Best first path
Use one structure for source, medium, campaign, and content so your team can read it later without guessing.
Naming guide
UTM Naming Convention Template
Use one naming pattern across channels so your source, medium, campaign, and creative labels stay readable in GA4 instead of turning into a pile of one-off strings.
What usually breaks
Campaign names drift when every platform or person invents its own separator, order, or word style.
Success signal
The same naming pattern works across Meta, Google, TikTok, AppLovin, email, and affiliate traffic.
Starter template
Use this shape as a baseline:
source / medium / market / objective / campaign / creative
- Keep `source` short and stable, like
metaorgoogle. - Keep `medium` grouped by traffic type, like
paid_socialorpaid_search. - Use one separator, usually underscore.
- Keep the campaign name readable and season-specific.
- Use `utm_content` for creative comparison only when you need it.
Examples
| Channel | Example | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Meta | meta / paid_social / us / launch / spring_sale / hero_video |
Readable and easy to scan in GA4. |
google / paid_search / us / launch / running_shoes / headline_a |
Works for search and YouTube-style naming. | |
| TikTok | tiktok / paid_social / us / launch / ugc_test / hook_1 |
Useful for creator or ad iteration. |
| Affiliate | affiliate_partner / affiliate / us / partner / q2_push / placement_a |
Lets you compare partner performance later. |
Recommended rules
- Do not put private data in any UTM field.
- Do not change the naming scheme every campaign.
- Keep the channel name and campaign name readable.
- Keep one master template for the team.
- Use the same pattern for manual setups and self-serve setups.
Pick one naming pattern and keep it
Most reporting mess starts with inconsistency, not with the analytics platform itself.