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October 5, 2026

What are UTM Parameters?

A plain-English explanation of UTM tags, the five parameters you can use, and how to name them so your event reports stay clean.

What are UTM parameters?

UTM parameters are short tags you add to the end of a link so analytics tools can tell where a visit came from. The name comes from "Urchin Tracking Module", the technology Google Analytics grew out of.

For example, the same event page can be shared in three places with three different links:

https://sendtocal.com/e/abc123?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring-launch
https://sendtocal.com/e/abc123?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spring-launch
https://sendtocal.com/e/abc123?utm_source=partner-blog&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=spring-launch

All three open the same page, but your report can now show which one filled your seats.

The parameters

  • utm_source: who sent the visitor? For example newsletter or instagram.
  • utm_medium: what kind of channel was it? For example email, social or cpc.
  • utm_campaign: which campaign or event push? For example spring-launch.
  • utm_term: which keyword (paid search)? For example calendar-button.
  • utm_content: which link or creative? For example header-button or variant-b.
  • utm_id: your own campaign ID. For example 2026-q4-01.

You only need the first three for most events.

Naming tips

  • Use lowercase and hyphens. Newsletter, NEWSLETTER and newsletter are three different values in many tools. SendToCal lower-cases and trims values for you, but your other tools may not.
  • Be consistent. Pick one name per channel (social, not social on Monday and socials on Friday).
  • Don't put personal data in a tag. UTM values travel in the link and can appear in logs and screenshots. Never include a name or email address.

How SendToCal uses them

On the Entry and Pro plans, SendToCal reads these tags when someone opens your event page or clicks your calendar button, and groups views and calendar saves by source, medium and campaign. See Track Campaign Sources with UTM Links for the step-by-step guide.