Glossary · Traffic sources & UTMs
What is utm_campaign?
utm_campaign is the UTM parameter that names the specific campaign, launch or promotion a link belongs to, so visits and conversions from every channel in that campaign can be grouped together.
Also called: UTM campaign, Campaign name
Updated
How utm_campaign works
?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2026-10-ltd-launch ?utm_source=x&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=2026-10-ltd-launch
Use the same campaign value on every link of one initiative, across sources and media. A launch promoted by email, on X and in a partner newsletter then appears as one campaign you can split by source — instead of three unrelated rows.
utm_campaign example
Your October lifetime-deal launch ran on four channels under utm_campaign=2026-10-ltd-launch. The campaign report shows 5,400 visits and $3,100 in first-touch revenue; split by source, the partner newsletter produced 18% of the visits and 41% of the revenue. That's a decision you can only make if every link shared one campaign name.
Campaign naming conventions
- Lowercase, hyphens, no spaces:
2026-10-ltd-launch. - Start with a date or quarter so names sort chronologically and stay unique year to year.
- Describe the initiative, not the channel — source and medium already say where.
- Keep a shared sheet of live campaign names so nobody invents
ltd_launchalongsideltd-launch.
Why utm_campaign matters
Campaigns are how marketing work is planned and budgeted, so they're how results should be reported. Campaign-level revenue (not just clicks) is what tells you whether a launch paid for itself — use the ROAS calculator for paid ones.
How VisitTrack uses utm_campaign
VisitTrack stores utm_campaign per session, lists campaigns in the Overview's Campaigns tab (click one to filter the whole dashboard), and keeps the first-touch campaign on every attributed payment so the Revenue tab can rank campaigns by money, not visits. Because utm_content and utm_term aren't captured, encode any variant you need to compare (for example 2026-10-ltd-launch-v2) in the campaign name.
Frequently asked questions
Should utm_campaign be the same across channels?
Yes. Use one campaign name for the whole initiative and let utm_source and utm_medium distinguish the channels, so you can see the campaign as a whole and split it by channel.
Can I change a campaign name after links are live?
You can change future links, but past visits keep the old name. That's why it pays to agree on the name before the first link goes out.
Related terms
- UTM parametersUTM parameters are five standard query-string tags — utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term and utm_content — added to a link so analytics tools can attribute the visit to a specific source, channel and campaign.
- utm_sourceutm_source is the UTM parameter that identifies the specific site, platform or publisher that sent a visit — for example google, newsletter, x or a partner's name.
- utm_mediumutm_medium is the UTM parameter that describes the type of marketing channel that sent a visit — such as email, cpc, social, referral or affiliate — and is what most tools use to assign the visit to a channel group.
- utm_contentutm_content is the UTM parameter used to tell apart different links, creatives or placements within the same campaign — for example two buttons in one email, or two versions of an ad.
- Revenue attributionRevenue attribution is the practice of connecting each payment to the visitor who made it and the marketing sources — referrer, campaign, landing page — that brought that visitor, so you can see how much money each channel actually produced.
Tools and guides
See which channels actually bring paying customers
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