Ad glossary · Tracking and data · Checked 2026-10-23

What are UTM parameters: how to write them and fill them automatically in Meta ads

UTM parameters are tags added to a URL that tell Google Analytics which source, medium and campaign the traffic came from; utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign are required.

English: UTM parameters
Also called: UTM tags, URL parameters
Area: Tracking and data

How it is used

Use one naming scheme for the whole account and keep the case consistent (GA4 treats Facebook and facebook as two sources). In Meta ads, dynamic parameters can fill in the campaign, ad set and ad names so you are not typing each one.

UTM parameters
Parameter	What it identifies	Required
utm_source	The source, such as google, facebook or a newsletter name	Yes
utm_medium	The medium, such as cpc, paid or email	Yes
utm_campaign	The campaign, such as spring_sale	Yes
utm_content	Tells apart creatives or links in one campaign	No
utm_term	The paid keyword	No
utm_id	The campaign ID	No

Three required, the rest optional

utm_source (the source, such as facebook), utm_medium (the medium, such as paid) and utm_campaign (the campaign) are required; utm_content tells apart creatives within a campaign, utm_term is for paid keywords, and utm_id is the campaign ID.

Values are case-sensitive: utm_source=google and utm_source=Google are two sources in GA4. Keeping everything lower-case across the account is simplest.

Dynamic parameters in Meta ads

In the URL parameters field of a Meta ad you can use dynamic parameters such as {{campaign.name}}, {{adset.name}} and {{ad.name}}, which are replaced with the real names at delivery. Name-based parameters take the name at first publish; rename the campaign later and the value still carries the old name. Meta also adds some parameters to ad traffic automatically, such as campaign, ad set and ad IDs.

Formula: plug in your numbers

URL?utm_source=source&utm_medium=medium&utm_campaign=campaign

Plug inhttps://example.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign={{campaign.name}}

Example

utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign={{campaign.name}}&utm_content={{ad.name}}: GA4 can then split Meta traffic and purchases by campaign and creative, ready to reconcile with the Meta report.

Not to be confused with

fbclid: the click ID Meta adds automatically for its own matching; GA4 does not use it to label the source.

FAQ

Which links should carry UTM parameters?

Google says to add them to the landing page URLs of referral links and campaigns, so you can see which campaign sent the traffic. Links between your own pages are not an outside source and do not need them.

Do Meta ads need UTMs?

Meta adds some parameters automatically, but to split traffic by campaign and creative in GA4, add utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign yourself in the URL parameters field, filling the names with dynamic parameters.

Where the course puts it to work

Official sources

We read each page below on 2026-10-23 and built the definition from it.

URL builders: Collect campaign data with custom URLs · Checked 2026-10-23
Specifications For URL Dynamic Parameters · Checked 2026-10-23
Campaign URL Builder · Checked 2026-10-23