Guide

utm_source vs utm_medium vs utm_campaign

Three labels. One job each. Mix them up and your GA4 reports turn into mush.

Short answer

  • utm_source — where (google, facebook, newsletter, partner_name)
  • utm_medium — how / channel type (cpc, paid_social, email, organic_social)
  • utm_campaign — which push (spring_sale, brand_exact, webinar_march)

Source is the platform or list. Medium is the marketing channel category. Campaign is your named initiative. Keep them lowercase and consistent across the team.

Worked example

You run a Meta ads video for a spring discount, landing on https://www.example.com/shoes:

  • utm_source=facebook
  • utm_medium=paid_social
  • utm_campaign=spring_sale
  • Optional: utm_content=video_ad_1 to compare creatives

Full link: https://www.example.com/shoes?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=spring_sale&utm_content=video_ad_1

In GA4 you’ll see paid social traffic from Facebook attributed to spring_sale — not lumped into generic “referral.”

Common mistakes

  • Putting the platform in medium (utm_medium=facebook) — use source for that.
  • Reusing one campaign name forever — you can’t tell which creative or week won.
  • Spaces and mixed casing — prefer spring_sale over Spring Sale.

Build it free

Use the Tagtrails UTM Link Builder to paste your landing page, fill source / medium / campaign, and copy a clean trackable URL. Nothing is uploaded to our servers.

Need ready-made patterns? See the UTM examples library (Google Ads, Meta, email).

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