{"id":160,"date":"2026-08-02T03:37:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T03:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quickmarketingtools.com\/blog\/?p=160"},"modified":"2026-07-26T03:41:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T03:41:43","slug":"utm-parameter-cheat-sheet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quickmarketingtools.com\/blog\/utm-parameter-cheat-sheet\/","title":{"rendered":"UTM Parameter Cheat Sheet (All UTM Values & Examples)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you’ve ever looked at Google Analytics and seen half your traffic sitting in “Unassigned” or “Direct,” the problem usually isn’t your analytics setup. It’s your links. A campaign without proper UTM tagging is basically invisible – GA4 can’t tell you whether that sale came from your email blast, your Instagram story, or a random bookmark. This cheat sheet lays out every UTM parameter, the exact values marketers actually use for each channel, and the naming rules that keep your reports clean instead of turning into a spreadsheet full of duplicate rows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bookmark it, or better yet, pair it with the UTM builder<\/a> so you’re not retyping the same source\/medium combinations from memory every time you launch a campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a UTM Parameter Actually Does<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A UTM parameter is a small snippet of text tacked onto the end of a URL after a question mark. It doesn’t change where the link goes or what the page looks like – it just rides along and tells your analytics platform where the click came from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take this URL:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/yourstore.com\/summer-sale?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=summer_sale_2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything after the ? is UTM data. When someone clicks it, GA4 reads those tags and files the resulting session under Facebook, paid social, and the summer sale campaign. Strip the tags off and that same click just looks like a stranger who typed your URL in from nowhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module – a leftover name from Urchin Software, the analytics company Google bought back in 2005. The acronym is trivia at this point; what matters is that every major analytics platform, from GA4 to HubSpot to your ad server, still reads these same five tags today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 5 UTM Parameters, Explained<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are five standard parameters. Three are required for any campaign you actually want to measure. Two are optional and add detail once you’re past the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parameter<\/strong><\/td>What It Tracks<\/strong><\/td>Required?<\/strong><\/td>Example<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
utm_source<\/td>The platform or site sending the traffic<\/td>Yes<\/td>utm_source=google<\/td><\/tr>
utm_medium<\/td>The type of channel (paid, email, social, etc.)<\/td>Yes<\/td>utm_medium=cpc<\/td><\/tr>
utm_campaign<\/td>The specific campaign or promotion name<\/td>Yes<\/td>utm_campaign=black_friday_2026<\/td><\/tr>
utm_term<\/td>Paid search keyword or audience segment<\/td>Optional<\/td>utm_term=running+shoes<\/td><\/tr>
utm_content<\/td>Which specific ad, link, or creative was clicked<\/td>Optional<\/td>utm_content=header_cta<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A simple way to think about it: source is who sent the visitor, medium is how they were sent, and campaign is why. Term and content exist for when “why” isn’t specific enough – like when you’re running three versions of the same ad and need to know which one is actually pulling its weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One behavior catches a lot of people off guard: the moment GA4 sees even one UTM parameter on a URL, it stops reading the referrer entirely and relies only on your tags. So if you tag utm_campaign but forget utm_source and utm_medium, those fields don’t fall back to “whatever GA4 would have guessed” – they just come back blank. Partial tagging is often worse than no tagging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UTM Parameter Cheat Sheet by Channel<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is the part people actually bookmark. Below are the standard, GA4-friendly values for each major channel. Stick to these unless you have a specific reason not to – GA4’s default channel grouping logic is built around recognizing common medium values, and going off-script is the fastest way to end up in “Unassigned.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google Ads<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Google Ads has native auto-tagging through GCLID, so you generally don’t need manual UTMs for standard search or display campaigns run inside Google Ads – GA4 picks it up automatically once auto-tagging is enabled. Manual UTMs are still useful for cross-checking data or for campaigns run through third-party ad platforms that display Google inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Field<\/strong><\/td>Value<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
utm_source<\/td>google<\/td><\/tr>
utm_medium<\/td>cpc<\/td><\/tr>
utm_campaign<\/td>spring_promo<\/td><\/tr>
utm_term<\/td>running+shoes<\/td><\/tr>
utm_content<\/td>text_ad_v1<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meta (Facebook & Instagram)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Meta has no native GA4 auto-tagging, so manual UTMs here are non-negotiable if you want clean attribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Field<\/strong><\/td>Value<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
utm_source<\/td>facebook or instagram<\/td><\/tr>
utm_medium<\/td>paid_social<\/td><\/tr>
utm_campaign<\/td>retargeting_q3<\/td><\/tr>
utm_content<\/td>carousel_ad_2<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meta Ads Manager also supports dynamic URL macros at the ad-set or ad level, so a single template like utm_campaign={{campaign.name}}&utm_content={{ad.name}} auto-fills with the actual campaign and ad names at click time. Worth setting up once if you’re running more than a handful of ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Email<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Field<\/strong><\/td>Value<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
utm_source<\/td>Your ESP or brand name, e.g. mailchimp, klaviyo, or newsletter<\/td><\/tr>
utm_medium<\/td>email<\/td><\/tr>
utm_campaign<\/td>august_newsletter<\/td><\/tr>
utm_content<\/td>cta_button or hero_image<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Keep utm_medium=email consistent across every email tool you use. It’s tempting to write newsletter here instead, but that string doesn’t match GA4’s recognized medium values – put “newsletter” in the campaign name instead and keep the medium clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LinkedIn<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Field<\/strong><\/td>Value<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
utm_source<\/td>linkedin<\/td><\/tr>
utm_medium<\/td>paid_social (ads) or social (organic posts)<\/td><\/tr>
utm_campaign<\/td>b2b_leadgen_q4<\/td><\/tr>
utm_content<\/td>sponsored_post_1<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Organic Social (X, TikTok, Pinterest, etc.)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Field<\/strong><\/td>Value<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
utm_source<\/td>twitter, tiktok, pinterest, etc.<\/td><\/tr>
utm_medium<\/td>social<\/td><\/tr>
utm_campaign<\/td>product_launch<\/td><\/tr>
utm_content<\/td>bio_link or pinned_post<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

YouTube<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Field<\/strong><\/td>Value<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
utm_source<\/td>youtube<\/td><\/tr>
utm_medium<\/td>video or paid_social for YouTube Ads<\/td><\/tr>
utm_campaign<\/td>brand_awareness_2026<\/td><\/tr>
utm_content<\/td>description_link<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Affiliate & Influencer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Field<\/strong><\/td>Value<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
utm_source<\/td>The affiliate network or influencer’s handle<\/td><\/tr>
utm_medium<\/td>affiliate or influencer<\/td><\/tr>
utm_campaign<\/td>partner_name_launch<\/td><\/tr>
utm_content<\/td>story_link or bio_link<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is one of the more underused corners of UTM tracking. If you’re running an influencer program, tagging each creator’s link individually (rather than one shared link for everyone) is the only way to know which partnerships are actually worth renewing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

QR Codes, Print, and Offline<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Field<\/strong><\/td>Value<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
utm_source<\/td>Describe the physical placement, e.g. flyer, storefront, packaging<\/td><\/tr>
utm_medium<\/td>qr_code or print<\/td><\/tr>
utm_campaign<\/td>in_store_promo_q2<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Generate the tagged link first, then feed it into a QR code generator<\/a> so the scan itself carries full attribution. It’s a small step people skip, and then wonder why in-store traffic never shows up anywhere in their reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naming Convention Rules That Actually Matter<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most broken UTM reports aren’t broken because someone forgot to tag a link. They’re broken because ten different people tagged links ten different ways. A few rules fix almost all of it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n