |
| 00:04:03 | 00:04:06 | when you're in the ad platform you'll |
| 00:04:05 | 00:04:08 | scroll down to the tracking section and |
| 00:04:06 | 00:04:10 | there's going to be a url parameters |
| 00:04:08 | 00:04:11 | field here as well |
| 00:04:10 | 00:04:14 | just in the same way there was for |
| 00:04:11 | 00:04:16 | google you can also do things a little |
| 00:04:14 | 00:04:17 | bit less manually in facebook which is |
| 00:04:16 | 00:04:19 | kind of nice |
| 00:04:17 | 00:04:20 | they have a build a url parameter |
| 00:04:19 | 00:04:22 | function where |
| 00:04:20 | 00:04:23 | if you click on that it will then open |
| 00:04:22 | 00:04:26 | up a new window |
| 00:04:23 | 00:04:27 | to where you don't have to type in utm |
| 00:04:26 | 00:04:29 | underscore |
| 00:04:27 | 00:04:31 | source or utm underscore medium or any |
| 00:04:29 | 00:04:31 | of the other ones for campaign or |
| 00:04:31 | 00:04:33 | content |
| 00:04:31 | 00:04:35 | you can simply add in whatever the value |
| 00:04:33 | 00:04:37 | is that you want there the only thing to |
| 00:04:35 | 00:04:37 | keep in mind is you do have to create |
| 00:04:37 | 00:04:39 | your own |
| 00:04:37 | 00:04:40 | parameter you'd have to click add |
| 00:04:39 | 00:04:43 | parameter for the utm |
| 00:04:40 | 00:04:44 | term because that's not a preset option |
| 00:04:43 | 00:04:46 | for the facebook |
| 00:04:44 | 00:04:47 | url parameter builder the end goal of |
| 00:04:46 | 00:04:49 | all of this |
| 00:04:47 | 00:04:51 | is so that we can have reports in that |
| 00:04:49 | 00:04:51 | third party platform like i mentioned |
| 00:04:51 | 00:04:53 | before |
| 00:04:51 | 00:04:54 | that looks something like this this is |
| 00:04:53 | 00:04:57 | just a very basic |
| 00:04:54 | 00:04:59 | google analytiks source medium report |
| 00:04:57 | 00:05:01 | that shows that the first three traffic |
| 00:04:59 | 00:05:04 | sources on this website were from |
| 00:05:01 | 00:05:06 | snapchat cpc tiktok cpc |
| 00:05:04 | 00:05:08 | and spotify cpc basically we know where |
| 00:05:06 | 00:05:09 | all of these users came from and then |
| 00:05:08 | 00:05:11 | there are lots of different line items |
| 00:05:09 | 00:05:13 | for the other channels but i'm not going |
| 00:05:11 | 00:05:14 | to go through those today just because |
| 00:05:13 | 00:05:16 | we're focused only on advertising on |
| 00:05:14 | 00:05:17 | this channel so all these other options |
| 00:05:16 | 00:05:19 | are for other sources |
| 00:05:17 | 00:05:20 | so we've already toked about them a |
| 00:05:19 | 00:05:21 | little bit but i want to tok through |
| 00:05:20 | 00:05:22 | each of the different types of |
| 00:05:21 | 00:05:24 | parameters |
| 00:05:22 | 00:05:25 | in the previous example and some of the |
| 00:05:24 | 00:05:27 | sections i walked you through you'll |
| 00:05:25 | 00:05:29 | notike that there are five different |
| 00:05:27 | 00:05:30 | parameters and these are the main ones |
| 00:05:29 | 00:05:33 | that we can use |
| 00:05:30 | 00:05:34 | source medium campaign term and content |
| 00:05:33 | 00:05:36 | so let's go through each one of these |
| 00:05:34 | 00:05:38 | with a little bit more detail and i'll |
| 00:05:36 | 00:05:40 | tok you through my |
| 00:05:38 | 00:05:41 | personal preferences of how we would |
| 00:05:40 | 00:05:43 | typically use these |
| 00:05:41 | 00:05:44 | all of these i should preface are |
| 00:05:43 | 00:05:47 | completely up |
| 00:05:44 | 00:05:48 | for your own personal preferences |
| 00:05:47 | 00:05:50 | whatever makes the most sense for you |
| 00:05:48 | 00:05:52 | and i do have some best practikes at the |
