Understanding: UTM mapping rules
Updated
by
Mikkel Settnes
In this help doc, we'll explain how Dreamdata does mapping to Channel and Source based on your UTM parameters.
We'll cover how Dreamdata uses UTM information to categorize traffic into different Channel and Source, and how Dreamdata apply default UTM mappings to simplify the process of categorizing information into Channel and Source.
Check out the first one about Sources, Channels, and Events here, and the third one about how to map your UTMs in Dreamdata's here.
Mapping rules that categorize traffic to a specific Channel and Source, are applied in the following order.
- Mapping based on paid ID parameters
- Mappings applied through the UTM mapping UI
- Mapping based on referrer and general UTM parameters
Dreamdata automatically applies the mappings 1 and 3 based on different UTM parameters.
Mappings 2 can be used to create your own mappings and create your own specialised Channel and Source.
Dreamdata recommends that you do not try to reclassify and rename paid channels as this will conflict with the automatic mapping using paid ID parameters.
Mapping based on paid ID parameters
Dreamdata pulls a list of all paid campaigns and their associated IDs for each supported ad network. Dreamdata then matches IDs from the ad networks to the UTM parameters and automatically classify the traffic accordingly.
Example
[URL]?utm_campaign=blogpost&utm_medium=paid&utm_source=linkedin&campaign_id=2082777879
The url contains the parameter campaign_id=2082777879 and utm_source=linkedin. Through the LinkedIn integration Dreamdata knows that you are paying for a campaign with ID=2082777879. Dreamdata then automatically maps to Channel = “Paid Social” and Source = “LinkedIn” and sets other properties like campaign and campaign group according to the ID.
Different ad networks use different ID parameters and slightly different naming conventions. Refer to the setup guides for each ad network to see which ID parameters are required for this mapping to be enabled.
This is the recommended way to map your paid sources for ad platforms with a native integration. Normally, it only requires setup of UTM's parameters when setting up the ad in the various ad platforms.
Mapping based on referrer and general UTM parameters
If no paid ID parameters are found or Dreamdata does not integrate natively to the ad platform, Dreamdata applies a comprehensive mapping of general UTM parameters to group the traffic to Channel and Sources.
This uses the following UTM parameters and property fields
utm_source
The utm_source is used to determine the source of the link.
In general, people use the utm_source parameter to identify the origin of a click that results in a visit to their website.
These could be similar to things like LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, Bing etc.
utm_ medium
The utm_medium is a parameter that helps us identify the Channel through which a user comes to visit your website.
A utm_medium that is set to 'paid' refers to an advertisement. You could also encounter values like 'social' and 'organic'. These however, indicates a "non-paid" channel.
Sometimes when setting the utm_medium values people use terms like "cpc" (Cost per Click) or "cpa" (Cost per Action). Both cpc and cpa indicates that this particular event is coming from a paid channel.
In those cases, Dreamdata applies default mappings that automatically categorize the Channel as “Paid”.
referrer
The referrer is automatically collected through the Dreamdata or Segment analytics tracking.
This can be used together with the passed UTM parameters to classify the Channel and Source.
event
Finally, the name of the event can also be used to map.
This happens in cases for standard event naming conventions like 'email_clicked' will be categorised as channel 'Emails'
Mapping rules
The detailed rules are in the tables below
The rules are applied in order ie. a url is first checked against order = 1, then order = 2 until it matches a rule. The Channel and Source is then set according to that rule
- Paid Source
Check if the combination of utm_medium, referrer or utm_source match a recognized paid source
- Review Site and Podcast
Check if utm_source or referrer match a recognized review site
- Organic
Check if utm_source or referrer match a recognized organic social or search network
- Other default channels
Check if utm_medium, referrer or utm_source indicate channels like Emails, Webinar or Events
OR
if event name indicate channels like Emails, Webinar, Events, Calls, Chat, Partners, Content or Login
- Fallback
If noting else matched set channel to direct or referrer depending on existence of utm_source and referrer fields
On the notation used:
utm_source = '%dreamdata' means that utm_source contains 'dreamdata'
utm_source = 'dreamdata%' means that utm_source starts with 'dreamdata'
utm_source = '%dreamdata' means that utm_source ends with 'dreamdata'
Define Paid Search, Paid Social, Paid Video, Display Ads, Paid Other
Does the combination of utm_medium, referrer and utm_source match a recognized paid source?
