UTM Parameters
Ever wondered which of your marketing efforts actually brought someone to your site - was it that Instagram post, your email newsletter, or a Facebook ad? UTM parameters help you find out.
They're a simple way to label (or “tag”) your links so that when someone clicks one and signs up or purchases, your analytics tools (and Simplero!) know exactly where that person came from. No guessing, no assumptions - just clear data.
Heads up! This guide is a long one, so here are some quick links to help you navigate:
What is a UTM parameter?
Why do UTM parameters matter?
The five main UTM parameters you can add
How to build your UTM URL
How Simplero uses UTM parameters
How to view UTM Data for product purchases
How to view UTM Data for list subscriptions
How to view UTM Data for funnel opt-ins and purchases
How to view UTM Data for bot conversations
How to add UTM Parameters to links in your emails
How to track UTM Parameters on survey responses
What happens to the UTM parameters when someone clicks a button on a page you’ve UTM-tagged?
Using UTMs with Meta (Facebook and Instagram) ads
Best practices to keep your UTM data clean
What is a UTM parameter?
A UTM parameter is a short piece of text that you add to the end of a URL telling you where the link was clicked and how. It doesn't change where the link goes - it just carries extra information behind the scenes.
Here's what a normal link looks like: https://yoursite.com/offer
And here's the same link with UTM parameters added: https://yoursite.com/offer?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=spring_launch
That extra text after the ? is the UTM data. When someone clicks that link, your analytics tool reads those labels and records them - so you can see exactly where your visitors came from. Learn more about how to build your UTM URLs in this section.
You can share the same link in multiple places, just with different UTM parameters for each platform. That way, you'll always know which one sent the traffic.
Why do UTM parameters matter?
Without UTM parameters, analytics tools have to guess where your visitors came from - and they're often wrong. A click from a Facebook ad might show up as "direct traffic." An email link might go completely untracked. You end up making decisions based on incomplete or misleading data. And in Simplero, you also won’t be able to see where your members are clicking from.
With UTM parameters in place, you can answer questions like:
Which campaign brought in the most sign-ups this month?
Are my Facebook ads or my emails converting better?
Which specific post or ad creative got the most clicks?
This means you can put more budget and energy into what's actually working - and stop spending on what isn't.
The five main UTM parameters you can add (and additional tracking fields)
Think of UTM parameters like answering three questions about every visitor: Where did they come from? How did they get here? Which campaign sent them? There are five main parameters in total - three essential, two optional.
The essential three parameters
utm_source: Where did the traffic come from?
This is the platform or place that sent the visitor to you.
Examples: facebook, instagram, google, your-newsletter
utm_medium: How did they get there?
This describes the type of marketing - the channel or method.
Examples: email, paid_social, organic_social, cpc (cost-per-click)
utm_campaign: Which campaign was this?
This identifies the specific marketing effort or campaign that drove the visit
Examples: spring_launch, black_friday, welcome_sequence
The optional two parameters
utm_content: Which version of the content?
Useful when you're running multiple ads or links in the same campaign and want to know which specific one performed best.
Examples: blue_banner, video_ad, top_of_page_button
utm_term: Which keyword or audience?
Used to separate ads that use the same creative but target different audiences or keywords.
Examples: coaches_retarget, cold_audience_women
Additional tracking fields Simplero can capture
Adgroup: Which ad group or audience segment?
Primarily used in paid ads platforms like Google Ads and Meta Ads to identify the ad set, audience, or grouping the ad belonged to.
Examples: retargeting_group, warm_leads, website_visitors
Keyword: Which search keyword triggered the ad?
Most commonly used in Google Ads to track which search term led someone to click your ad.
Examples: business_coach, online_course_platform, email_marketing_for_coaches
How to build your UTM URL
You build a UTM URL by adding your parameters to the end of any link you want to track. Here's how to do it manually, step by step.
Start with your destination URL: This is the page you want people to land on. For example: https://yoursite.com/offer
Add a question mark: The question mark separates your URL from the tracking data. Add it directly after the URL with no spaces: https://yoursite.com/offer?
Add your first parameter: Each parameter follows the format parameter_name=your_value.
Start with utm_source. Let’s say your value is “facebook”, so the URL would be: https://yoursite.com/offer?utm_source=facebook
Add each additional parameter with an ampersand (&): Every parameter after the first is separated by an &: https://yoursite.com/offer?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=spring_launch
Use your finished URL wherever you're sharing the link
Paste each link into your ad, email, social post, etc (depending on the parameters you added). It will work exactly like your normal URL - it just carries the tracking data along with it.
How Simplero uses UTM parameters
When you add UTM parameters to a link and someone signs up to a funnel, makes a purchase or signs up to a list from that link, Simplero captures and displays that data against that signup or purchase. So you can see, for example, that a specific Facebook ad led directly to a sale.
We also give you the option to turn UTM tracking off and on automatically for your broadcasts.
Review UTM Parameters for Product Purchases, List Subscriptions, Funnel Opt-Ins/Purchases and Bot Conversations
For Product Purchases:
Head to Sales > Purchases (or Sales > Products > Choose the product > Purchases for purchases from a specific product)
Press the column icon on the right-hand side
Type UTM and select any of the UTM parameters you want to see on the columns for each purchase to understand where they came from:
You can also click on an individual purchase, and you’ll see the UTM data (if any) under the Conversion & tracking box:
NOTE! Sometimes you’ll see UTM parameters show up for purchases that came from a link in an email, even if you didn’t add any UTM parameters to the link yourself. Simplero automatically adds UTM parameters to links in your emails unless you tell us not to. Jump to How to add UTM Parameters to links in your emails for more information on this.
