We are proud to launch a new ‘How To’ series: in it, we will be sharing with you the basics of great marketing campaigns. You may not have heard about the UTM – other firms might not want you to share what’s happening behind the scenes but at YEWS, we’re all about transparency and that’s what our clients love.
Maybe you’re already running and an online campaign and it’s not producing the results you were hoping for? Or, perhaps you’re planning to start a new campaign?
The UTM will help you to find out if that recent purchase/conversion came from the Google, Facebook, Pinterest or email marketing campaign.
If you are currently running an online campaign already or are planning to, we highly recommend using a UTM code to track your campaigns and your customer. This is because the UTM will help you to identify the success or failure of your campaign. Without it, you could be missing key information about the customer journey.
Let’s break down the concept using the 4Ws and 1H for a better understanding:
UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module parameters. It is used by marketers to track the effectiveness of online campaigns across multiple traffic sources (source: Wikipedia – UTM Parameters). I’ve attached a screenshot below to show how it looks.
What
Isolate the source of your conversion data with a simple code attached to a custom URL. This will track the traffic source, medium, and campaign name so you know what’s working.
For example, by using UTM code you can track the performance of your COVID-19 campaigns across multiple platforms. For example, perhaps you’ve added free shipping to encourage spending among your target market – the majority of whom are suddenly shopping from home? The UTM will help you to find out exactly where that recent purchase/conversion came from.
How
The UTM is useful for all customers because, as you know, the customer journey is becoming increasingly complex. When you’re looking for something, say a Dentist, for example, you probably won’t just find it on one website. You might search, ‘Dentist near me’, read a few review websites, ask friends or someone you trust. You might hear about a new discount or treatment plan on a sponsored Facebook Ad or be prompted to rebook a dentist appointment through email. This is where a UTM is important. When used to its potential, the UTM, can show you which campaign/medium is delivering the results.
Why
When
Ideally, it should be used all the time, especially when you have multiple campaigns running across different channels. This is because it gives you precise data and indicates the effectiveness of each channel.
For instance, if you have recently optimised your Google My Business Listing and added the UTM code on the destination URL. Then you will see how many customers come from there and how many of them turn to a lead. In the example, below local/organic shows the results from a Google My Business listing with the UTM code attached to the destination URL.
Where
It can be used on any website with a URL. For example, you might have 3 campaigns running.
If you have a Google Ads campaign, Pinterest Ads campaign and e-mail campaigns running at the same time, with all three going to the same landing page, you might find traffic to the landing page without knowing its source.
In this case scenario, you will need 3 different UTM codes with different campaign names so you can see which one is more effective than the others. Here, you can identify where most of the conversions came from. Then you can adjust the budget and resources to focus your campaign at the source of your greatest amount of conversions.
(The above examples are real-life examples and have been edited to protect privacy.)
UTM code is a super useful tool for tracking the effectiveness of campaigns. By providing a clear picture of the source of your conversions, the UTM helps you to understand your data and plan the right direction for effective, future campaigns.
If you would like more information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
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