Integrate UTM codes fully into emails, landing pages, and database

[Anonymous]

Currently, all support for UTM codes is entirely manual. One needs to:

1. Create fields in Marketo (via SFDC, if that's your route)
2. Create hidden fields on Marketo landing pages
3. Manually insert UTM codes into each individual link in an email
4. Manually create and track UTM codes using whatever tool you can find
5. Hack together analytics of a mixture of campaigns/leads with and without UTM codes 

I just received a marketing email from Marketo, where the call-to-action button is linked to a utm-coded URL. So even Marketo understands how important/useful it is to embed UTM codes into everything.

So shouldn't it be a priority to make UTM codes an integral part of the product? Other similar marketing automation systems do this inherently.

Especially adding codes into emails would be enormously helpful. The utm_source is already implicit. The utm_medium could be a small set of channels users set up (e.g., drip, blast, newsletter) The utm_campaign is also already defined in almost every case. And utm_content could be the name of the mailling. Manually adding these is incredibly time-consuming. Computers are supposed to do this sort of thing for us.

Additionally, making UTM fields inherent in Marketo would help not just with setup, but with analytics. A lead with a utm_campaign that matches a Marketo campaign obviously should be associated with that campaign.

I'm thinking I'm not the only one who would find value in this?

[Anonymous]

Actually, in the link I provided above, look at my reply from"Aug 27, 2014 1:25 PM"

That contains most of the code you need.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Ed! I will read through the article and then set up some testing to get things going.

Definitely looking forward to streamlining the sheer number of landing pages on our website so we can focus on using the UTM codes as they are designed to be used!

Thank you

[Stefan_Castelén]

A workaround I've started to do is as follows:

1. Build your landing page, and generate the base URL you want to use
2. Use a Google Sheet to create UTM-coded links for your different channels
3. Use those links in the appropriate places (ads, emails, etc.)
4. Create smart lists for each of the channels for reporting (Visited Web Page X and URL contains "utm_source=XYZ")
5. Clone that same program so you don't have to duplicate your work every time

Although you'll have to generate UTM codes outside of Marketo, this method avoids the hassle of creating landing pages for each channel and still lets you report on the different channels that leads took to become members of your program.

[Casey_Grimes]

Just a note here that if this is considered in any major way: if this could get extended, thought-wise, into a vendor-neutral solution that'd be great—Adobe Analytics, Webtrends, etc. need love too. Not being locked into any one querystring pattern is key.

[Grégoire_Miche2]

Good point !

[Anonymous]

Yeah, great point Courtney!

[Diego_Lineros2]

Is this forgotten? I don't think it's going to get done, look at Sky, 3 years and still not operative.