In the digital marketing landscape, all performance assessments are based on data. While UTM parameters are a valuable tool for identifying traffic sources and campaign performance, overuse can lead to data distortion and increased advertising costs. In particular, the practice of applying UTMs to every link by advertising agencies or internal marketing organizations to prove performance can be detrimental to both brands and budgets in the long run.

The concept of UTM parameters

UTM parameters are query strings appended to a URL. They are standard conventions for conveying traffic sources and campaign information to analytics tools. They are primarily used by web analytics tools to identify traffic sources and categorize performance. UTM parameters consist of the following elements:

• utm_source: traffic source
• utm_medium: Incoming medium type
• utm_campaign: Campaign name
• utm_content: Distinguish between advertising material and link
• utm_term: keyword information

The purpose of UTM parameters is not to track users, but to distinguish the context of their arrival.

Examples of UTM parameters used preferably

1. Measuring campaign unit performance

UTM parameters are most effective for comparing and analyzing the performance of specific campaigns. For example, even for the same landing page, you can analyze performance separately by campaign. In this case, UTM parameters serve the following purposes:

• Compare conversion rates by campaign
• Performance evaluation by media
• Verification of message and material test results

2. Distinguish external inflow paths

Applying UTM parameters to external links, such as search ads, social media ads, and email newsletters, allows you to clearly distinguish the source of traffic. This effectively reduces confusion with internal page navigation or organic traffic.

Problems caused by excessive use of UTM parameters

1. The practice of applying UTM to all links

To clearly demonstrate advertising performance, some advertising agencies and marketers attach UTM parameters to internal links, buttons, and even links within the same page. While this may seem advantageous for short-term reporting, it seriously undermines the reliability of the data.

2. The actual inflow path is distorted.

When UTM parameters are applied to internal links, all natural navigational flows of users are recorded as "new traffic." This causes analytics tools to mistakenly attribute repeated ad traffic to the same page, even though it's actually the same user.

3. Ad performance is overestimated when users repeatedly visit your site via UTM links.

URLs containing UTM parameters can be reused through browser history, bookmarks, messenger sharing, and more. In these cases, the system is likely to recognize these as ad traffic, even if the user doesn't click on the ad again.

Why Stored UTM Parameters Can Increase Your Ad Costs

1. Contribution Judgment Structure of Advertising Platforms

Some advertising platforms attribute performance based on the last referral path or recent campaign information. If UTM parameters remain consistent, even returning traffic, not the actual ad, can be attributed to ad performance.

2. Conversion data distortion affects bidding strategies.

Advertising platforms optimize automated bidding and targeting based on conversion data. Distorted conversion data can lead to certain campaigns being judged as performing better than they actually are, artificially increasing bids and advertising costs.

How to Use UTM Parameters Correctly for Website Statistics Tracking

1. Limited to external inflow only.

UTM parameters should only be applied to external links to your site. They should not be used for internal links, CTA buttons, or page transitions.

2. Maintain clear naming conventions for each campaign.

UTM parameters lose their analytical value significantly without consistent naming conventions. Campaign names, media names, and creative categories must be managed according to predefined rules.

3. Does not encourage long-term storage

URLs containing UTM should not be used as main links, shared links, or bookmark links. If necessary, consider removing UTM parameters after the initial inflow at the server or script level.

4. Separately interpret advertising data and web analytics data.

Performance metrics from advertising platforms and traffic data from website analytics tools serve different purposes. Rather than interpreting the two data sets with the same criteria, it's important to view them separately, based on their respective roles.

Insight Summary

While UTM parameters are a powerful tool for measuring marketing performance, they aren't a panacea that should be applied to every link. Overuse can distort traffic sources, misattribute repeat visits to ad performance, and ultimately lead to increased advertising costs in the long run. UTM parameters are most valuable when used sparingly and for their intended purpose of comparing external traffic and campaigns. Accurate data collection is more important than collecting a large amount.