How to Track UTM in GA4 (Step-by-Step Guide) - UTM Manager

If you’re running campaigns across social media, email, or paid ads, you’ve probably come across UTM parameters. These handy little tags help you see exactly where your traffic is coming from and which campaigns are actually driving results.

With Google Analytics 4 (GA4), the process of tracking UTMs is slightly different from the old Universal Analytics, so let’s walk through it step by step.

What Are UTM Parameters?

UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module (a throwback to Google’s original analytics product). In simple terms, UTMs are extra text added to the end of your URL that tell GA4 more about the source of traffic.

For example:

https://example.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=spring_sale

This link tells GA4:

utm_source → Facebook (where the traffic came from)
utm_medium → Paid (the channel type, e.g., cpc, email, social)
utm_campaign → Spring Sale (the specific campaign name)

How GA4 Handles UTMs

The good news? You don’t have to “set up” anything extra in GA4 to capture UTMs. GA4 automatically records them under session traffic attribution.

When someone clicks a UTM-tagged link, GA4 pulls in those values and assigns them to fields like:

Session source
Session medium
Session campaign
Session term
Session content

Where to See UTM Data in GA4

Traffic Acquisition Report
- Go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition
- Change the primary dimension to Session source / medium or Session campaign
- Here, you’ll see traffic grouped by your UTM tags.
Explore Reports (Custom Analysis)
- Go to Explore and build a custom report
- Add dimensions like Session source, Session medium, or Session campaign
- Add metrics like Users, Sessions, or Conversions
- This lets you slice and dice UTM data for deeper insights.
Conversions & Attribution
- If you’ve set up conversions (like purchases, form submissions, or sign-ups), you can see which UTM-tagged campaigns are actually driving results.
- Navigate to Advertising > Attribution to see how campaigns contribute to conversions.

Best Practices for UTMs in GA4

Be consistent → Always use lowercase, and standardize terms (e.g., use cpc instead of sometimes writing ppc).
Avoid spaces → Use underscores (_) or dashes (-).
Use campaign names wisely → Make them descriptive enough to differentiate.
Don’t over-tag → Only use UTMs for external traffic, not internal links on your site (that breaks attribution).

Quick UTM Example for an Email Campaign

Say you’re running a newsletter promoting a product:

https://example.com/product?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fall_promo

Source: newsletter
Medium: email
Campaign: fall_promo

When subscribers click, GA4 will attribute traffic and conversions back to this email campaign.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to track UTM in GA4 is one of the easiest wins you can get as a marketer. By tagging your links correctly, you’ll know exactly which platforms, ads, or emails are pulling their weight.

If you’re serious about making UTMs easier, you can use tools like UTM Manager to build, organize, and track your links without the messy spreadsheets. And if you need help with analytics setup or deeper insights, check out Optizent for expert support.