UTM tracking might sound technical, but it’s a powerful way for merchants to take control of their marketing data—and it’s easier than you think. Based on common challenges we uncovered in our survey (like 28% of merchants lacking a formal UTM process), we’ve put together a simple three-step workflow to help ecommerce leaders set up tracking, stay consistent, and turn data into decisions. Let’s walk through it.
Step 1: Define Your Parameters for UTM Tracking
Start by deciding what you want to track. These are your UTM parameters—the building blocks that tell you where your traffic comes from and how it behaves. Don’t worry if this feels overwhelming; it’s just about picking details that matter to your campaign.
Imagine you’re a merchant launching a campaign for a new product, the “Stealth Sneaker,” with a “giveaway” of limited edition laces to draw attention.
You might choose:
- Funnel Stage: “TOF” (top-of-funnel) to focus on awareness rather than instant sales.
- Product: “Stealth” to see how this sneaker performs.
- Promotion: “giveaway” to test this offer’s appeal.
These choices give you a clear starting point, solving the “where do I begin?” problem many merchants face.
Step 2: Generate Your UTMs
Next, turn those parameters into UTM links—the codes you’ll attach to your URLs. Doing this by hand can get messy (32% of merchants struggle with naming consistency, per our survey), but a structured approach keeps things clean. Here’s an example for a Facebook paid social ad for the Stealth Sneaker:
?utm_medium=paid-social
&utm_source=facebook
&utm_campaign=20250913_tof_stealth_giveaway
&utm_term=20250913_tof_la-10-visitors
&utm_content=video_influencer-logan-paul
This link includes your Step 1 parameters (TOF, Stealth, giveaway), plus extras like the date and ad details (a video with influencer Logan Paul). Swap “facebook” for “tiktok” or “pinterest,” and you’ve got UTMs for other platforms—simple and consistent. Tools like PenPath’s UTM Cheat Sheet make this even faster by automating the process, cutting out errors.
PenPath’s UTM Builder allows you to enter your website and campaign information. Then, it automatically generates a completed URL that you can copy and paste.
Most people familiar with this workflow have used Google’s UTM builder. However the problem with that tool is that it doesn’t store your UTMs or parameters.
Step 3: Track and Gain Insights
Finally, use your UTMs to see what’s working. The parameters you picked shape the data you get, revealing insights like:
- 33% higher click-through rate (CTR) than other TOF campaigns.
- 40% more engagement on the giveaway ad, with a low $0.10 cost-per-click (CPC).
- 55% higher return on ad spend (ROAS), showing solid efficiency.
- 6% new user traffic, proving awareness is growing.
These numbers help you decide what to tweak, scale, or repurpose—turning data into growth. Our survey found 36% of merchants struggle to manage UTMs across platforms; this workflow fixes that by making insights clear and actionable.
Why This Workflow Works for You
This three-step process—define, generate, gain insights—tackles the survey’s key pain points head-on. It simplifies starting out, ensures your tracking stays organized, and delivers results you can act on. To make it even easier, we’ve created a UTM Cheat Sheet tailored for ecommerce merchants like you.
Want to get started? Grab the free UTM Cheat Sheet here and take the guesswork out of UTM tracking today!
