What are UTMs and why do they matter?
UTM parameters (Urchin Tracking Module parameters) are short strings of letters and numbers added to the end of a URL.
When a guest follows a link containing UTM parameters, those values are passed to analytics and attribution tools like Distil, and help track engagement and website activity through to completed reservations.
UTM parameters do not affect the destination of a link or the experience of the page. They are insignificant to the guest in the context of their user journey, but carry structured information about the marketing activity that generated the click.
How UTMs contribute to marketing attribution in Distil
When a guest follows a UTM-tagged link and completes a reservation, the UTM values present in that URL are captured by Distil and stored against the booking. This is what allows a reservation to be attributed to a specific marketing channel, source, or campaign.
UTM parameters work alongside the Distil tracking code. The tracking code identifies the guest session and referrer, while UTM parameters supply the structured campaign detail. Together, they give Distil the information needed to attribute reservations accurately within the linear attribution model.
UTM parameters are added manually by marketing teams when creating links for campaigns, emails, social posts, paid ads, and other activities. Since they are applied at the source, consistent use of UTM parameters is essential for accurate attribution data.
Without UTM parameters, Distil can still assign a channel using the referring page captured by the tracking code. However, UTM parameters provide a richer level of detail that referrer data alone cannot supply.
How Distil collects marketing effectiveness data
Distil collects marketing effectiveness data through two methods:
Both methods work together to build a complete picture of guest interactions and booking attribution.
This article goes into detail about UTM parameters. To read more about tracking, visit the Guide to Marketing Attribution section on tracking or read more about tracking, start with the Introduction to Tracking.
UTM parameters collected by Distil
Marketers can add UTM parameters to any links used in digital marketing campaigns to identify which website sessions and subsequent bookings were generated by each activity, platform or creative asset.
When a guest follows a tracked link to make a reservation, the UTM values in that URL are captured by Distil tracking at the point of booking.
Standard UTM parameters are collected by Distil as follows:
| UTM parameter | Name | Used for | Examples |
| utm_source | Source | The name of the platform or publication where the marketing activity happens | meta, google, dotdigital, |
| utm_medium | Medium | The format or type of marketing activity | email, ppc, story, |
| utm_campaign | Campaign | The name of the campaign or a label you want to use to group all activity in a particular phase or offer together | summer_2026, new_menu_launch, |
| utm_content | Content | This is used to define individual assets such as ad creatives, formats or content pieces | blog_article, portrait_video, story_ad |
For attribution data to be captured via UTM parameters, tracked URLs must be used consistently across marketing activity. Links without UTM parameters will not carry attribution information.
How to construct a URL that includes UTM parameters
UTM parameters are added to the end of a destination URL following a question mark (?) and separated by ampersand (&). For example:
https://www.example.com/?utm_source=dotdigital&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=summer_menuThere is a useful free tool for building URLs with UTM parameters available here [external link].
When creating a campaign that features a call to action to click or visit a website, the destination URL should include UTM parameters as illustrated above.
Things to remember about UTMs
- Always use lower case alphanumeric characters. Do not use capital letters or symbols.
- Do not leave spaces between characters. Use an underscore _ or dash - as separators if necessary
- Use the exact source and/or medium parameters listed below if you want your traffic to be assigned to the correct channel in Distil.
- Use source and medium as a minimum for accuracy, other utm parameters are optional.
How marketing channels are assigned using UTMs
Distil uses rules to interpret UTM parameters and group the tracked activity into marketing channels. If you require custom rules, please speak to your account manager.
Below is a table showing the various source and medium UTM parameter content you can use in order that Distil can correctly assign the channel grouping for you.
| Channel | Source | Medium |
| AI Tools | chatgpt, copilot, perplexity, claude and other AI tools | none specified yet |
| Affiliates | affilinet | affiliate, affiliates, influencer, partner, associate |
| Direct | not applicable to this channel | not applicable to this channel |
| Display | display, print, offline | |
| klayvio, airship, dotdigital, iterable, braze or any other email platform name | ||
| Local Search | gmb, gbp | none specified yet |
| None | not applicable to this channel | not applicable to this channel |
| Organic Search | google, bing, duckduckgo and other search engines | organic |
| Organic social | facebook, instagram, tiktok (and other platform names) | social, fbpost |
| Paid Search | googleads, google-ads, gclid, group_id_gad_source, msclkid | cpc, ppc, paid_search |
| Paid Social | facebook, instagram, tiktok, linkedin, fbclid | paid_social, fbads, meta_ads, tiktok-ads |
| Referral | referrer | referral |
| SMS | sms | sms |
| Unassigned | some attribution exists but no channel rule matched | unknown source/medium combinations |
| Unknown | final fallback category | anything not captured by earlier rules |
For more information about how Direct is handled or to go into detail about channel attribution - read the Guide to Marketing Attribution in Distil.
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