| 00:05:50 | 00:05:54 | end just to keep in mind while you're |
| 00:05:52 | 00:05:55 | choosing these so all the things that |
| 00:05:54 | 00:05:56 | you see on the next few slides are going |
| 00:05:55 | 00:05:58 | to be |
| 00:05:56 | 00:06:00 | my preferences of how i set up utm |
| 00:05:58 | 00:06:02 | parameters there's no right or wrong way |
| 00:06:00 | 00:06:02 | but this is at least one set to get you |
| 00:06:02 | 00:06:05 | started |
| 00:06:02 | 00:06:06 | the first is source i always treat this |
| 00:06:05 | 00:06:08 | as where did these |
| 00:06:06 | 00:06:09 | users come from what platform was i |
| 00:06:08 | 00:06:12 | advertising from |
| 00:06:09 | 00:06:14 | when i utilized this utm source so |
| 00:06:12 | 00:06:17 | everything here is going to be |
| 00:06:14 | 00:06:17 | for me google bing facebook linkedin |
| 00:06:17 | 00:06:20 | |
| 00:06:17 | 00:06:21 | quora anything along those lines you'll |
| 00:06:20 | 00:06:23 | notike that these are all lowercase |
| 00:06:21 | 00:06:25 | i'll tok about that in a little bit and |
| 00:06:23 | 00:06:26 | then there are also a few other things |
| 00:06:25 | 00:06:28 | you might notike |
| 00:06:26 | 00:06:29 | one it doesn't say microsoft it says |
| 00:06:28 | 00:06:30 | bing that's because i've been using |
| 00:06:29 | 00:06:32 | these |
| 00:06:30 | 00:06:34 | channels for quite a long time and i've |
| 00:06:32 | 00:06:36 | always called it bing |
| 00:06:34 | 00:06:37 | and moving forward i want my data to be |
| 00:06:36 | 00:06:39 | comparable |
| 00:06:37 | 00:06:41 | year after year after year so if you've |
| 00:06:39 | 00:06:42 | never run any ads before |
| 00:06:41 | 00:06:44 | you can start with microsoft if you |
| 00:06:42 | 00:06:45 | prefer since that's now the proper name |
| 00:06:44 | 00:06:47 | of microsoft ads |
| 00:06:45 | 00:06:49 | but if you're like me you've been doing |
| 00:06:47 | 00:06:50 | it for a while it's just as easy to |
| 00:06:49 | 00:06:52 | stik with bang you'll also notike that |
| 00:06:50 | 00:06:53 | facebook is by itself and there's no |
| 00:06:52 | 00:06:55 | instagram on this |
| 00:06:53 | 00:06:56 | list i personally consider facebook and |
| 00:06:55 | 00:06:58 | instagram all |
| 00:06:56 | 00:06:59 | lumped together again i've been doing |
| 00:06:58 | 00:07:02 | this for quite a while i've been doing |
| 00:06:59 | 00:07:02 | it before facebook owned instagram so to |
| 00:07:02 | 00:07:05 | me |
| 00:07:02 | 00:07:07 | this is all collective since i run the |
| 00:07:05 | 00:07:08 | ads for instagram also through facebook |
| 00:07:07 | 00:07:10 | business manager |
| 00:07:08 | 00:07:12 | i don't need to designate which platform |
| 00:07:10 | 00:07:13 | they came from because i'll know from my |
| 00:07:12 | 00:07:15 | placement strategies |
| 00:07:13 | 00:07:17 | where they came from but if you want to |
| 00:07:15 | 00:07:20 | adjust your campaign structure |
| 00:07:17 | 00:07:20 | within facebook to have separate tagging |
| 00:07:20 | 00:07:22 | by |
| 00:07:20 | 00:07:24 | network you can do that as well and we |
| 00:07:22 | 00:07:26 | do have a video that shows you |
| 00:07:24 | 00:07:28 | how you can run ads on only instagram if |
| 00:07:26 | 00:07:30 | you choose to do that and then you can |
| 00:07:28 | 00:07:32 | change your utm source for those as well |
| 00:07:30 | 00:07:33 | the next parameter is going to be medium |
| 00:07:32 | 00:07:35 | and this in my mind is |
| 00:07:33 | 00:07:37 | how they got to the website so since |
| 00:07:35 | 00:07:38 | we're toking about paid advertising on |
| 00:07:37 | 00:07:39 | this channel |
| 00:07:38 | 00:07:41 | all of these are going to be some |
