I would not run campaigns without UTMs I can read six months later. Tracking only matters if you can trust it when the launch is over and someone asks what worked.
UTM tags are boring. They are also the difference between knowing which email drove signups and guessing based on vibes.
Quick Answer
Use lowercase, consistent source and medium names, one campaign name per initiative, and only add content tags when you truly need to split variants. Keep a shared naming doc and reuse it.
The mistake is cute names that expire from memory
“springblast2026_meta_top” is fine.
“campaign_final_v3_new” is useless in August.
I would rather be dull and consistent than clever and forgettable.
Source and medium need house rules
Examples:
- source: google, meta, newsletter, partnername
- medium: cpc, email, social, referral
If one person uses facebook, another meta, and another fb, your report splits for no reason.
Do not tag internal links like external campaigns
A classic analytics mess.
Internal UTMs can overwrite real acquisition data. Use them sparingly and document why.
UTMs are for decisions, not decoration
If a tagged link does not help you choose where to spend next month, you probably do not need that tag.
