You've likely heard of the term 'UTM' but do you know the benefits they bring to digital marketers? UTM stands for 'Urchin Tracking Module' and it's a type of URL parameter marketers use to track the effectiveness of their digital marketing campaigns. UTM codes are text snippets added to the end of a URL to provide more information about each link to Google Analytics and other analytics tools.
UTMs have parameters, or easy-to-place snippets of text, that you can add to the end of a URL to track the performance of your campaigns and content. When you set your UTM parameters, you can determine your:
- Source
- Medium
- Campaign
- Content
These are invaluable elements to help you understand the overall impact of your employee advocacy program's success. So, we’ve made it easy for you to set your Gaggle(s) UTM parameters at a global level so that every activity in your program is tracked.
Navigating to Your UTM Preferences
First and foremost, only Gaggle Managers can set the UTM preferences. With that in mind, from your main dashboard, navigate to the icon/image in the upper right corner and select ‘Gaggle Settings.’
Then select ‘Preferences.’
Now scroll down to ‘URL/UTM Tracking’ to set your preferences.
Setting Your UTM Preferences
GaggleAMP will replace links on any GaggleAMP activity with the UTM parameters you define in this section.
Note: This does include any links that have been previously shortened.
When you view the UTM Query Parameters text box, this is how your UTMs are set today.
Should you want to make adjustments to the query parameters, select ‘Edit UTM Parameters.’ This will open up your UTM Keys and allow you to insert variables.
Next to each UTM Key and Value is the ability to ‘Insert Variable.’ Once selected, you can choose to append the UTM Value to insert any of the following variables:
- Gaggle Name
- Gaggle ID
- Campaign Name
- Activity ID
- Activity Network
- First 64 Characters of Shared Text
You can also delete any of the UTM Keys and Variables by selecting the trash can for that item. This is helpful when there is information you do not want as part of your UTM Key.
Once you are done updating your UTM Parameters, select ‘Update UTM Parameters.’ Any changes you have made will appear in the UTM Query Parameters.
Shortened Links and Exempt Domains
Sometimes when you share a specific link in your Gaggle, you do not want to have your UTM parameters added to the shortened URL. That’s where this exemption comes into play.
By toggling this link to active, GaggleAMP will respect the original shortened link. This means GaggleAMP will not ‘unpack’ the shortened URL and it keeps the original UTMs behind the shortened domain fully intact. GaggleAMP will have a GaggleAMP UTM appended to the original provided link simply to help provide clarity in your reporting.
Toggling the link to inactive will allow GaggleAMP to replace all UTM’s and credit will be given only to your brand advocacy efforts.
When would you use this?
This is particularly important when working with certain channel partners. They may want to retain the original link to measure the success of the partnership with you as a partner. Likewise, you want to be able to show your full value across all initiatives in your employee advocacy program. Keeping the original shortened link helps keep all parties involved accurate in their reporting.
Respecting UTMs on Exempt Domains
From time to time, you might want to retain the ability to keep the original shortened link without GaggleAMP unpacking the shortened link. When you add a domain to the exempt domains list, GaggleAMP will respect the URL and will not ‘unpack’ the UTMs. Instead, our UTM parameters will simply be added to the end of the shortened URL.
Note: While GaggleAMP will add our UTM parameters to the end of your exempt domain, it is possible that the shortening service will expand your original shortened link thereby stripping the GaggleAMP accreditation added to the end of the exempt domain.
When would you use this?
Perhaps you have a custom shortened URL that you use at your company that already contains UTM’s to help your business development reps (BDRs) segment leads from them to the sales team. Keeping that URL on the exempt domains list retains your original UTM’s so that when a BDR shares content through their Gaggle, it retains the accreditation back to them in your company records.