What goes where.
Source, medium and campaign are recommended for consistent campaign reporting. This is a naming convention, not a requirement for a link to redirect. Keep personal information out of UTM values.
| Field | Recommended | What it means | Example value |
|---|---|---|---|
| utm_source | Recommended | Where the click came from. | tiktok |
| utm_medium | Recommended | How they got there (paid, organic, email, qr). | paid-social |
| utm_campaign | Recommended | Name of the push or initiative. | summer-launch-2026 |
| utm_content | Optional | Which ad / creative / button. Differentiates A/B. | video-15s-v2 |
| utm_term | Optional | Paid-search keyword. Rare outside SEM. | ringtone+maker |
- lowercase only
- hyphens for spaces · summer-launch-2026
- stable values across channels · paid-social not Paid Social
- campaign = the push, not the date
- test in incognito, look at the raw URL
- MixedCase · SummerLaunch
- spaces — they become %20 in logs
- emoji or punctuation in values
- per-day campaigns — use utm_content for the date
- tracking the same thing in two fields
One link, five queryable fields.
Replace links.example.com/your-app with your own working smart link, join the lines into one URL, and replace each sample value. If the link already has a query string, append tags with & instead of a second ?.
https://links.example.com/your-app?utm_source=tiktok&utm_medium=paid-social&utm_campaign=summer-launch-2026&utm_content=video-15s-v2
Test tags before sharing
Open your tagged link and check its destination and recorded campaign values. Use the routing checklist for device tests and click analytics to review results. If paid distribution is part of the plan, the free CPM calculator shows the formula behind campaign cost, impressions, or cost per thousand. For the wider launch cycle, follow the small-team app marketing guide. Tags label traffic; they do not prove that a click caused a purchase. Revenue attribution from individual link clicks is coming soon.
Five illustrative campaign examples.
- TikTok ad
links.example.com/your-app?utm_source=tiktok&utm_medium=paid-social&utm_campaign=summer-launch&utm_content=v15s-cut-a - IG story
links.example.com/your-app?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=organic-social&utm_campaign=summer-launch&utm_content=story-day-2 - Email blast
links.example.com/your-app?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=summer-launch&utm_content=hero-cta - Print QR
links.example.com/your-app?utm_source=poster&utm_medium=qr&utm_campaign=summer-launch&utm_content=tube-station - Influencer
links.example.com/your-app?utm_source=creator&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=summer-launch&utm_content=mia.h