Measuring your campaign performance is critical to being a successful marketer and developing an amazing online presence. You must continually improve your brand's reach and image to make a real difference.UTM tracking, otherwise known as "URL tracking modules" or "urchin tracking modules," helps you to determine exactly where your marketing traffic is coming from. For example, it shows which blog post earns you the most customers, or which ad campaigns you should spend your budget on. So, how do you get started with things like UTM builder tools and UTM parameters?That's what Ampry's here to help you with. Our software keeps track of customer data from your websites, helping you see which ads are working and which aren't. In addition, Ampry's pixel software is safe and easy to install, letting you start displaying optimized messages today.
What Does UTM Stand For?
First, one of the most common UTM pitfalls for modern companies is that they jump into using these tools without understanding how they work. The term UTM usually refers to the urchin tracking module. UTM source codes got their name "urchin tracking module" from a business called Urchin on Demand. It was a company that previously owned an early version of the Google analytics tools we use today. The name stuck after Google acquired the company in 2005.These UTM parameters are snippets of code that you can add to the end of a URL to turn those links into tracking URLs. You can use a UTM code generator to create your code, then follow how your customers got to your website and check out the page by looking at which websites they came from.With a tracking link, business leaders and marketing teams can see where most of their search traffic came from.
What Does a UTM Tracking Code Look Like?
The whole point of UTM tracking is that it gives businesses better insight into the customer journey. For example, you can find out where your audience clicked on your website URL and determine which marketing strategies are the most effective. A UTM tracking link usually appears the same as a standard link, with a UTM component on the end. Like this: http://blog.website.com/blog-post?utm_campaign=blogpost &utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebookIn this example, you'll see that the traffic sources for the people who click on the link are for Facebook. Additionally, the medium of your traffic is "social media." Remember, using a UTM generator to create trackable links doesn't affect what's on the page. It just gives you more information about your analytics program. You can even use a URL shortener to create smaller links to share on social media. Your UTM code and your page will still work the same, regardless of code length.
What Can You Track with UTM Codes?
To expand your URL's potential with a UTM code builder, you need to learn what you can evaluate with this tool. The custom URL you generate for your campaigns tracks a Medium UTM source (such as social media) and a place within that medium, like social media and Facebook. Here are a few things you can track with a UTM campaign URL.
- A specific campaign: Campaign tracking allows you to group all of the content from a particular marketing effort in your analytics tool. You can use a campaign URL builder to determine which campaigns drive the most revenue towards your bottom line. For instance, you could have a campaign builder UTM URL that looks like this example: www.website.com/?utm_campaign=10percentcode
- A source: Another thing you might track with your analytics tools is a source. Source-based UTM parameters look at which websites are sending you traffic. You can add an example code like utm_source=Facebook to every URL you're tracking from Facebook, to help you determine if your social campaigns are paying off, for instance.
- A medium: To go more in-depth with your marketing tool and link data, you can examine mediums. Medium-focused UTM parameters look at the medium your tracked link appears in. For instance, you might track paid search, social channels, or search engine results. An example could be utm_medium=paidsearch.
- A certain piece of content: If you want to see which blogs send the most traffic back to your website from your marketing campaigns, you can track a certain piece of content. This strategy is usually used in paid marketing efforts and CPC. You might track utm_content=headerlink, for instance.
- A term: Tracking a term with your UTM builder allows you to see which keywords have the biggest impact on your analytics. For instance, if you pay for a Google Ads campaign to rank for the keyword "social media software," you might add this UTM parameter to your URL builder: utm_term=social+media+software
A good thing about UTM parameters is that you can combine different strategies if you have the right builder tool to generate URL codes for you. For instance, you could track the campaign, source, and medium—all with one code.
How Do You Create a UTM?
UTM parameters and URL tracking can update your content analytics and accomplish more with your campaigns. However, before you can accomplish your goals, you need to know how to create the code for your link. The good news for today's marketing experts and business leaders is that there are lots of UTM builder tool options out there to help you. You can even find UTM chrome extension software. For most companies, the easiest option will be to use Google Analytics.There are three kinds of tracking tags in Google. Two of those help you to track app traffic. The other option is the Google analytic campaign URL builder, which is what you need. The UTM builder from Google looks like this:You need to add the URL that you're tagging, the source, the medium (marketing channels), and any other information required to the respective boxes. Once you've got your link from the Google URL builder, plug it into your marketing campaigns. If you don't want a super lengthy link on your social media posts, you can use a tool like Bit.ly to reduce your URL's size. Don't worry; using this tool won't impact your data. Once you have posted your URL, the next step is tracking your success. If you already have Google Analytics set up for your website, then Google can track your upcoming campaigns. To find your data, go to Audience > Sources > Campaigns.
The Benefits of UTM Builder Tools
A URL builder and UTM tracking tool helps you improve your marketing spreadsheet's analytics data. With this strategy, you can figure out where your traffic is coming from, how it's getting to you, and why you're earning your conversions. The more you learn using UTM tracking, the easier it will be to figure out where you should be spending your limited budget for your marketing campaigns. Of course, just like any other marketing strategy, it's important to go into this analytics effort with the right plan. Here are some top tips to improve the results and insights you get from UTM tracking:
Design naming conventions:
Tracking your URL data can become a lot more complicated when you're not consistent with your naming conventions. It's best to stick to dashes instead of underscores. You can also use plus signs in your URLs if it helps to keep things neat. Using lowercase letters throughout your campaigns would also help (if you stayed consistent). Changing to uppercase will give you the extra stress of remembering that convention. Try to avoid any excess fluff or terms that you don't need in your link too. If possible, using a service like bit.ly to shorten your UTM URL when it's complete could be a great way to make your content more clickable on social media.
Establish a UTM system
Successful companies need to keep track of how much revenue and return they're getting from each marketing investment. Once you know how UTMs work, it's easy to combine your tracking data with a system that improves your marketing and sales strategies. You can link your tracking data into your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools and see how various channels are having an impact on your bottom line. There's also the option to enhance your analytics by setting up goals within Google Analytics too.
Track your UTM link
Finally, keeping a record of the tagged links that you want to assess with your analytics can help to keep your marketing team on the same page. You can use a free spreadsheet template like this one to get started. Tracking all your links in a single Google sheet ensures that you know exactly which sources, campaigns, and specific keywords you're looking at. This should also prevent members of your marketing team, creating extra superfluous URLs for no reason. UTM links help your campaign stay lean and mean, and are vital for tracking how well your campaigns are doing.
That's Where Ampry Comes In
Ampry has the versatile, customizable tools your business needs to get the word out! Our program keeps track of all your sites and campaigns and lets you optimize customer retention. Our software helps you with wherever customers are coming from, how long they're staying, or whatever direction your ad campaign needs to take.Ampry works as a pop-up message/ad manager. Once you've installed our pixel (a code snippet in the page header), you can add pop-ups to whatever affiliate website you like. Whether your site uses WordPress, Clickfunnel, or Shopify, Ampry's cross-platform integration is completely customizable. After you install our pixel, you'll receive a notification in green saying, "Congrats! Your pixel is sending data." That means it's working and your URL data is going through our site. After that, you can decide what type of messages you'd like your sites to display. Then, choose between dozens of pre-set templates and upload your own site's logos and photos. Choose settings such as frequency, which pages show the message, and how long you want the message to appear in a search session.Ampry's unique, all-encompassing optimization has helped dozens of businesses engage new customers. Click here to get started today!