Using UTM Parameters to track lead attribution

What is Lead Attribution?

Lead attribution is a data-driven approach to learning as much as we can about our customers and their journey towards making a purchase, or at least starting a conversation. The more we know about our customers and what made them engage, the easier it is to determine how effective our marketing efforts are and where we are getting the best results.

Introducing UTM Parameters

With links to your website across multiple channels including social media, paid ads, print, QR codes etc. we need to be able track traffic from each source and using UTM parameters is the most accurate way to do so.

Lead attribution enables marketers to identify trends and patterns in customer behaviour, helping them refine their targeting and engagement strategies.

What are UTM Parameters

UTM parameters are tags added to the end of your URLs, usually after a question mark (?), and we use these to track exactly where a customer (or lead) has come from. They are more commonly used in paid marketing campaigns to measure the effectiveness of different marketing channels and campaigns; however you should be using them to measure any effort you are making to drive traffic to your website.

Main Purpose

UTM parameters provide valuable insight into how users interact with your website and which specific links are generating leads and conversions.

UTM parameters are a powerful tool for marketers to gather actionable data, refine their strategies, and optimize their marketing efforts for greater success.

The 5 Key UTM Parameters

There are five main UTM parameters that we can use to track lead conversions:

  1. utm_source: This parameter specifies the source of the traffic, such as the platform or website where the link was clicked. For example, if you’re running a campaign on Facebook, you can set the utm_source to “facebook.”
  2. utm_medium: This parameter indicates the type of medium that delivered the traffic, such as email, social media, or CPC (cost-per-click) ads. For example, if you’re sending out an email newsletter, you can set the utm_medium to “email.”
  3. utm_campaign: Use this parameter to label the specific marketing campaign or promotion that the link is associated with. For instance, if you’re promoting a summer sale, your utm_campaign could be “summer_sale.”
  4. utm_content: This parameter is used to differentiate between different versions of the same content. For example, if you’re A/B testing two versions of an ad, you can use utm_content to label them as “ad_variationA” and “ad_variationB.”
  5. utm_term: This parameter is typically used for paid search campaigns and helps track the keywords that triggered your ad. If you’re running a Google Ads campaign, you can use utm_term to identify the targeted keyword, like “running_shoes.”

Marketing Channels

We use a combination of UTM Source and UTM Medium to identify traffic from each marketing channel.

Here are some examples

  • Facebook Posts – if you post content on Facebook you can add the following tags to the end of your link (URL):
    ?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post
  • Newsletter Links – if you send out promotional emails or newsletters you can add the following tags to the end of links (URLs) included in your email:
    ?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
  • Third Party Websites – if you have links on third party websites you can reference the name of the site in a tag added to the end of the link (URL):
    ?utm_source=site-name&utm_medium=referral change site name
  • QR Codes – if you display QR codes on brochures or products, you can reference the name of the product in a tag added to the end of the link (URL):
    ?utm_source=product-name&utm_medium=qrcode change product name

Marketing channels can be both online and offline. Think of all the different marketing channels where you have content promoting links to your website.

Marketing Campaigns

Marketing Campaigns are essentially a series of content distributed across multiple Marketing Channels. We use UTM Campaign to identify traffic related to a specific campaign, and UTM Source and UTM Medium to identify the channel.

Here are some examples

  • How to Videos on Facebook – if you post How to Video content on Facebook you can add the following tags to the end of your link (URL):
    ?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=how-to-videos
  • Monthly Newsletter – if you send out a monthly newsletters you can add the following tags to the end of any links (URLs) included in the email:
    ?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=0823
  • QR Codes for User Guides – if you display QR codes on products for quick access to user guides, you can reference the name of the product in a tag added to the end of the link (URL):
    ?utm_source=product-name&utm_medium=qrcode&utm_campaign=userguide change product name

UTM Parameters form part of the URL so please avoid using special characters as these will result in a broken URL. Use %20 for spaces.

Segmenting Marketing Campaigns

As a Marketing Campaign can consist of a series of content, we can use UTM Content to gain deeper insight into which piece of content is generating the most interest. You can also use this parameter to compare different versions of the same content to see which one performs better in terms of traffic and conversions.

Here are some examples

  • How to Videos on Facebook – if you post a series of How to Videos on Facebook you can use UTM Content to identify each video. Add the following tags to the end of your link (URL):
    ?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=how-to-videos&utm_content=video-1
  • QR Codes for User Guides – if you display multiple QR codes on products with quick access to different userguides, you can use UTM Content to identify each guide. Add the following to the end of the link (URL):
    ?utm_source=product-name&utm_medium=qrcode&utm_campaign=userguide&utm_content=installation change product name