UTMs tell you where your leads and sales come from. In this lesson, you'll learn what the five UTM variables mean, how to turn on tracking, how to build tracked links, how to tag every link in your emails automatically, and where to find the results on each contact. UTM tracking is available on Pro and above.
A UTM is a short bit of text added to the end of a link. When someone clicks it, Ontraport reads that text and records which campaign, platform and ad brought them in. It's the same five-part system tools like Google Analytics use.
Campaign is the promotion the link belongs to, like a product launch or a promo code. Source is where the visitor was browsing, like Facebook, Google, email or a blog. Medium is the format within that source, like an organic post, a boosted post or an ad. Content is the specific ad or link they clicked, which is handy for naming split-test versions. And Term is the keyword you bid on in search ads, though you can also use it for things like dates.
To get started, click your profile icon, then Administration, then Advanced Features, and turn on Tracking. That adds a Tracking tab to your navigation bar.
Click Tracking, then New Tracking URL. Enter the page you want to send people to. Then fill in Campaign Name, Source and Medium, which are required. Content and Terms are optional. Click Create URL, and use that link in your ad, post or email.
Keep your names consistent. Spelling, spacing and capitalization all count, so "facebook" and "Facebook" are tracked as two different sources. And if you use Content or Term on some links, use them on all of them.
To reuse a link, hover over Tracking and choose URL History. Select the link and click Generate code. From the same menu, you can pick any UTM variable to see its stats, like visits, sales, new clients and lifetime value.
The page your link points to needs Ontraport's tracking script. It's already on your Ontraport pages, and on WordPress sites that use PilotPress. For any other site, click your profile icon, then Administration, then Developer Preferences and Resources, and click Get Tracking Code. Paste it on every page, just before the closing body tag.
You don't have to tag your email links by hand. In Advanced Mail, click Settings, then Email settings, and turn on "Add tracking to the links in this email." In Simple Mail and Raw HTML, it's a checkbox at the top of the editor. Ontraport fills in the UTM values based on how the email was sent and its subject line. Keep in mind contacts can see those values in the link, including your automation names. And emails sent from the quick email editor aren't tracked.
To see a contact's UTMs, open their record, go to the Contact Information tab, and scroll down to Lead Information. You'll see two sets of values. First click is the UTM link they clicked before they opted in. It shows what brought them in. Contacts who didn't click a UTM link before opting in won't have first-click values. Last click is the most recent UTM link they clicked. Any visit with a UTM replaces all five last values, and a visit without one leaves them as they are. That shows you what led to a purchase or another action.
UTM tracking works on Contacts, not custom objects. And in Performance Mode, Tracking filters let you see goal conversion rates by UTM value. That's available on Pro and above, too.
So: turn on tracking, build tracked links with consistent names, switch on link tracking in your emails, and check each contact's first and last values. Next up: deep funnel conversions, where you send that data back to your ad platforms.