| 00:07:39 | 00:07:43 | iteration of a paid tactik |
| 00:07:41 | 00:07:45 | you'll remember from the source medium |
| 00:07:43 | 00:07:46 | report that i showed you that there were |
| 00:07:45 | 00:07:48 | some that were |
| 00:07:46 | 00:07:50 | referral or organic all of those are |
| 00:07:48 | 00:07:52 | great and valid mediums but for our |
| 00:07:50 | 00:07:52 | purposes on this channel i just won't |
| 00:07:52 | 00:07:54 | use them |
| 00:07:52 | 00:07:57 | i typically fall into the camp of |
| 00:07:54 | 00:08:00 | somebody who always uses cpc for this |
| 00:07:57 | 00:08:01 | because i like to have all of my tactiks |
| 00:08:00 | 00:08:02 | lumped together |
| 00:08:01 | 00:08:05 | and then i segment out the different |
| 00:08:02 | 00:08:06 | strategies i have based on the source |
| 00:08:05 | 00:08:08 | the campaign name and other factors that |
| 00:08:06 | 00:08:10 | we'll get into in a little bit but other |
| 00:08:08 | 00:08:11 | people like to have the medium be |
| 00:08:10 | 00:08:13 | separated out and have it be a little |
| 00:08:11 | 00:08:14 | bit different some people like to use |
| 00:08:13 | 00:08:16 | ppc |
| 00:08:14 | 00:08:18 | instead of cpc and then even more some |
| 00:08:16 | 00:08:19 | people like to have strategies broken |
| 00:08:18 | 00:08:21 | out based |
| 00:08:19 | 00:08:22 | on the type of targeting that you are |
| 00:08:21 | 00:08:25 | using whether it's display |
| 00:08:22 | 00:08:26 | paid search paid social all of these are |
| 00:08:25 | 00:08:28 | valid |
| 00:08:26 | 00:08:30 | options that you could use just make |
| 00:08:28 | 00:08:32 | sure that whatever you choose |
| 00:08:30 | 00:08:33 | you stik with over the long haul we'll |
| 00:08:32 | 00:08:35 | tok about that in a little bit |
| 00:08:33 | 00:08:37 | again i fall in the camp of using cpc |
| 00:08:35 | 00:08:38 | for everything but there's no right or |
| 00:08:37 | 00:08:40 | wrong way here |
| 00:08:38 | 00:08:42 | just think about what's going to be the |
| 00:08:40 | 00:08:44 | most useful for you moving forward |
| 00:08:42 | 00:08:45 | next is the utm campaign this one's |
| 00:08:44 | 00:08:47 | pretty simple |
| 00:08:45 | 00:08:48 | in my opinion it should be the campaign |
| 00:08:47 | 00:08:50 | name makes sense |
| 00:08:48 | 00:08:52 | it's easy to tie back personally i like |
| 00:08:50 | 00:08:55 | to use the campaign name |
| 00:08:52 | 00:08:58 | from the advertising platform itself so |
| 00:08:55 | 00:08:59 | when you go to the campaigns tab in |
| 00:08:58 | 00:09:02 | google analytiks or |
| 00:08:59 | 00:09:03 | facebook or you're in the campaign group |
| 00:09:02 | 00:09:05 | within linkedin |
| 00:09:03 | 00:09:06 | you utilize the name that you see |
| 00:09:05 | 00:09:09 | directly in the platform |
| 00:09:06 | 00:09:11 | that way you can tie back exactly where |
| 00:09:09 | 00:09:11 | the performance came from in the ad |
| 00:09:11 | 00:09:14 | platform |
| 00:09:11 | 00:09:16 | and the google analytiks profile but it |
| 00:09:14 | 00:09:18 | doesn't always work perfectly |
| 00:09:16 | 00:09:20 | you could have a client or your business |
| 00:09:18 | 00:09:21 | could need to use specific campaign |
| 00:09:20 | 00:09:24 | names for |
| 00:09:21 | 00:09:26 | salesforce or hubspot mapping so make |
| 00:09:24 | 00:09:27 | sure that you're using a campaign name |
| 00:09:26 | 00:09:29 | that you'll still be able to tie back to |
| 00:09:27 | 00:09:30 | the platform and you know where it came |
| 00:09:29 | 00:09:31 | from |
| 00:09:30 | 00:09:33 | because otherwise you're going to get |
| 00:09:31 | 00:09:35 | really lost in what's going on |
