Appy

Measurement and attribution

What are UTM parameters?

Short answer

UTM parameters are five tags you add to a link, utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term and utm_content, so analytics tools know where a visit came from. Apps add a catch: the App Store drops them, and Google Play only keeps them inside its referrer parameter.

What each tag says

utm_source is who sent the visit, such as newsletter or instagram. utm_medium is the kind of channel, such as email or social. utm_campaign names the campaign. utm_term and utm_content are optional and tell keywords or ad variants apart. Pick a naming system and stick to it: Newsletter and newsletter end up as two different sources. Lowercase values with underscores instead of spaces are the safest habit.

UTMs and app stores

On iPhone, use an App Store campaign link alongside your UTMs: its ct token is what App Store Connect reports. On Android, put the UTM string inside Google Play’s referrer parameter, so the app can read it after the install.

For the website and the deep link, a smart link with parameter forwarding passes your tags on unchanged.

ExampleTagged link
https://example.com/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring_launch
Read moreUTM BuilderPick a channel, name the campaign and copy a clean tagged link, with warnings where tags get lost on the way to the app.

Related terms

  • Parameter forwarding

    Parameter forwarding means carrying the query parameters on a smart link, such as UTM tags, coupon codes or referral IDs, through to wherever the link sends people: the app store, the website and the deep link. One link can then serve every campaign variant without a new link for each one.

  • Install referrer

    The install referrer is the referrer value from a Google Play link, which Google Play passes to your app after installation through the Play Install Referrer API. The app reads it once on first run, and it stays available for 90 days. It gives deterministic install attribution on Android; the App Store has no equivalent.

  • App Store campaign link

    An App Store campaign link is an App Store URL with three extra parameters, pt (provider token), ct (campaign token) and mt=8, so App Store Connect can report impressions, product page views, downloads and sales for each campaign. The numbers are aggregate: they show how a campaign did, not who installed.

All glossary terms

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