Order | Rule | Channel | Source | |
1 | referrer is a paid search engine AND utm_medium: paidsearch, paid-search, paid search, ppc, cpc, ads, cpv, cpa, cpp, %paid, paid%, %ads, ads% | = | Paid Search | matching referrer |
2 | referrer is a paid social network AND utm_medium: paidsocial, paid-social, paid social, ppc, cpc, ads, cpv, cpa, cpp, %paid, paid%, %ads, ads% | = | Paid Social | matching referrer |
3 | referrer is a paid display network AND utm_medium: visual-ad, display, cpm, banner, programmatic, remarketing, retargeting, retargeting-ad, display_ads, ppc, cpc, ads, cpv, cpa, cpp, %paid, paid%, %ads, ads% | = | Display Ads | matching referrer |
4 | referrer is a paid video site AND utm_medium: video, youtube, ppc, cpc, ads, cpv, cpa, cpp, %paid, paid%, %ads, ads% | = | Paid Video | matching referrer |
5 | referrer: com.Slack, org.telegram.messenger, org.telegram.plus, com.google.android.talk | = | Instant Message | matching utm_source |
6 | utm_source is a paid search engine AND utm_medium: paidsearch, paid-search, paid search, ppc, cpc, ads, cpv, cpa, cpp, %paid, paid%, %ads, ads% | = | Paid Search | matching utm_source |
7 | utm_source is a paid social network AND utm_medium: paidsocial, paid-social, paid social, ppc, cpc, ads, cpv, cpa, cpp, %paid, paid%, %ads, ads% | = | Paid Social | matching utm_source |
8 | utm_source is a paid display network AND utm_medium: visual-ad, display, cpm, banner, programmatic, remarketing, retargeting, retargeting-ad, display_ads, ppc, cpc, ads, cpv, cpa, cpp, %paid, paid%, %ads, ads% | = | Display Ads | matching utm_source |
9 | utm_source is a paid video site AND utm_medium: video, youtube, ppc, cpc, ads, cpv, cpa, cpp, %paid, paid%, %ads, ads% | = | Paid Video | matching utm_source |
10 | utm_source: google%, adwords%, bing%, yahoo%, naver% | = | Paid Search | matching utm_source |
11 | utm_source: adroll%, gdn, 6sense%, dribbble%, orixa%, stackadapt%, outbrain, criteo, dv360, dbm | = | Display Ads | matching utm_source |
12 | referrer: %googleadservices.com, %ads.google.com, %naver.com | = | Paid Search | matching referrer |
13 | referrer: %.doubleclick.net, %.googlesyndication.com, %.googleusercontent.com, %.2mdn.net | = | Display Ads | matching referrer |
14 | referrer: ads.tiktok%, facebook_ad% | = | Paid Social | matching referrer |
15 | utm_medium: paidsearch, paid-search, paid search | = | Paid Search | equal to utm_source |
16 | utm_medium: paidsocial, paid-social, paid social | = | Paid Social | equal to utm_source |
17 | utm_medium: visual-ad, display, cpm, banner, programmatic, remarketing, retargeting, retargeting-ad, display_ads | = | Display Ads | equal to utm_source |
18 | utm_medium: video, youtube | = | Paid Video | equal to utm_source |
19 | utm_medium: ppc, cpc, ads, cpv, cpa, cpp, %paid, paid%, %ads, ads% | = | Paid Other | equal to utm_source |
Define Review Sites and Podcast
Does the referrer or utm_source match a recognized review site or podcast?
Order | Rule | Channel | Source | |
20 | referrer is a review site | = | Review Sites | matching referrer |
21 | utm_source is a review site | = | Review Sites | matching utm_source |
22 | utm_source is a podcast site | = | Podcast | matching utm_source |
Define Organic
Does the referrer or utm_source match a recognized organic search or organic social network?
Order | Rule | Channel | Source | |
23 | referrer is an organic search engine | = | Organic Search | matching referrer |
24 | referrer is an organic social network | = | Organic Social | matching referrer |
25 | referrer is an organic video site | = | Organic Video | matching referrer |
26 | utm_source is an organic search engine | = | Organic Search | matching utm_source |
27 | utm_source is an organic social network | = | Organic Social | matching utm_source |
28 | utm_source is an organic video site | = | Organic Video | matching utm_source |
29 | utm_medium: social, organic-social | = | Organic Social | equal to utm_source |
30 | referrer: com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox, search.google.com AND utm_source and utm_medium is null | = | Organic Search |
Define channel Emails, Events and Webinar based on utm fields
Does the utm_source, utm_medium or referrer indicate the default channels Emails, Events or Webinar?
Order | Rule | Channel | Source | |
31 | utm_source: event OR utm_medium: event | = | Events | equal to utm_source if it exists otherwise Event |
32 | utm_source: webinar OR utm_medium: webinar | = | Webinar | equal to utm_source if it exists otherwise Webinar |
33 | referrer: mail.qq.com, %msn.com, mail.google.com, com.google.android.gm, outlook.live.com | = | Emails | equal to utm_source if it exists otherwise matching referrer |
34 | utm_source: %email%, %newsletter% | = | Emails | Email or Newsletter |
35 | utm_medium: %email%, %newsletter% | = | Emails | equal to utm_source if it exists otherwise |
36 | referrer: %webmail% | = | Emails | Webmail |
37 | utm_medium: %offline% | = | Offline | equal to utm_source if it exists otherwise Offline |
Define other default channels using event name
Does the utm_source, utm_medium or referrer indicate the default channels Emails, Events or Webinar?
Order | Rule | Channel | Source | |
38 | event name: email_sent, email_opened, email_clicked, email_replied, %intercom_email% | = | Emails | equal to utm_source if it exists otherwise |
39 | event name: inbound_phone_call, outbound_phone_call, phone_call | = | Calls | Inbound, Outbound or Call |
40 | event name: register_conference, attended_conference, register_event, attended_event | = | Events | Register or Attended |
41 | event name: register_webinar, attended_webinar | = | Webinar | Register or Attended |
42 | event name: lead_referral | = | Partners | equal to utm_source if it exists |
43 | event name: download% | = | Content | Download |
44 | event name: conversation, %intercom% | = | Chat | equal to utm_source if it exists otherwise Chat |
45 | event name: login | = | Login | equal to utm_source if it exists otherwise Login |
Fallback to direct or referrer
If nothing matched, we set referrer or direct depending on existence of fields
Order | Rule | Channel | Source | |
46 | utm_source: %referral% | = | referrer | equal to utm_source |
47 | utm_source is null AND referrer is null AND utm_medium is null | = | direct | direct |
48 | utm_source is not null | = | referrer | equal to utm_source |