| 00:09:33 | 00:09:37 | between the analytiks platform and the |
| 00:09:35 | 00:09:39 | advertising platform when you're trying |
| 00:09:37 | 00:09:42 | to compare and optimize for performance |
| 00:09:39 | 00:09:44 | next is the utm term and for most search |
| 00:09:42 | 00:09:46 | campaigns and the default for |
| 00:09:44 | 00:09:48 | google ads is that it will pull in the |
| 00:09:46 | 00:09:49 | keyword itself so one common mistake is |
| 00:09:48 | 00:09:50 | that people are going to think that it's |
| 00:09:49 | 00:09:53 | utm |
| 00:09:50 | 00:09:53 | underscore keyword it is not it is utm |
| 00:09:53 | 00:09:55 | underscore |
| 00:09:53 | 00:09:57 | term for the keyword that you have for |
| 00:09:55 | 00:09:59 | any other platform |
| 00:09:57 | 00:10:00 | whether it's display or social i |
| 00:09:59 | 00:10:02 | personally like to use |
| 00:10:00 | 00:10:04 | the targeting options that triggered |
| 00:10:02 | 00:10:05 | that ad to show for search the search |
| 00:10:04 | 00:10:07 | query and keyword match |
| 00:10:05 | 00:10:09 | is what triggered your ad to show so for |
| 00:10:07 | 00:10:10 | the other platforms like display and |
| 00:10:09 | 00:10:12 | social |
| 00:10:10 | 00:10:13 | i like to keep that relatively similar |
| 00:10:12 | 00:10:15 | and think about what |
| 00:10:13 | 00:10:16 | targeting option it was that triggered |
| 00:10:15 | 00:10:19 | my ad was it an audience |
| 00:10:16 | 00:10:20 | was it a behavior or interest target and |
| 00:10:19 | 00:10:23 | which one was it |
| 00:10:20 | 00:10:25 | i wouldn't put just audience as the utm |
| 00:10:23 | 00:10:27 | term or just behavior |
| 00:10:25 | 00:10:28 | i would put what that audience was was |
| 00:10:27 | 00:10:30 | it a lookalike audience that it was a |
| 00:10:28 | 00:10:32 | one percent model |
| 00:10:30 | 00:10:33 | of my customers was it somebody who had |
| 00:10:32 | 00:10:35 | a specific interest |
| 00:10:33 | 00:10:37 | in paid search advertising on facebook |
| 00:10:35 | 00:10:38 | and that's how it showed up what was the |
| 00:10:37 | 00:10:40 | targeting type that triggered your ad |
| 00:10:38 | 00:10:42 | that's typically how i will treat the |
| 00:10:40 | 00:10:45 | term utm parameter |
| 00:10:42 | 00:10:46 | lastly we have content which for search |
| 00:10:45 | 00:10:49 | campaigns by |
| 00:10:46 | 00:10:50 | default is typically the h1 or headline |
| 00:10:49 | 00:10:53 | one component of your ads |
| 00:10:50 | 00:10:55 | in the same vein as the term i like to |
| 00:10:53 | 00:10:56 | keep things pretty similar |
| 00:10:55 | 00:10:58 | usually for search i will still stik |
| 00:10:56 | 00:11:00 | with whatever that headline one |
| 00:10:58 | 00:11:02 | component was because it's |
| 00:11:00 | 00:11:03 | really kind of difficult to make the |
| 00:11:02 | 00:11:06 | report say anything different |
| 00:11:03 | 00:11:06 | other than utilizing ad id which is just |
| 00:11:06 | 00:11:08 | a big |
| 00:11:06 | 00:11:10 | ugly number and it's really hard to tie |
| 00:11:08 | 00:11:11 | that back to anything so i typically |
| 00:11:10 | 00:11:13 | stik with the |
| 00:11:11 | 00:11:15 | h1 component for content for search and |
| 00:11:13 | 00:11:17 | then on social or display |
| 00:11:15 | 00:11:18 | i'll nearly always use whatever the |
| 00:11:17 | 00:11:21 | creative name |
| 00:11:18 | 00:11:22 | is so whenever you create a display ad |
| 00:11:21 | 00:11:24 | or a social ad |
| 00:11:22 | 00:11:25 | you're allowed to give it a name and |
| 00:11:24 | 00:11:25 | i'll pretty much always use whatever |
| 00:11:25 | 00:11:27 | that is |
| 00:11:25 | 00:11:29 | to make sure that i can tie it back to |
