What are UTM parameters?

UTM parameters for gyms

• utm_sourceWhere the link was: google, facebook, instagram, a newsletter.
• utm_mediumWhat kind of traffic: cpc for paid clicks, email, social, print.
• utm_campaignWhich campaign: the January intro offer, the Duxbury opening.
• utm_termThe keyword, on search campaigns.
• utm_contentWhich ad or creative, when a campaign has several.

Put them on the end of a link and the landing page can read them. Google Analytics reads them, most CRMs can store them, and any tracking pixel worth having records them. The point for a gym is that every enquiry arrives already labeled with the source, medium and campaign that produced it, instead of a front-desk guess.

The two mistakes. First, inconsistent values: Facebook, facebook and fb are three sources to a report. Pick one spelling and keep it. Second, treating UTMs as the only tag. A UTM says which campaign; it does not identify the click, so it cannot be sent back to Google or Meta as a conversion. That is the job of the gclid and fbclid, and the two kinds of tag travel together.

For Google, the parameters go in a Final URL suffix set once at account level, alongside the gclid that auto-tagging adds. For Meta, they go in the URL parameters field at the ad-set or ad level, where Meta can fill in the campaign, ad set and ad names for you. Set once, they follow every ad you run.

How Adsu uses UTM parameters

Adsu supplies a parameter template for each platform: an account-level Final URL suffix for Google Ads, and ad-set or ad-level URL parameters for Meta. The template keeps the readable campaign fields alongside the durable platform IDs, so a report can show the campaign by name and still match the click by ID. The Adsu pixel reads a defined set of parameter names on the landing page; renaming a key in a redirect tool or link shortener makes the visit untraceable. Adsu counts verified stages only: if a stage cannot be verified, it is not counted. Every report is one line per campaign per location.

Adsu credits the last eligible touch inside the 30 days before the payment. Print and offline links get the same treatment, so a QR code on a flyer can be a source in the same report as a Google campaign. Booked, showed and paid go back to Google as offline conversions and to Meta through the Conversions API.

See also: Tag ad URLs in the docs.

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