The 5 UTM Rules That Keep Marketers from Losing Their Damn Minds

Because nothing says "professional chaos" like 12 versions of the same campaign in GA4.

If your marketing reports look like a ransom note from five different interns, it’s probably your UTM tags. These little tracking gremlins are supposed to bring clarity—but without a system, they turn your analytics into a hot mess.

Let’s fix that. Here are 5 UTM rules that’ll keep your data clean, your team aligned, and your soul intact.

1. Stop Overengineering Every Link

Not every link needs all five UTM parameters.

You probably only need:

utm_source
utm_medium
utm_campaign

Example:

?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=launch2025

Don’t tag blog links like you're launching a Mars rover. Keep it clean.

2. Lowercase or Die

Google Analytics treats utm_campaign=SpringLaunch and utm_campaign=springlaunch as two separate campaigns.

Use lowercase everything. Always.

✅ utm_source=instagram
❌ utm_source=Instagram

Normalize your naming or enjoy the slow death of data fragmentation.

3. Dashes, Not Spaces (or Tears)

Spaces get encoded as %20, which looks like garbage in URLs and in reports.

✅ utm_campaign=black-friday-sale
❌ utm_campaign=Black Friday Sale
❌ utm_campaign=black_friday_sale

Use dashes. They're clean, readable, and your future self will thank you.

4. Never Let Sales or BizDev Make Their Own UTMs

Seriously. Don’t.

One day you’ll be deep in your GA report and find:

utm_campaign=followup-call-test-deck-edited-final-final2

Create a shared UTM builder (use a Google Sheet or a simple internal tool). Lock it down. Protect your peace.

5. Use Campaign Naming Like You’ll Be Auditing It at 2am

Don't name your campaigns like you’ll always remember them. You won’t.

✅ utm_campaign=summer-sale-2025
❌ utm_campaign=ss25
❌ utm_campaign=retarget-v3-again

Assume your coworker—or your future self—is trying to make sense of this 6 months later. Be kind. Be clear.

Final Word: UTM Tags Aren’t the Problem. Sloppy UTM Tags Are.

If you treat UTM tracking like an afterthought, your analytics will gaslight you. Follow these five sanity-saving rules, and you’ll be able to:

• Attribute wins with confidence
• Diagnose weak campaigns fast
• Stop blaming “GA bugs” for your mess

Clean data = clean growth.

Want a free UTM tag builder guide we use for clients?
Steal ours here →