| 00:11:27 | 00:11:30 | performance given that the ad copy |
| 00:11:29 | 00:11:32 | doesn't |
| 00:11:30 | 00:11:34 | neatly fit into a specific parameter |
| 00:11:32 | 00:11:36 | kind of like the h1 does for search |
| 00:11:34 | 00:11:38 | so now that we've gone through all of |
| 00:11:36 | 00:11:39 | the parameters themselves i want to go |
| 00:11:38 | 00:11:41 | through |
| 00:11:39 | 00:11:43 | the three main best practikes that i |
| 00:11:41 | 00:11:44 | like to keep in mind and i usually warn |
| 00:11:43 | 00:11:46 | people about |
| 00:11:44 | 00:11:48 | that i've also kind of teased as this |
| 00:11:46 | 00:11:49 | video has gone on the first is to be |
| 00:11:48 | 00:11:51 | consistent |
| 00:11:49 | 00:11:53 | use the same parameters for the same |
| 00:11:51 | 00:11:55 | things as i toked about earlier |
| 00:11:53 | 00:11:57 | source is always where they came from |
| 00:11:55 | 00:11:59 | medium is how they got there |
| 00:11:57 | 00:12:01 | campaign is whatever the campaign name |
| 00:11:59 | 00:12:03 | was term is the targeting that i |
| 00:12:01 | 00:12:05 | used and content is the ad creative that |
| 00:12:03 | 00:12:06 | i used that is pretty much how i go |
| 00:12:05 | 00:12:08 | through |
| 00:12:06 | 00:12:09 | all of my setup that's always how i use |
| 00:12:08 | 00:12:11 | utm parameters |
| 00:12:09 | 00:12:12 | unless a client has specific needs |
| 00:12:11 | 00:12:14 | otherwise |
| 00:12:12 | 00:12:16 | that's what i stik with because it's |
| 00:12:14 | 00:12:17 | one easy for me to follow because it's |
| 00:12:16 | 00:12:19 | logical but two |
| 00:12:17 | 00:12:21 | it'll be consistent no matter where i'm |
| 00:12:19 | 00:12:22 | setting things up or who i'm setting |
| 00:12:21 | 00:12:23 | them up for |
| 00:12:22 | 00:12:25 | this will allow us to compare |
| 00:12:23 | 00:12:28 | performance over time as i said |
| 00:12:25 | 00:12:29 | earlier with the difference between bing |
| 00:12:28 | 00:12:31 | and microsoft |
| 00:12:29 | 00:12:32 | if i were to start changing all of my |
| 00:12:31 | 00:12:34 | utm parameters |
| 00:12:32 | 00:12:37 | from bing to microsoft they are not |
| 00:12:34 | 00:12:39 | going to retroactively change |
| 00:12:37 | 00:12:41 | so for let's say the month of may in |
| 00:12:39 | 00:12:43 | 2021 i had things tagged as bing and |
| 00:12:41 | 00:12:45 | then once we got into june i tagged them |
| 00:12:43 | 00:12:47 | as microsoft in my report |
| 00:12:45 | 00:12:48 | it'll show two different line items over |
| 00:12:47 | 00:12:50 | that two-month period |
| 00:12:48 | 00:12:51 | there'll be one for bing and one for |
| 00:12:50 | 00:12:52 | microsoft and even though they're the |
| 00:12:51 | 00:12:54 | same they're going to be a different |
| 00:12:52 | 00:12:56 | line item and that gets to be |
| 00:12:54 | 00:12:58 | really frustrating as you're trying to |
| 00:12:56 | 00:12:59 | review performance and optimize over |
| 00:12:58 | 00:13:01 | time and this goes for in-channel |
| 00:12:59 | 00:13:03 | performance like the difference between |
| 00:13:01 | 00:13:05 | bing and microsoft but also across |
| 00:13:03 | 00:13:07 | channels think about all the different |
| 00:13:05 | 00:13:08 | platforms you have tied together |
| 00:13:07 | 00:13:10 | and wanting to be able to review and |
| 00:13:08 | 00:13:12 | understand things at a high level |
| 00:13:10 | 00:13:14 | so here's basically an example of what i |
| 00:13:12 | 00:13:14 | just toked about but in an actual |
| 00:13:14 | 00:13:16 | report |
| 00:13:14 | 00:13:19 | over the course of time somebody changed |
| 00:13:16 | 00:13:22 | the utm medium for linkedin |
