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A UTM standard for ad accounts that stay consistent

UTM tags are only as useful as they are consistent. One standard, applied by tooling instead of memory, keeps reports readable.

The five parameters

  • utm_source: where the visit comes from, such as the platform.
  • utm_medium: the type of traffic, such as paid social.
  • utm_campaign: the campaign name or ID.
  • utm_content: which ad or creative.
  • utm_term: used mainly for search keywords.

The standard

  • Lowercase, no spaces, one separator.
  • A fixed list of allowed source and medium values.
  • The creative ID in utm_content, so analytics joins to the same key as the ad name.
  • No personal data in any parameter.

Platform macros

Ad platforms can insert values such as the campaign or ad automatically through macros. The exact macro names and availability change, so check the platform's current documentation before relying on them.

Check before launch

Open the final URL from the ad, confirm the parameters arrive in analytics as expected, and keep a record. Our UTM builder builds the links with the lowercase rules applied.

5 min read. Last updated 2026-10-07. Examples use made-up numbers.

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Terms in this guide

UTM parametersCreative IDAttribution window

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