UTM Source vs Medium vs Campaign
Three parameters, three different questions: where did this click come from, what kind of channel was it, and which campaign does it belong to. Mix them up and your reporting quietly stops making sense.
The Three Questions Each Parameter Answers
utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign are the three core UTM parameters used to label a link for analytics tracking, and they are the three most commonly confused by anyone building tracking links for the first time. Each one answers a distinct question about a single click:
- utm_source — "Where did this click come from?" The specific platform or publisher.
- utm_medium — "What kind of channel was this?" The general category the source belongs to.
- utm_campaign — "Which initiative does this belong to?" The specific promotion or push this link is part of.
utm_source: The Specific "Who"
utm_source identifies the exact platform, publisher, or sender that drove the traffic. It should be specific enough to distinguish one source from another similar one.
| Context | Good utm_source value |
|---|---|
| A Facebook post or ad | facebook |
| An Instagram Story link | instagram |
| Your monthly email newsletter | newsletter |
| A specific partner's newsletter you're a guest in | partner-newsletter-name |
| A Google Ads campaign | google |
utm_medium: The General "What Kind"
utm_medium identifies the broad category of channel the source belongs to — not the specific platform, but the type of marketing activity. Multiple sources often share the same medium.
| Source | Corresponding utm_medium |
|---|---|
| facebook, instagram, linkedin, tiktok (organic posts) | social |
| facebook, google (paid advertising) | cpc or paid-social |
| newsletter, partner-newsletter-name | email |
| A partner blog linking to your content | referral |
| A QR Code on printed packaging | print or qr |
Notice that facebook can appear as the source for both an organic post (medium: social) and a paid ad (medium: cpc or paid-social) — the source is the same platform, but the medium correctly distinguishes paid from organic activity on that same platform.
utm_campaign: The Specific Initiative
utm_campaign identifies the specific promotion, launch, or initiative a link belongs to — independent of which source or medium drove the click. The same campaign name is typically reused across every source and medium promoting that one initiative, which is what allows a marketer to see total campaign performance aggregated across every channel.
Example: a single campaign, three channels
?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=summer-sale-2026
?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=summer-sale-2026
?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=summer-sale-2026
All three links share the same utm_campaign value, allowing the marketer to see the campaign's total combined performance, while the differing utm_source and utm_medium values allow each channel's individual contribution to be broken out separately within that same campaign.
Side-by-Side Summary
| Parameter | Question answered | Granularity | Example values |
|---|---|---|---|
| utm_source | Where (specifically)? | Specific platform/publisher | facebook, newsletter, google |
| utm_medium | What kind of channel? | General category | social, email, cpc, referral |
| utm_campaign | Which initiative? | Specific promotion or push | summer-sale-2026, product-launch-q3 |
Common Mistakes
- Inconsistent capitalisation or naming. "Facebook," "facebook," and "FB" used across different links for the same channel are treated as three separate sources by most analytics platforms, fragmenting what should be one unified channel report.
- Swapping source and medium. Putting the category into utm_source (
utm_source=social) and the specific platform into utm_medium (utm_medium=facebook) reverses the standard convention — it will still technically track, but breaks compatibility with any report, dashboard or template built around the expected convention. - Inconsistent campaign naming across team members. Without a shared naming convention, one person's "Summer Sale" and another's "summer-sale-26" fragment what should be one campaign's data into two separate, incomplete pictures.
How Cuttly Helps Apply These Consistently
Cuttly's UTM Builder generates correctly formatted source, medium and campaign values directly when creating a short link, reducing the risk of the typos and inconsistencies that quietly fragment campaign reporting. Cuttly also supports campaign tagging independently of UTM parameters — grouping links under a shared campaign label for aggregated reporting directly in Cuttly's own dashboard, alongside whatever values flow through to an external analytics platform via UTM parameters.
Related Terms
FAQ
What is the difference between utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign?
Source answers "where" (the specific platform, like facebook), medium answers "what kind" (the general category, like social), and campaign answers "which initiative" (the specific promotion, like summer-sale-2026).
What should I put in utm_source versus utm_medium?
Source is the specific platform or publisher name. Medium is the general category that source belongs to. Facebook is the source; social is the medium that Facebook falls under.
What is a common mistake when filling in utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign?
Inconsistent naming (Facebook vs facebook vs FB) fragments reporting into separate sources for the same channel. Swapping source and medium reverses the standard convention and breaks compatibility with expected report templates.
How does Cuttly help apply UTM parameters consistently?
Cuttly's UTM Builder generates correctly formatted values directly on link creation, and campaign tagging groups links for aggregated reporting in Cuttly's own dashboard alongside any external analytics platform tracking.
URL Shortener
Cuttly simplifies link management by offering a user-friendly URL shortener that includes branded short links. Boost your brand’s growth with short, memorable, and engaging links, while seamlessly managing and tracking your links using Cuttly's versatile platform. Generate branded short links, create customizable QR codes, build link-in-bio pages, and run interactive surveys—all in one place.
Cuttly More Than Just a URL Shortener
Cuttly is a comprehensive, ever-evolving platform for link shortening that combines innovation and user-friendliness to deliver a seamless experience in managing and shortening URLs.
