If you want to track traffic and sales with UTMs, but you don’t want the hassle of typing them out for each campaign, Emotive has the solution for you. We built a setting that allows you to automatically add UTMs to every campaign in just one click.
What are UTM parameters?
UTM parameters are snippets of text added to the end of a URL that help you track the source of your website traffic and sales. Learn more from Google here. Here’s an example of a URL with UTM tracking:
Everything in bold provides tracking information. Let’s break it down:
- utm_source=emotive: This snippet tells you that traffic and purchases are coming from an Emotive campaign
- utm_medium=sms: This snippet tells you that traffic and purchases are coming from the SMS channel
- utm_campaign=bfcm2021: This snipped tells you that traffic and purchases are coming from the BFCM 2021 campaign
Should I add UTM parameters to a campaign?
Some brands use UTM parameters to keep track of traffic and sales from each of their marketing channels, and then view the resulting data all in the same place (ie Google Analytics). However, they need to keep in mind that UTMs use last click attribution, which means that Google Analytics will attribute traffic only to the last channel that the user clicked on before making a purchase. This means Google Analytics fails to capture all of your sales.Emotive will give you a broader picture. We don’t rely solely on clicks, like Google Analytics does—we’re able to track sales from your e-commerce database. Bottom line: with Emotive, you’ll have a more accurate picture of the impact of your SMS marketing.
- For example, if a user receives and opens a text on their phone, does not click on the link, but is inspired to visit the website from their desktop and makes a purchase right away, UTM tracking would not capture the source of this sale as SMS. But Emotive would.
- Similarly, even if the user did click on the link on their phone, but then later made the purchase on their computer, UTMs would not capture this. But Emotive would.
- And, if a user received and opened a text on their phone, didn’t click, visited your website on their phone and purchased using the discount code in the text, UTMs would not capture this. But - you guessed it! Emotive would.
These are just a few examples of sales data you’ll miss if you’re only using UTM tracking. Read more about how Emotive attributes sales in a more comprehensive way here.
Please note, if you’ve already added UTMs to existing Experiences, you’ll need to remove them first before using this setting.
Also, you’re new to Emotive and eligible for the 5X ROI guarantee, your guarantee is still based on your sales from Emotive attribution and not UTM attribution.
How can I add UTMs to a campaign?
If you’re still looking to add UTMs to your campaigns, we’ve made it quick and easy! No need to type out each individual UTM every time you run a campaign - we’ve created a setting that allows you to automatically add UTMs to every campaign (including both Broadcasts and Experiences) with just one click.
Please note, if you’ve already added UTMs to existing Experiences, you’ll need to remove them first before using this setting. Otherwise it may result in broken links.
Here’s how to get started:
1. In the left hand navigation in Emotive, go to settings, and select UTM.
2. Toggle the switch to the right to turn UTM tracking on.
Emotive will show you an example in-app of what your campaign URLs will look like if you add UTM parameters. Here are the default parameters:
- Source = Emotive
- Medium = SMS
- Campaign Name = Broadcast or Experience Name
Note that if you turn on UTM parameters, this will impact all of your active Experiences, and future Broadcasts and Experiences. It will even append UTM parameters when you add a link through a dynamic variable such as <shop_URL> and <discount_link> in Experiences.
And remember, UTM tracking won’t give you the full picture of how SMS is impacting your business, but it will help you view multiple channels in one place.
Luckily, you’re also using Emotive. We give you the additional data you need to understand your whole marketing picture, and we make it quick and easy to add UTMs to your campaigns. That’s a win-win for your brand.
And one more reminder, if you’re new to Emotive and eligible for the 5X ROI guarantee, your guarantee is based on Emotive attribution as stated in your contract, and not UTM attribution.