UTM Campaign Tracking

Track marketing campaigns with UTM parameters. Narrowbeam automatically captures and reports on UTM tags, making it easy to measure campaign effectiveness.

What are UTM Parameters?

UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are tags added to URLs to track marketing campaigns. They help you identify where your traffic comes from and measure the success of specific campaigns.

Example Campaign URL

https://yoursite.com/products?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring-sale

Supported UTM Parameters

Narrowbeam automatically captures all five standard UTM parameters:

Parameter	Required	Description	Example
`utm_source`	Yes	Identifies the source of traffic	google, newsletter, facebook
`utm_medium`	Yes	Identifies the marketing medium	email, cpc, social, banner
`utm_campaign`	Yes	Identifies the specific campaign	spring-sale, product-launch
`utm_term`	Optional	Identifies paid search keywords	running-shoes, analytics-tool
`utm_content`	Optional	Differentiates similar content/links	header-cta, sidebar-link

How It Works

When a user visits your site with UTM parameters in the URL, Narrowbeam:

Extracts all UTM parameters from the URL query string
Includes them in the page view event and all subsequent actions
Makes them available for filtering and analysis in your dashboard
Preserves them throughout the user's session on your site

No configuration needed! UTM tracking works automatically as soon as you install the Narrowbeam script.

Building Campaign URLs

Create URLs with UTM parameters by adding them to your links:

// Base URL
https://yoursite.com/landing-page

// Add UTM parameters with ?
https://yoursite.com/landing-page?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=product-launch

// Add more parameters with &
https://yoursite.com/landing-page?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=product-launch&utm_content=video-ad

Common Use Cases

Email Campaigns

utm_source=newsletter
utm_medium=email
utm_campaign=weekly-digest

Social Media Posts

utm_source=facebook
utm_medium=social
utm_campaign=summer-promo
utm_content=carousel-ad

Google Ads

utm_source=google
utm_medium=cpc
utm_campaign=brand-keywords
utm_term=analytics-software

Partner Links

utm_source=partner-blog
utm_medium=referral
utm_campaign=guest-post

Analyzing Campaign Data

Once you have UTM-tagged traffic, you can analyze it in your Narrowbeam dashboard:

Create Campaign Widgets

Use the widget builder to create reports grouped by UTM parameters:

Group by utm_source: See which platforms drive the most traffic
Group by utm_campaign: Compare campaign performance
Group by utm_medium: Understand which channels work best
Multi-dimensional: Combine multiple UTM parameters (e.g., source + medium)

Filter by Campaign

Apply filters to focus on specific campaigns:

// Dashboard filter example:
utm_campaign equals "spring-sale"
AND utm_medium equals "email"

See Using Filters for more details on filtering.

Best Practices

Campaign Naming Conventions

Be consistent: Use lowercase and hyphens (e.g., spring-sale, not Spring_Sale)
Be descriptive: Use names that clearly identify the campaign
Document your structure: Keep a list of standard source/medium/campaign values
Use utm_content wisely: Perfect for A/B testing different ad creatives
Keep it simple: Don't overcomplicate your naming scheme

Avoid These Common Mistakes

Mixing capitalization (Facebook vs facebook vs FACEBOOK)
Using spaces instead of hyphens or underscores
Creating too many one-off campaign names that are hard to compare
Not using the required parameters (source, medium, campaign)

Standard Medium Values

While you can use any values, these standard medium values are widely recognized:

Medium	Use For
`organic`	Organic search traffic
`cpc`	Cost-per-click paid ads (Google Ads, etc.)
`email`	Email campaigns
`social`	Social media posts (organic)
`paid-social`	Paid social media ads
`referral`	Referral links from other sites
`display`	Display advertising
`affiliate`	Affiliate links

Testing Your UTM Tags

Before launching a campaign, test your UTM-tagged URLs:

Click your UTM-tagged link
Visit your Narrowbeam dashboard
Check that the UTM parameters appear in your data
Create a filter to verify the values are correct

UTM parameters are case-sensitive. utm_source=Facebook and utm_source=facebook will be tracked as different sources!