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Requirements

Tracking set up through Google Analytics and/or Shopify.

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Background

Last-click attribution is a method of attributing “credit” to sales based on the most recent referrer of the sale. In essence, last-click attribution tells you where customers came from right before coming to your site and making a purchase.

A UTM, also known as the Urchin Tracking Module, is a string that can be attached to any URL to generate valuable tracking and attribution data for marketing campaigns. UTMs are one of the most common methods for tracking the value of specific marketing channels which are commonly referred to by Source and Medium (hint hint, our name).

  • Source: where customers come from
    • Google, Facebook, Klaviyo, specific blog or newsletter, etc.
  • Medium: how customers get there
    • Organic, Paid Media, Email, etc.

Having a clear set of conventions for UTMs from the start will pay dividends down the line for ease of tracking where your most valuable customers are converting from!

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Steps

  1. Check to see that UTMs are applied to all relevant marketing campaigns where links are distributed, from Meta, Google, TikTok, to Influencers & Affiliates
  2. Streamline proper naming conventions for UTMs using our best practices [click HERE for our shareable template]
  3. Watch out for direct/none UTM tracking, which is a sign that your data and website setup may need fine tuning (ask the team about our data and analytics audit where we help to diagnose common pitfalls with tracking.)

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Additional Information

  • Historical UTMs cannot be changed or applied retroactively - employing best practices early is critical!
  • Changing UTMs of successful marketing campaigns on major channels such as Meta and Google can have a material impact on performance — reach out to the SourceMedium team to learn more about the risks with changing your UTMs
  • Pairing zero party data with lack-click UTM attribution can be a powerful combination — ask our team about our advanced Zero Party Data Module
For additional guidance on UTM best practices, check out our UTM link-building template.

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