| 00:13:19 | 00:13:24 | from paid to paid social and now there's |
| 00:13:22 | 00:13:26 | two separate line items even though |
| 00:13:24 | 00:13:28 | that's the exact same set of campaigns |
| 00:13:26 | 00:13:30 | it's very frustrating to have to do this |
| 00:13:28 | 00:13:31 | because then you have to go back in |
| 00:13:30 | 00:13:34 | try and group them together with a |
| 00:13:31 | 00:13:36 | custom channel grouping or you need to |
| 00:13:34 | 00:13:37 | just total up the line items to know |
| 00:13:36 | 00:13:38 | what's going on |
| 00:13:37 | 00:13:40 | so this is where things can get |
| 00:13:38 | 00:13:41 | confusing i don't have a good example of |
| 00:13:40 | 00:13:43 | one because |
| 00:13:41 | 00:13:44 | quite frankly most of the folks i work |
| 00:13:43 | 00:13:46 | with do a pretty good job keeping their |
| 00:13:44 | 00:13:49 | google analytiks platform clean |
| 00:13:46 | 00:13:49 | but this just shows two lines for the |
| 00:13:49 | 00:13:52 | same thing |
| 00:13:49 | 00:13:53 | i have seen upwards of 10 different line |
| 00:13:52 | 00:13:55 | items for this |
| 00:13:53 | 00:13:56 | exact same set of campaigns because |
| 00:13:55 | 00:13:59 | people just weren't consistent and |
| 00:13:56 | 00:14:01 | didn't have a naming convention in place |
| 00:13:59 | 00:14:03 | the next is to remember that your format |
| 00:14:01 | 00:14:05 | matters watch your capitalization which |
| 00:14:03 | 00:14:06 | i teased in the source section |
| 00:14:05 | 00:14:08 | because every time you have a difference |
| 00:14:06 | 00:14:10 | in capitalization it is |
| 00:14:08 | 00:14:11 | treated differently even if it says the |
| 00:14:10 | 00:14:14 | exact same thing |
| 00:14:11 | 00:14:15 | google as a source all lower case is |
| 00:14:14 | 00:14:16 | going to show up as a different line |
| 00:14:15 | 00:14:18 | item |
| 00:14:16 | 00:14:20 | than google with a capital g at the |
| 00:14:18 | 00:14:21 | beginning will so you'll then have the |
| 00:14:20 | 00:14:23 | same issue that we just had there'll be |
| 00:14:21 | 00:14:24 | two line items for |
| 00:14:23 | 00:14:26 | google all lower case and google as |
| 00:14:24 | 00:14:27 | title case and that'll be a bit of a |
| 00:14:26 | 00:14:29 | pain |
| 00:14:27 | 00:14:30 | additionally know how different symbols |
| 00:14:29 | 00:14:33 | are going to be read if you put |
| 00:14:30 | 00:14:34 | different types of markings and |
| 00:14:33 | 00:14:36 | different symbols into |
| 00:14:34 | 00:14:38 | your parameters they may show up |
| 00:14:36 | 00:14:39 | different some will default to be a |
| 00:14:38 | 00:14:41 | space |
| 00:14:39 | 00:14:42 | others will not so keep in mind how |
| 00:14:41 | 00:14:43 | those are going to be pulled in |
| 00:14:42 | 00:14:45 | i'm not going to run through all of them |
| 00:14:43 | 00:14:47 | now but if you're thinking about using |
| 00:14:45 | 00:14:49 | some type of special character |
| 00:14:47 | 00:14:50 | within your tracking parameters do some |
| 00:14:49 | 00:14:52 | research and figure out how |
| 00:14:50 | 00:14:55 | google analytiks or your crm or |
| 00:14:52 | 00:14:57 | analytiks platform will read that symbol |
| 00:14:55 | 00:14:59 | before utilizing it lastly don't be |
| 00:14:57 | 00:15:01 | afraid to leverage dynamic tracking |
| 00:14:59 | 00:15:02 | there are a number of platforms that |
| 00:15:01 | 00:15:03 | will allow you to utilize that and |
| 00:15:02 | 00:15:06 | honestly |
| 00:15:03 | 00:15:07 | the less you have to type in the less |
| 00:15:06 | 00:15:08 | chance you're going to have of messing |
| 00:15:07 | 00:15:10 | something up |
