UTMs (Urchin Tracking Modules) are an essential tool for tracking marketing campaigns and analyzing traffic sources. Dynamic parameters allow you to pass additional data through UTMs to get more granular insights into your marketing efforts.
What are UTMs?
UTMs are a way to tag links so that you can track traffic in Google Analytics. When a user clicks on a link with UTMs, data is passed to Google Analytics about the source of that click. There are five parameters that make up UTMs:
- utm_source – Identifies which site sent the traffic
- utm_medium – Identifies what type of link was used (email, social media, etc)
- utm_campaign – Identifies a specific campaign or initiative
- utm_term – Identifies keywords related to paid search campaigns
- utm_content – Provides additional notes or details
So a typical UTM tag might look like this:
https://www.example.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=summer-sale
The tagged URL provides details about where the traffic came from (Facebook), what type of link it was (social media), and what campaign it’s associated with (summer sale). This makes it easy to segment and analyze your traffic in Google Analytics.
Why are dynamic parameters useful?
While the core UTM parameters are great, they have some limitations. Dynamic parameters allow you to capture additional, customizable data that the default UTMs don’t cover. Here are some examples of how they can be beneficial:
- Pass specific ad creative details (ad copy, images, etc.) to see which perform best
- Pass landing page URLs to evaluate funnel performance
- Pass author/influencer names to analyze traffic and engagement
- Pass email category or segment for better email analytics
- Pass specific product IDs, categories, etc. for enhanced ecommerce tracking
As you can see, dynamic parameters let you dig deeper into your marketing and content performance at a very granular level. You get visibility into exactly which messages, products, pages, authors, and other attributes are driving results.
How to implement dynamic UTM parameters
Adding dynamic parameters to your UTMs is easy! Here are the basic steps:
- Decide what additional data would be useful to track.
- Determine parameter names for each type of data (e.g. “product_id”).
- Add the parameters and values to your UTM tagged links as needed.
- Ensure the parameter data is being collected in Google Analytics.
- Build custom reports and segments to analyze the new data.
Dynamic parameters are structured just like the default UTMs, using the format utm_[name]=[value].
For example:
https://www.example.com/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=summer-sale&utm_product_id=1234
You can add as many custom parameters as needed. Just make sure to keep the overall URL length in mind – most have a limit of 2,048 characters.
Best practices for implementing dynamic parameters
Here are some tips for getting the most out of your dynamic UTM tracking:
- Create a consistent naming structure (e.g. “product_id”)
- Document definitions for all parameters you use
- Be selective – only track data that provides meaningful insights
- Keep parameter names short for readability
- Plan implementation across teams and processes
- Educate stakeholders on how and why you are using dynamic parameters
Examples of dynamic UTM implementations
Let’s look at some real-world examples of dynamic UTMs in action:
Ecommerce Product Tracking
An online retailer wants to see which products drive the most revenue from their email marketing campaigns. They implement a “product_id” parameter to track product-level data:
https://www.onlineretailer.com/product123?utm_source=email&utm_medium=promotion&utm_campaign=summer-sale&utm_product_id=1234
Now they can create a custom report in Google Analytics to analyze revenue and conversions by product ID, helping optimize their email product promotions.
Landing Page Testing
A marketing manager is A/B testing different landing pages. They add a “landing_page” parameter to track engagement for each variation:
https://www.company.com/landing-page-1?utm_source=ad&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=q4-campaign&utm_landing_page=version1
This data allows them to generate reports comparing performance across landing page versions to see which one converts better.
Affiliate Link Tracking
An online retailer promotes discounts through multiple affiliate partners. They use an “affiliate_id” parameter to see which partners drive more traffic and sales:
https://www.retailer.com/deals?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=bfcm-2022&utm_affiliate_id=partnerA
The company can then optimize promotional resources around their top-performing affiliate relationships.
Tools for managing dynamic UTM parameters
Manually adding dynamic parameters to links for each campaign and initiative would be extremely labor intensive. Fortunately, there are tools available to help automate the process:
Google Analytics
Google Analytics has a URL Builder tool that lets you easily add UTMs and custom parameters to links. You can also set up ValueTrack parameters for use across campaigns.
Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager provides greater flexibility for implementing UTMs dynamically using data layers and variables. Values can be populated automatically on your site.
Affiliate Tracking Software
Affiliate and partnership management platforms like Impact or Post Affiliate Pro enable you to automatically pass affiliate IDs in your UTM tracking.
Email Marketing Software
Many email service providers like Mailchimp allow you to dynamically insert UTM parameters that pull from customer profiles and campaign data.
CRM Platforms
Customer relationship management tools like Salesforce help populate UTM parameters from known data on contacts, accounts, and campaigns.
The right tools take the hassle out of configuring parameters, letting you scale your implementation much faster.
Getting started with dynamic UTM tracking
If you’re ready to enhance your Google Analytics data, here are some tips for implementing dynamic parameters successfully:
- Audit your existing reports to find gaps
- Brainstorm additional data points that would be valuable
- Prioritize parameters that relate to business goals
- Start with one or two new parameters and expand over time
- Create documentation for using parameters consistently
- Educate stakeholders on the new tracking plan
- Review new reports after a few weeks and tweak as needed
With strategic use of dynamic parameters, you can gain remarkable new insights into your marketing and content performance. Take the time to carefully plan what data you want to collect, and how you will leverage it to make smarter optimizations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some common dynamic parameters?
Common dynamic UTM parameters include:
- Landing page URL
- Ad creative name/ID
- Author/influencer name
- Email category or segment
- Product ID
- Discount or coupon code
- Video or content ID
- Specific campaign name
How many parameters can I add to a UTM link?
There is no specific limit on the number of UTM parameters you can add. However, most browsers and web servers impose a maximum URL length of 2,048 characters, so that puts a practical limit on the total number of parameters.
Can I use underscores instead of hyphens in UTM names?
Technically, you can use either hyphens or underscores in your UTM parameter names. However, hyphens are more commonly used and considered the standard convention. Using underscores instead may cause reporting inconsistencies in some analytics platforms.
Where do I find UTM parameters in Google Analytics?
In Google Analytics, UTM parameters are reported under Acquisition > Campaigns. You’ll see the standard UTMs like Source, Medium, etc. To see any custom dynamic parameters, check under the All Campaigns Data tab.
How do I set up goals and conversions for UTM parameters?
You can track goals and conversions for specific UTM parameters by using segments and secondary dimensions. For example, create a segment filtering for a particular utm_campaign value, then view goal conversion rates just for that segment.
Conclusion
Implementing dynamic UTM parameters provides immense value through deeper marketing insights and better optimization. With some strategic planning and consistent tracking, dynamic parameters give you the power to analyze your marketing performance on a much more granular level.
Start by identifying key data points that are missing from your reports today. Then explore ways to automatically populate UTM parameters across campaigns and channels. Maintain thorough documentation, educate stakeholders, and keep iterating on your tracking over time.
Before you know it, you’ll unlock outstanding new visibility that takes your marketing analytics to the next level with dynamic UTMs.
