I’ve been in marketing for about seven years, and for a long time, I didn’t actually understand UTM parameters.
I used them. I copied them. I pasted them into spreadsheets and hit “publish” on links that had them in the URL. But if you had pulled me aside and said, “Hey, what’s the difference between utm_source and utm_medium?” I would have given you a very confident non-answer.
Most online explanations are either written for developers or by someone who forgot what it felt like not to know. So this is my attempt at the explanation I wish I’d had.
What is a UTM Parameter, Actually?
UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module. (Urchin was the analytics company Google acquired before building Google Analytics. Fun trivia. Not important.) What matters is what UTMs do.
A UTM parameter is a tag you add to the end of a URL that tells your analytics platform where a visitor came from and how they got there.
Without UTMs, your analytics tool might know someone visited your website, but won’t know why. Was it the email you sent on Tuesday? The LinkedIn post? The paid ad? It might just show up as “direct” traffic. UTMs solve that.
Here’s what one looks like:
https://yoursite.com/landing-page?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring_launch_2026
The Anatomy of a UTM Link
A UTM link has up to five parameters. Here’s what each one means:
utm_source = Where did the traffic come from? (Always required.)
- The platform or publisher where your link lived.
- Examples: google, facebook, linkedin, newsletter, hubspot
utm_medium = What type of channel was it? (Always required.)
- The marketing channel category, not the specific platform.
- Examples: email, cpc, organic, social, referral
utm_campaign = What initiative was this part of?
- How you group traffic so you can measure a whole campaign in one view.
- Examples: spring_launch_2026, q2_retargeting, webinar_june
utm_term = What keyword triggered this?
- Used for paid search only to capture which keyword triggered the ad.
- Examples: crm+software, best+project+management
utm_content = Which version or placement was it?
- Used to differentiate links within the same campaign, especially for A/B testing.
- Examples: blue-button, header-banner, cta-version-a
Source vs. Medium: The One That Tripped Me Up the Most
For years, I used these interchangeably. Big mistake.
Source = the WHO. Medium = the HOW.
- utm_source is the platform or publisher: google, linkedin, newsletter
- utm_medium is the channel type: email, cpc, social, referral
LinkedIn is a source. Social is a medium. Google is a source. CPC is a medium.
Here’s what medium is NOT:
- this_was_in_the_guide
- event_promotion_post
- q2_newsletter_issue
Here’s what it IS:
- Social
- Cpc
- Referral
To sum it all up, medium is a channel category, full stop. If you standardize nothing else on your team, standardize your mediums. Otherwise, you’ll end up with “email”, “Email”, “e-mail”, and “Email-Newsletter” all showing up as separate channels in your reports. Ask me how I know.
A Full UTM Link, Broken Down
https://example.com/demo?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=q2_demand_gen&utm_content=carousel-post
- utm_source=linkedin: The link was posted on LinkedIn.
- utm_medium=social: The channel type is organic social.
- utm_campaign=q2_demand_gen: Part of the Q2 demand gen initiative.
- utm_content=carousel-post: Specifically from a carousel post, not another placement.
Best Practices for Setting Up UTMs
Always use lowercase. “Email” and “email” show up as two different mediums. No exceptions.
No spaces. Use underscores or hyphens. Spaces become %20 in URLs.
Standardize mediums as a team. Write them down somewhere everyone can find. You can also show your team where to view mediums in GA4. (Hint: Life cycle > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition)
Be consistent with campaign naming. Every piece of content in a campaign should use the exact same string.
Don’t UTM internal links. Only tag links you’re sharing outside your website, or it will mess up your attribution.
Bonus: Build a UTM Spreadsheet with AI
A shared UTM builder in Google Sheets is one of the most useful things a marketing team can have. Everyone uses the same tool, the formulas do the work, and naming stays consistent.
Here’s a prompt you can paste directly into Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI tool:
“Create a UTM builder spreadsheet in Google Sheets. Include columns for base URL, source, medium, campaign, term, and content. Generate a final column that automatically builds the full UTM link using formulas. Ensure the formula correctly appends parameters using question marks and ampersands. Include example rows and make it easy to duplicate for ongoing use.”
Once you have it set up, share it with your whole team and make it the one source of truth for building links. Future-you will be grateful.
UTMs aren’t complicated; they just need someone to explain them without assuming you already know the answer. If any of this clicked today, you’re already ahead of where I was at year five.
If you made it this far, you probably care about doing marketing the right way. If you need support for your apartment communities, we’re here for it. Let’s talk.
The One Platform for Multifamily Marketing & Leasing
Lauren Hoover is a data-driven, AI-enabled marketer with 7+ years of experience driving growth across fintech, SaaS, and AI organizations. She specializes in developing high-converting, persona-driven content strategies that align closely with sales to accelerate pipeline and revenue. Known for bridging strategy and execution, Lauren brings a results-oriented mindset to every stage of the marketing funnel. She is a 2020 graduate of Penn State Brandywine.
