Why Use UTMs?
UTMs allow you to track a set of link parameters you consider important, most frequently through Google Analytics.
Analyzing the data from UTMs can teach you quite a few things about your channel program, including the following:
- Where your partners' traffic is coming from
- If your channel traffic is converting well
- Which partners are driving the most traffic
- Who has the best conversion rates
- If your most recent affiliate campaign for a new product or marketing push has been effective
Quick links:
Adding the {partner_key} shortcode to your UTMs
Adding UTMs to all partner links
Adding UTMs to only the default link
Important note: Adding UTMs into any field besides the two fields mentioned in this article may break link tracking.
Adding the {partner_key} shortcode to your UTMs
Adding the {partner_key} shortcode into your UTMS is a great idea for a few reasons. Here are some examples:
- You can more easily pass the partner_key to your internal CRM
- It can help pull together info on missed referrals, should your integrations break
Adding UTMs to all partner links
UTMs are added on a per-group basis, so make sure you are added UTMs to each group you are wanting more traffic insight for.
To add UTMs that will automatically apply to all partner referral links (this means both their default link that you create, or custom referral links that they create) follow these steps:
- Log in to your PartnerStack account
- Navigate to Groups in the menu on the far left
- Click on the group you are wanting to add UTMS to
- In the menu along the top that appears, click on Links
- Scroll down and look for the section that says Click Link UTMs for {{group_name}}
- Select Update UTMs, add your UTMs into the field that appears, and hit Update
Adding UTMs to only the default link
This option is typically used in combination with the above option. If you use only this option, you will not be able to gather data on any partner-driven traffic from custom referral links, and will only see data from your partners sharing their default link.
However, adding unique UTMs to your default link can help you track traffic from any marketing campaign pushes that affect the partner's default referral links.
Here's how you can add UTMs specific to your partners' default links:
- Log in to your PartnerStack account
- Navigate to Groups in the menu on the far left
- Click on the group you are wanting to add UTMs to
- In the menu along the top that appears, click on Links
- Under the section titled Default link for {{group_name}}, click on Update default link
- In the field that now appears titled Add internal tracking UTMs for default link here, add in any UTMS that you are wanting to be applied to only your partners default link
For more information on tracking partner referral activity without UTMs, we suggest you check out the Analytics Panel.
If you need some assistance with UTMs, reach out to your PartnerStack Customer Success Manager or email our Support Team at Support@PartnerStack.com.