The same newsletter campaign appears under several spellings in a report. Before creating retrospective cleanup filters, define shared input rules. Capitalisation differences and improvised medium values can fragment reporting.
A small fictional convention could be:
utm_source,utm_medium,utm_campaign
newsletter,email,autumn-range-2026
partner-magazine,referral,autumn-range-2026
These values identify a source, channel and shared campaign. They contain no names, email addresses or individual customer numbers. URL parameters can become visible and stored in several places; do not use them to transport confidential data.
Fit the convention into actual work
Assign responsibility for adding sources and campaign names. Maintain allowed spellings in a compact shared table. Excessive free-form additions quickly undermine consistency. Optional fields such as utm_content also need a defined purpose.
Create a test URL with the UTM link builder. Inspect its destination before including it in email or advertisements. Redirects should not silently discard required parameters; use non-personal test values.
After distribution, inspect recorded sources under the intended consent conditions. If visits are missing, check whether tracking starts at the destination after the intended consent. Keep the naming convention with the campaign plan so later activity follows the same rules.
Download the fictional CSV sample · UTF-8, CSV.