How to Use _utm Tracking URLs in Your B2B Marketing

When it comes to your digital marketing efforts, trustworthy analytics are key for success. HubSpot offers extensive tools for tracking and managing digital marketing efforts. To fully leverage these capabilities, it's crucial to implement best practices and this blog post will delve into must-do’s and tips to get the most out of HubSpot's analytics.

Integrating Ad Properties with HubSpot

• Purpose: To facilitate streamlined tracking and management of campaigns across platforms.
  
  
• Implementation: Connect each active ad account to your HubSpot portal. This ensures that key performance indicators within your ad campaigns, such as click-through-rate and cost-per-click, are effectively being recorded in HubSpot.
  
  
• NOTE: Transfer all relevant ad property information to the contact record using HubSpot workflows.

Implementing Tracking Templates for Paid Ads

• Purpose: To monitor the performance of each ad, ad group, and keyword in your campaigns.
  
  
• Implementation: Create tracking templates in HubSpot that include key parameters like source, medium, and campaign.

Using Urchin-Tracking-Module (UTM) Parameters Effectively

• Purpose: UTM parameters are critical for tracking the effectiveness of marketing campaigns across different sources.
  
  
• Implementation: Ensure consistency in using UTM parameters (source, medium, and campaign) for all campaign final URLs. This aids in identifying which campaigns and sources drive traffic and conversions, especially in Google Analytics 4.
  
  
• NOTE: Standardize the creation of custom UTM properties and incorporate them as hidden fields in your HubSpot forms. Don’t know where to begin? Try Google’s UTM Builder.

UTMs versus Tracking Templates

UTM parameters are specific tags added to a URL to track the performance of digital marketing campaigns across traffic sources, providing insights on how visitors interact with a website. Tracking templates, on the other hand, are used in platforms like Google Ads, LinkedIn, and Facebook to add custom tracking information to a URL at an account, campaign, ad group, ad, or keyword term level, enabling advertisers to track the effectiveness of their ads more granularly and to integrate with third-party tracking tools such as HubSpot.

Integrating Key Google Tools with HubSpot

• Purpose: To gain a comprehensive view of your site’s traffic, user behavior, and SEO performance all in one place, as one source of truth for your team and stakeholders.
  
  
• Implementation: Link Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, and Google Search Console with HubSpot using Google Measurement IDs.

Tracking External and Relevant Domains

• Purpose: To manage all web assets that are not built in HubSpot from a single platform.
  
  
• Implementation: Add HubSpot’s tracking code to the header of external web pages. Here are direct instructions to follow to complete the process.

Embedding External Reports in HubSpot

• Purpose: To centralize all marketing data and reports.
  
  
• Implementation: Use HubSpot’s dashboard feature to display data from external sources, such as Google’s Looker Studio, providing a holistic view of your marketing efforts with outside custom reporting.

Adjusting Views for Relevant Data Tracking

• Purpose: To focus on relevant, impactful data to make efficient decisions.
  
  
• Implementation: Utilize segmentation and filters to track data relevant to specific campaigns, customer segments, location, etc.

Tips for Maximizing HubSpot Website Analytics

• Goal Setting: Set clear objectives, like increasing page views or tracking key conversion events, to measure the success and impact of your marketing strategies.
  
  
• Responsive Notifications: Set up alerts for major traffic events to swiftly adapt your strategy to whatever is occurring.
  
  
• Trend Analysis: Record and analyze trends over time to understand the impact of seasonal changes and/or external events.
  
  
• Robust Reporting: Utilize HubSpot dashboard tools to create comprehensive reports that demonstrate ad impact, ROI, and ROAS to stakeholders.

In conclusion, implementing these best practices and tools in HubSpot not only streamlines your marketing analytics, but also empowers you with deeper insights that enables a more strategic approach to your marketing efforts. See how Digitopia can help enhance your B2B marketing with a systematic inbound framework.

Need to make better sense of your HubSpot data?
Start by defining (or redefining) your lifecycle stages.

Get the FREE lifecycle mapping tool HERE »

UTM Parameters - Why They Are Necessary for Data Tracking Success:

Urchin-Tracking-Module (UTM) parameters are indispensable tools that allow marketers, and frankly, anyone looking to track link clicks, to see the effectiveness of digital marketing efforts across various platforms. We'll dive into the purpose of UTM parameters, their implementation, as well as some best practices for utilizing them to gain a comprehensive understanding of your digital marketing campaigns and efforts.

Purpose of UTM Parameters

UTM parameters, often referred to as UTM codes, are query strings that can be appended to URL links to track the performance of campaigns across different sources and mediums. These parameters are critical for digital marketers aiming to physically see the success of their digital marketing efforts. By implementing UTM parameters, marketers can understand how different channels contribute to traffic, engagement, and most importantly, conversions.

Implementation of UTM Parameters

For a seamless analysis of marketing campaign performance, consistency in the use of UTM parameters is crucial. The primary UTM parameters include:

• utm_source: Identifies which website/effort sent the traffic (e.g., Google, newsletter).
  
  
• utm_medium: Defines the medium the link was used upon (e.g., email, paid, organic).
  
  
• utm_campaign: Specifies the individual campaign or promotion (e.g., spring_offer).

Google Developers has the easiest tool for setting up UTMs HERE »

By integrating these parameters into all campaign final URLs, marketers can track the effectiveness of their strategies in Google Analytics 4 (GA4), HubSpot, and other analytics platforms. This structured approach aids in pinpointing which campaigns and sources are most effective at driving traffic and conversions.

Best Practices for UTM Parameters

• Standardize UTM Creation: To avoid confusion and ensure accurate tracking, standardize the creation process of UTM parameters. Use a consistent and short naming convention for your campaigns, sources, and mediums to prevent data fragmentation.
  
  
• Use Hidden Fields in Forms: Incorporate UTM parameters as hidden fields in your online forms, such as those hosted on HubSpot. This practice allows you to capture the campaign data of leads directly, offering insights into what motivated their conversion.
  
  
• Leverage Google’s UTM Builder: For those who are new to UTM parameters or seeking to streamline their creation process, Google's Campaign URL Builder is an excellent tool. It provides a user-friendly interface for generating URLs with UTM parameters, ensuring accuracy and consistency.
  
  
• Analyze and Optimize: Regularly review the data collected through UTM parameters to understand the performance of various channels and campaigns. Use these insights to optimize future marketing efforts, focusing on the most effective strategies for engaging your target audience.
  
  
• Maintain Privacy Compliance: Ensure that your use of UTM parameters complies with privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. Be transparent about data collection practices and provide users with options to opt-out if necessary with your website’s consent banner.

Conclusion

UTM parameters are powerful yet underutilized tools in digital marketing. By effectively implementing and analyzing UTM parameters, marketers can unlock valuable insights into their campaign performance, enabling data-driven decision-making. Start leveraging UTM parameters to enhance your marketing strategies and drive better outcomes for your business. Remember, the key to successful digital marketing lies not only in launching campaigns but in understanding the data to see the impact.