UTM parameters: the naming framework that scales with your team

UTM parameters are simple in theory and chaotic in practice. Every marketer has their own naming conventions, and without a shared framework, your analytics quickly become unreliable.

Here's the UTM naming system we recommend — and use internally at getowl.

The Framework

utm_source (Required)

Where the traffic comes from. Use the platform name, lowercase.

• newsletter, linkedin, twitter, google, facebook, whatsapp, partner-name

utm_medium (Required)

The marketing medium. Standardize on these values:

• email — Any email-based distribution
• social — Organic social posts
• paid-social — Paid social ads
• paid-search — Google/Bing ads
• referral — Partner/affiliate links
• display — Banner/display ads
• sms — Text messages

utm_campaign (Required)

The campaign name. Use a consistent format:

{year}-{month}-{campaign-name}

Examples: 2026-06-spring-launch, 2026-05-webinar-series, 2026-04-product-update

utm_content (Optional)

Differentiate between link placements within the same campaign:

• hero-cta, footer-link, sidebar-banner, inline-mention

utm_term (Optional)

For paid search, the keyword that triggered the ad. For other channels, can be used for audience segment:

• brand-keywords, competitor-keywords, segment-enterprise

How getowl Helps

getowl's UTM templates let you define your naming conventions once and apply them automatically:

1. Create a UTM template with your standard parameters
2. When creating a link, select the template
3. Parameters are auto-appended — no manual typing, no typos
4. All team members use the same conventions

This eliminates the #1 cause of messy analytics: inconsistent UTM naming.