What do I need to know about UTM codes to start with sponsored ads?

Hey James! Luckily there's not a ton to know. UTM codes are simply a way of tracking traffic from marketing activities.

Here's an example.

I own a shoe site (let's call it https://www.shoez.com/) and I'm running a winter 2-for-1 sale. I've decided to advertise on facebook, Google AdWords and twitter to promote the sale.

I want to be able to know which of these sources is driving sales and converting best so that I can optimize the campaign over time and only spend money on what's working.

I use a tool like https://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/campaign-url-builder/ to build out URLs for each place I advertise:

Facebook
https://www.shoez.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=winter_2_for_1

AdWords
https://www.shoez.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=winter_2_for_1

Twitter
https://www.shoez.com/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=winter_2_for_1

You'll notice that what the utm_source parameter changed between those links. In whatever analytics tool I'm using, I'd then be able to look at conversion rates for any combination of these parameters.

What exactly you use for utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term or utm_content isn't as important as being consistent (e.g. make sure the utm_campaign param is the same for all links) and ensuring you can answer the questions you need to.

If you need a more in-depth explainer, this article looks pretty decent https://neilpatel.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-using-utm-parameters/.