Marketo UTM Tracking: Everything You Need to Know

Sean Gowing
|
March 15, 2023
Marketo UTM Tracking: Everything You Need to Know

If you're looking for a powerful tool to track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, then Marketo UTM tracking is definitely worth considering. With its advanced features and user-friendly interface, this tool can help you gain valuable insights into the performance of your website and the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. In this article, we'll dive deep into what Marketo UTM tracking is, how it works, and how you can use it to improve your marketing efforts.

What is Marketo UTM Tracking?

Marketo UTM tracking is a powerful tool that allows you to track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns by adding unique tags to the URLs you use in your campaigns. These tags, called UTM parameters, allow you to track how many people clicked on your links, where they came from, and what actions they took on your website. With this information, you can measure the success of your campaigns and make informed decisions about how to improve them.

How Does Marketo UTM Tracking Work?

Marketo UTM tracking works by adding unique UTM parameters to the URLs you use in your marketing campaigns. These parameters consist of five key elements:

  1. utm_source: This parameter identifies the source of your traffic, such as a search engine or social media platform.
  2. utm_medium: This parameter identifies the medium through which your traffic was acquired, such as a banner ad or email campaign.
  3. utm_campaign: This parameter identifies the specific campaign you're running, such as a product launch or sale.
  4. utm_term: This parameter is used to track the keywords that are driving traffic to your website.
  5. utm_content: This parameter is used to track the specific content within your campaign, such as a specific ad or email variant.

Once you've added these UTM parameters to your URLs, you can track their performance using Marketo UTM tracking. This will give you valuable insights into how your campaigns are performing and where you should focus your efforts.

How to Use Marketo UTM Tracking

Using Marketo UTM tracking is easy. Simply follow these steps:

  1. Create a Marketo account: To use Marketo UTM tracking, you'll need to sign up for a Marketo account.
  2. Create your UTM parameters: Once you've signed up for an account, you can create your UTM parameters using the five elements we mentioned earlier.
  3. Add your UTM parameters to your URLs: Once you've created your UTM parameters, you'll need to add them to the URLs you use in your marketing campaigns.
  4. Track your campaigns: With your UTM parameters in place, you can start tracking the performance of your campaigns using Marketo UTM tracking.
  5. To add UTMs to a form you could use code like this example

MktoForms2.whenReady(function (form) {
  let formId = form.getId();
  let utm = getUTM();
  let temp = navigator.userAgent;
 form.addHiddenFields({
    utm_source__c: (utm["utm_source"] == undefined) ? '' : utm["utm_source"],
    utm_medium__c: (utm["utm_medium"] == undefined) ? '' : utm["utm_medium"],
    utm_campaign__c: (utm["utm_campaign"] == undefined) ? '' : utm["utm_campaign"],
    utm_content__c: (utm["utm_content"] == undefined) ? '' : utm["utm_content"],
    utm_term__c: (utm["utm_term"] == undefined) ? '' : utm["utm_term"],
    GCLID__c: (utm["gclid"] == undefined) ? '' : utm["gclid"],
    FBCLID__c: (utm["fbclid"] == undefined) ? '' : utm["fbclid"],
    conversion_source__c : "",
    browser: temp,
  });
  
  

Using this code if you follow this example you can see how to add UTMs to forms.

Benefits of Marketo UTM Tracking

There are several benefits to using Marketo UTM tracking, including:

  1. Improved tracking: Marketo UTM tracking allows you to track the performance of your campaigns more accurately than ever before. This means you can make more informed decisions about where to focus your marketing efforts.
  2. Valuable insights: With Marketo UTM tracking, you'll gain valuable insights into the performance of your campaigns, such as where your traffic is coming from and which campaigns are driving the most conversions.
  3. Improved ROI: By tracking the performance of your campaigns more accurately, you can improve your return on investment (ROI) and make the most of your marketing budget.

Best Practices for Marketo UTM Tracking

To get the most out of Marketo UTM tracking, it's important to follow best practices. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  1. Use consistent naming conventions: When creating your UTM parameters, make sure to use consistent naming conventions across all of your campaigns. This will make it easier to track and compare the performance of your campaigns over time.
  2. Don't use too many UTM parameters: While it can be tempting to add lots of UTM parameters to your URLs, it's important to keep things simple. Too many parameters can make it difficult to track your campaigns accurately, so only use the parameters that are most relevant to your goals.
  3. Be mindful of character limits: Some platforms, such as Twitter, have character limits that can impact the length of your URLs. Be sure to keep this in mind when creating your UTM parameters, and try to keep your URLs as short and concise as possible.
  4. Regularly review and update your UTM parameters: As your marketing campaigns evolve over time, it's important to regularly review and update your UTM parameters to ensure that they continue to provide accurate tracking data.
  5. Conclusion
  6. Marketo UTM tracking is a powerful tool that can help you track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and gain valuable insights into the performance of your website. By using consistent naming conventions, keeping things simple, and regularly reviewing and updating your UTM parameters, you can make the most of this powerful tool and improve your marketing efforts. So if you're looking to take your marketing campaigns to the next level, be sure to consider Marketo UTM tracking.
  7. FAQs
  8. What is a UTM parameter?A UTM parameter is a unique tag that is added to the URLs used in marketing campaigns to track the effectiveness of those campaigns.
  9. What are the benefits of using Marketo UTM tracking?Some of the benefits of using Marketo UTM tracking include improved tracking, valuable insights, and improved ROI.
  10. How many UTM parameters should I use?It's best to keep things simple and only use the UTM parameters that are most relevant to your goals.
  11. Can I use Marketo UTM tracking with any website?Yes, Marketo UTM tracking can be used with any website, regardless of the platform or content management system you're using.
  12. Is Marketo UTM tracking difficult to set up?No, Marketo UTM tracking is easy to set up and use, even if you don't have a lot of technical experience.

Written By
Sean Gowing
CEO of SocialCatnip
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