For List Subscriptions:
Head to Contacts > Lists
Choose the list you want to review and then click on the Subscribers tab
Press the column icon on the right-hand side
Type UTM and select any of the UTM parameters you want to display on the columns for each purchase to understand where they came from
NOTE! Simplero can display both the first and most recent tracked UTM values for list subscribers, provided the subscriber visited through UTM-tagged links before signing up.
For Funnel Opt-Ins and Purchases:
Head to Marketing > Funnels
Choose the funnel you want to review
Click the Opt-ins tab for list signups, and Purchases tab for product purchases
Press the column icon on the right-hand side
Type UTM and select any of the UTM parameters you want to see on the columns for each purchase to understand where they came from:
For Bot Conversations:
Head to Content > Bots
Choose the bot you want to review
Click the Conversations tab
Press the column icon on the right-hand side
Type UTM and select any of the UTM parameters you want to see on the columns for each conversation.
How to add UTM parameters to links in your emails
When you add a link to your emails, Simplero automatically adds UTM tracking to it - so you can see who clicked and what they did next. If you'd prefer not to track a specific link, you can always choose "Do Not Track" when adding a URL by following these steps:
Head to Marketing > Broadcasts (or Marketing > Email Library for automations emails)
Press the blue Create new broadcast button in the top right-hand corner
Press the link icon in the editor’s toolbar:
Add the URL, text to display and title shown on hover if relevant
Select “Do Not Track”:
Press the blue Insert button
As long as you keep that box de-selected, Simplero will add UTM parameters to the links in your emails automatically.
How to track UTM parameters on survey responses
You can now add hidden fields to your surveys that the respondents will never see, but will still get stored with their submission. You can use this field to capture data from the UTM parameters you added to the survey URL, to know where each respondent clicked on the survey link, etc.
Here’s how to do it:
Head to Contacts > Surveys
Choose the survey you want to add the hidden field to
Press the Add field button and choose Hidden field:
URL param: Add the name of the UTM parameter you’ll be tracking in the survey URL (ie. utm_source):
NOTE!
1. Required can stay toggled off, and Help text can be blank (these are not relevant, since the field is hidden).
2. Use a separate hidden field for each parameter.
Click the Responses tab
Now whatever UTM parameters are added to the survey URL will match up with the parameters in the hidden fields and display that data for each respondent under their respective columns:
What happens to the UTM parameters when someone clicks a button on a page you’ve UTM-tagged?
When someone clicks a button on a website or landing page that you UTM tag, Simplero gives you the option to carry over the same UTM parameters after clicking, or override them with new parameters.
Here’s how to do it:
Head to Marketing > Landing Pages or Marketing > Main Website
Click the Create a new landing page button or the Create a new page button in the top right-hand corner to create a new button, or click on the name of an existing page you want to add the button to
Add a button element to the page (here’s our guide on how to add sections and elements with the 2.0 builder if you need help with that)
Change the Action to “Go to link…” and now you’ll see two options for adding UTM parameters to the button:
Option 1 - Pass Through UTM Params: Simplero will carry over the page’s UTM parameters when someone clicks it.
Option 2 - Add UTM/Tracking Params: Simplero will override the page’s UTM parameters (with the new ones you add to this button) when someone clicks it.
NOTE! Be careful adding UTMs to links on a page you're already UTM tracking.
If someone arrives on your page via a UTM-tagged link, any buttons or links on that page leading to other pages on your site should have Pass through UTM params selected - not Add UTM/tracking params. If you manually add UTM parameters to those buttons, they will overwrite the original source data and you'll lose track of where that visitor originally came from. If you select both options, the system will prioritise the new parameters you added.
Use Add UTM/tracking params on a button only when you intentionally want to track that specific click as a separate source, and you're not concerned about preserving the original UTM tags on the page itself.
Using UTMs with Meta (Facebook and Instagram) ads
If you're running paid ads on Facebook or Instagram, here's something important to know: Meta tracks performance inside its own platform (clicks, reach, impressions), but that data stays inside Meta. To see what happens after the click - whether someone signed up, bought something, or bounced - you need UTM parameters feeding into your own analytics.
Here's Meta's guide on how to set up URL parameters for your Meta ads in Meta Ads Manager.
Meta lets you use dynamic variables so you don't have to type campaign names manually every time. For example:
utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=&utm_content=
NOTE! Meta will sometimes auto-apply its own UTMs if you don't set them - but their defaults can misattribute paid traffic as organic social in your analytics. Building your own UTM template gives you more accurate, consistent data.
Best practices to keep your UTM data clean
UTM parameters only work well if everyone uses them consistently. Here are the most important rules to follow:
Always use lowercase
UTMs are case-sensitive. Summer_Sale and summer_sale are treated as two completely different campaigns. Stick to lowercase everywhere.
Agree on naming conventions with your team
If one person uses cpc and another uses paid, your analytics will treat those as separate channels even if they mean the same thing. Decide on your terms upfront and document them.
Keep campaign names short and specific
Good campaign names are easy to spot in a report: 2024_q2_webinar is much clearer than webinar_q2_2024. Lead with the most unique identifier.
Always use the platform name as the source
utm_source should always be the actual platform: facebook, google, linkedin. Avoid vague names like social or ads.
Happy UTM tracking! 🎉
Help & Knowledge Base
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