UTM Parameters
Tag your traffic sources so Atribu knows where your visitors come from
UTM Parameters
UTM parameters tell Atribu where your traffic comes from. They are small tags added to the end of your URLs that identify the traffic source, medium, and campaign.
What are UTM parameters?
When you share a link in an ad, email, or social post, you can add UTM parameters to the URL so Atribu knows exactly where the visitor came from. Here is an example:
https://yoursite.com/landing-page?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=spring_sale&utm_content=video_ad_1Everything after the ? is a set of key-value pairs that Atribu reads and stores with the visitor's session. This data powers your Traffic Sources breakdown and campaign-level attribution.
UTM parameters Atribu reads
| Parameter | What it tells Atribu | Example values |
|---|---|---|
utm_source | Where the traffic comes from | facebook, google, newsletter, linkedin |
utm_medium | How they got there | paid, cpc, email, organic, social |
utm_campaign | Which campaign sent them | spring_sale, black_friday, webinar_march |
utm_content | Which ad or content variation | video_ad_1, banner_blue, cta_bottom |
utm_term | Which keyword (for search ads) | marketing_tools, crm_software |
Only utm_source and utm_medium are required
At minimum, always include utm_source and utm_medium. The other parameters are optional but highly recommended for detailed reporting.
Click IDs (automatic, no setup needed)
Ad platforms automatically append a click ID to your URLs when someone clicks an ad. These are separate from UTM parameters -- you do not need to set them up.
| Click ID | Platform | What it does |
|---|---|---|
fbclid | Meta (Facebook / Instagram) | Automatically added by Meta to every ad click |
gclid | Google Ads | Automatically added by Google to every ad click |
msclkid | Microsoft / Bing Ads | Automatically added by Microsoft to every ad click |
ttclid | TikTok Ads | Automatically added by TikTok to every ad click |
Atribu detects these click IDs and uses them for two things:
- Channel classification -- A visit with
fbclidis classified as Paid Social, even if UTM parameters are missing - Ad-level attribution -- Click IDs help trace a specific click back to the exact ad that generated it
Click IDs take priority
If a visit has both a click ID and UTM parameters, the click ID takes priority for channel classification. This prevents misclassification when UTM tags are missing or incorrect. For example, a visit with gclid is always classified as Paid Search, regardless of what utm_medium says.
How UTM parameters feed into channels
Atribu automatically classifies each visit into a marketing channel based on UTMs, referrer, and click IDs:
| What Atribu sees | Classified as |
|---|---|
utm_medium=paid or utm_medium=cpc with utm_source=facebook | Paid Social |
utm_medium=paid or utm_medium=cpc with utm_source=google | Paid Search |
fbclid or ttclid in URL (no social referrer) | Paid Social |
gclid or msclkid in URL | Paid Search |
utm_medium=email | |
utm_medium=affiliate | Affiliates |
utm_medium=display | Display |
| Referrer from google.com, bing.com (no paid indicators) | Organic Search |
| Referrer from facebook.com, instagram.com (no paid indicators) | Organic Social |
| Other referrer | Referral |
| No referrer, no UTMs, no click IDs | Direct |
Best practices
Always pair utm_source and utm_medium
These two parameters work together. utm_source identifies the platform, utm_medium identifies the type of traffic:
?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid
?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc
?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=emailUse consistent, lowercase naming
Pick a convention and stick with it across all your campaigns:
utm_source=facebook (not Facebook, fb, or FB)
utm_medium=paid (not Paid, cpc, or PPC)
utm_campaign=spring_sale (not Spring Sale or SpringSale)Atribu treats Facebook and facebook as different sources, so inconsistent casing leads to fragmented reports.
Do not use UTMs on internal links
UTM parameters should only be used on links from external sources pointing to your site. Never add UTMs to links within your own website (like navigation menus or internal banners) -- this overwrites the original traffic source and breaks attribution.
Email newsletter link: https://yoursite.com/sale?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
Internal link (never do this):
https://yoursite.com/pricing?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=bannerInclude utm_content for ad variations
When running multiple ad variations in the same campaign, use utm_content to distinguish them:
?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=spring_sale&utm_content=video_ad
?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=spring_sale&utm_content=carousel_ad
?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=spring_sale&utm_content=static_imageThis lets you see which creative variation drives the most conversions.
Meta Ads and UTM parameters
When you connect your Meta Ads account to Atribu, campaign and ad data is synced automatically. Meta also appends fbclid to every ad click URL. For the best results, add UTM parameters to your Meta ad URLs:
?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign={{campaign.name}}&utm_content={{ad.name}}Meta's dynamic URL parameters ({{campaign.name}}, {{ad.name}}) are automatically replaced with the actual campaign and ad names when someone clicks.