How to Use UTM to Track Email Success

What is a UTM code?

UTM stands for “Urchin Tracking Model” and UTM codes are essentially snippets of codes that are attached to the end of a URL. UTM codes are also called UTM parameters. UTM codes allow you to track the success of your marketing campaigns by letting you see exactly where the traffic to your website is coming from.

For example, if you’re sending out different versions of the same campaign via email, you want to be able to see which version is performing the best. And UTM codes will tell you exactly that. Knowing how to use email UTM codes is crucial for the success of your marketing campaigns so that you can make necessary changes and adjust your campaigns until you see the results you want.

Main types of UTM parameters for email campaigns

Using UTM parameters for email campaigns is actually pretty easy–as long as you’re aware of the main types of UTM parameters. The most common types of UTM parameters for email campaigns are the medium, source, and campaign parameters.

Medium

The medium is the marketing channel that directs the subscriber to your website. This can be through an email campaign, a social media platform, a video ad, or any other platform that you ran your campaign on. The main marketing channels that have multiple traffic sources are social, organic, paid, email, and affiliates.

Source

The source is the specific advertiser, site, or publication that refers a subscriber to your website. It’s basically an individual site within the channel. Google, Facebook, and Twitter are all examples of sources. So for example, if you’re running an ad on Twitter, the source will be Twitter and the medium will be paid social media. But if you’re just posting links to your website on your Twitter page, the medium will be organic social media, because the links are unpaid.

Campaign

The campaign is the specific name that is used for the content you’re running. The campaign can be a name, a slogan, or even a promo code. The campaign name can be anything that makes sense to you, but just make sure it’s easily identifiable so it can be found in product launches, promotional campaigns, and emails.

How to set up your UTM codes in email campaigns

So now that you know the main types of UTM parameters, let’s discuss how to set up your UTM email for tracking email campaigns. There are two ways you can go about setting up your UTM codes in email campaigns.

Set up UTM parameters manually

You can manually set up your email UTM parameters with various platform-specific URL builder tools, like Google Analytics. With this method, you will create a UTM code for each email element and then manually copy and paste the codes into each email.

The benefit of setting up your UTM parameters manually is that you can decide exactly how they work. While this might be more time-consuming, it also means you can tweak and edit the parameters across your campaigns as you like. This ensures that you’ll always have actionable data to analyze.

If you choose to set up your UTM parameters manually, it’s important to include the right wording. The wording in your UTM parameters should be:

• Non-redundant
• Simple to read
• Consistent

This helps to ensure that your UTMs are reportable. It’s also best to stick with lowercase letters throughout all of your email campaigns so you don’t have to worry about accidentally forgetting an uppercase letter that completely throws it off. Your UTM parameters should be simple, yet descriptive, so it’s easy to identify the campaign.

Automate UTM parameters

The second way to set up your UTM codes in email campaigns is to do it automatically. There are various email marketing tools that you can use that will automatically generate and add UTM codes to every email you send out for your campaign.

By automatically setting up UTM parameters for your emails, you can save yourself the time of having to go through and set up every individual email UTM parameter yourself. But although it’s less time-consuming, it also means you don’t have the freedom to change the parameters as you like.

How to use UTM_medium for email campaign tracking

As a marketer, you need to know how to use UTM_medium for email campaign tracking. UTM codes enable you to track the success of your email marketing campaigns so that you can see exactly where your website traffic is coming from. Is it from an email campaign? Or a social media ad? Having UTM codes will tell you all of that and more.

Integrate Google Analytics with Mailchimp

In order to actually track the performance of your email campaign, you need to use an analytics tool, like Google Analytics. And if you use Mailchimp for your email campaigns, you can simply integrate Google Analytics into your account to track the data from the campaigns.

Rather than using a separate analytics tool, adding Google Analytics to your Mailchimp account makes it easier than ever to track the traffic and performance of your campaigns. With Mailchimp, you can easily access important reports and analytics that will help you learn more about your audience so you can see what’s working and what isn't, and make adjustments as necessary.

Why track email campaign data?

There are many reasons why it’s important to track your email campaign data. The main goal behind using UTM codes to track email success is so that companies can better understand which channels drive the most traffic. For example, if you see that a certain social media platform consistently generates the most traffic to your website, you can then adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.

It’s critical to have an idea of how your email campaigns are performing so that you can improve engagement and drive revenue for your company. If you can’t track your email campaign data, it puts you at a disadvantage and potentially causes you to miss out on opportunities to increase traffic fairly easily.

Final notes

When you use UTM codes in your email campaigns, you’re opening the door to a world of opportunities for your business. UTM codes allow you to track the performance of your campaigns in a much more valuable way. With UTM codes, you can track the sources of traffic, e-commerce, and so much more.

Mailchimp is an all-in-one email marketing platform where you can manage and organize your email campaigns to optimize your business’s success. And if you’re already using Mailchimp as your email marketing service, you can easily track the performance of your email campaigns by adding Google Analytics to your account. You can also access a myriad of tools on Mailchimp, such as an email content optimizer, which will help you create the best possible copy for your emails campaigns.

Unsure if it’s the right service for you? Take a deeper dive into the differences between other free email marketing services vs. Mailchimp. With Mailchimp, you’ll get access to free tools that will help you grow your customer base and increase engagement. You can also choose between various plan options, so you can easily find one that suits your business's unique needs and budget. There’s a reason why so many businesses use Mailchimp for their email marketing service. We’re here to help you bring your business to new levels with engaging and successful email campaigns.