| 00:15:08 | 00:15:12 | and causing the double line item issue |
| 00:15:10 | 00:15:14 | that we've toked about or even more |
| 00:15:12 | 00:15:16 | bigger problems than that |
| 00:15:14 | 00:15:17 | we actually have a couple videos on this |
| 00:15:16 | 00:15:20 | platform that you can go check out |
| 00:15:17 | 00:15:21 | facebook ads have dynamic url parameters |
| 00:15:20 | 00:15:22 | that you can check out at the top of the |
| 00:15:21 | 00:15:25 | screen right now |
| 00:15:22 | 00:15:27 | effectively they use two curly braces |
| 00:15:25 | 00:15:28 | or squiggle brackets whatever you want |
| 00:15:27 | 00:15:32 | to call them to |
| 00:15:28 | 00:15:34 | pull in the campaign name add name |
| 00:15:32 | 00:15:35 | ad set name dynamically so you don't |
| 00:15:34 | 00:15:37 | have to type it in |
| 00:15:35 | 00:15:38 | which is great and then for google ads |
| 00:15:37 | 00:15:41 | you can create your own |
| 00:15:38 | 00:15:42 | custom parameters that are based on the |
| 00:15:41 | 00:15:44 | campaign name |
| 00:15:42 | 00:15:45 | ad name keyword there's lots of |
| 00:15:44 | 00:15:47 | different options there |
| 00:15:45 | 00:15:50 | but again this makes it so you don't |
| 00:15:47 | 00:15:51 | have to set up custom tracking templates |
| 00:15:50 | 00:15:52 | for every single portion of your |
| 00:15:51 | 00:15:53 | campaign |
| 00:15:52 | 00:15:55 | you can have one tracking template that |
| 00:15:53 | 00:15:57 | you know is right and then adjust your |
| 00:15:55 | 00:15:58 | custom parameters to pull in information |
| 00:15:57 | 00:16:01 | dynamically |
| 00:15:58 | 00:16:02 | overall utm tracking parameters are |
| 00:16:01 | 00:16:04 | massively important |
| 00:16:02 | 00:16:06 | if you're trying to pull all of your |
| 00:16:04 | 00:16:08 | data into a single platform |
| 00:16:06 | 00:16:09 | and although there's not really a right |
| 00:16:08 | 00:16:11 | or wrong way to set them up there |
| 00:16:09 | 00:16:13 | definitely are some things that you need |
| 00:16:11 | 00:16:14 | to keep in mind so that your data is |
| 00:16:13 | 00:16:16 | going to be |
| 00:16:14 | 00:16:17 | clean all shows up in the single line |
| 00:16:16 | 00:16:19 | item that it should |
| 00:16:17 | 00:16:20 | it matches back to the different |
| 00:16:19 | 00:16:22 | portions of the platform so you'll |
| 00:16:20 | 00:16:23 | actually know what's going |
| 00:16:22 | 00:16:25 | on and be able to optimize based on |
| 00:16:23 | 00:16:26 | performance but then you'll also be able |
| 00:16:25 | 00:16:28 | to compare |
| 00:16:26 | 00:16:29 | within the channels as well as across |
| 00:16:28 | 00:16:31 | the channels of how things are |
| 00:16:29 | 00:16:33 | performing and make |
| 00:16:31 | 00:16:35 | bigger business decisions like budget |
| 00:16:33 | 00:16:37 | and new channel strategy |
| 00:16:35 | 00:16:39 | based on those types of data that you're |
| 00:16:37 | 00:16:39 | seeing coming through if after watching |
| 00:16:39 | 00:16:42 | this video |
| 00:16:39 | 00:16:43 | you're still stuck on some of the utm |
| 00:16:42 | 00:16:44 | pieces and how they work |
| 00:16:43 | 00:16:46 | feel free to reach out to me in the |
| 00:16:44 | 00:16:46 | comments i'd love to be able to help |
| 00:16:46 | 00:16:48 | follow up |
| 00:16:46 | 00:16:49 | thanks for watching our video if you |
| 00:16:48 | 00:16:50 | thought it was useful give us a thumbs |
| 00:16:49 | 00:16:51 | up below |
| 00:16:50 | 00:16:53 | we release a new video at least once a |
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| 00:16:53 | 00:17:04 | when a new one comes out be sure to |
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