What Is UTM? How to Set UTM Links for Facebook and Zalo Ads

You run Facebook ads, post on Zalo (Vietnam's main chat app), send emails and print flyers all at once. At the end of the month orders on the website are up, but you do not know which channel brought the customers. UTM solves exactly that: it adds a short identifier to the end of a link so your analytics tool can record where visitors came from.

What is UTM?

UTM parameters are extra pieces added to the end of a link, for example:

`https://yourdomain.com/promotion/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=november-sale`

Visitors who click still see the same page as usual. Google Analytics reads the part after the `?` and records that this visit came from Facebook, through paid ads, as part of the "november-sale" campaign.

The 5 UTM parameters

Parameter	Meaning	Example
utm_source	Source: where the visitor clicked	facebook, zalo, google, newsletter
utm_medium	Channel: the type of traffic	cpc, social, email, qr
utm_campaign	Campaign name	november-sale, grand-opening
utm_content	Tells apart ad versions or link positions	video-1, image-2, end-of-post-button
utm_term	Keyword (mainly for search ads)	water-purifier

Always fill in the first three; use the last two when you need to compare ad versions with each other.

Naming rules to keep your data clean

• Write everything in lowercase: Analytics treats "Facebook" and "facebook" as two different sources.
• No accents or special characters, and use hyphens instead of spaces: "november-sale", not "November Sale".
• Share one list of names across the whole team: write the list of sources and channels in one spreadsheet; if everyone names things their own way, the data breaks into dozens of stray rows at the end of the month.
• Do not add UTM to internal links: a link from one page to another on your own website does not need UTM; adding it overwrites the visitor's original source.

Setting UTM links for each channel

• Facebook ads: utm_source=facebook, utm_medium=cpc, and utm_content for each ad version so you know which version brings orders.
• Fanpage posts and Zalo groups (unpaid): utm_medium=social.
• Zalo OA messages (official account), email: utm_source=zalo-oa or newsletter, utm_medium=message or email.
• Flyers and signage: utm_medium=qr, then turn the link into a QR code with our QR code generator.
• Chat buttons: when a visitor clicks the Zalo or Messenger button on the landing page, it is still counted under the session's source; our guide on creating Zalo and Messenger chat links for your website explains how to set up the buttons.

UTM links are long; if you need to shorten one to paste into a post, shorten it after adding UTM so you do not lose the parameters.

Create UTM links without memorising the syntax

Use Digotech's free UTM link builder:

1. Paste the address of the page you want visitors to land on.
2. Choose the source and channel and name the campaign; the tool joins them with the correct syntax for you.
3. Copy the link and use it in ads, posts and emails.

Reading the results in Google Analytics 4

Go to Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition, and change the first column to "Session source / medium" or "Session campaign". Each row is a combination you set. If your website already tracks conversions (form submissions, call clicks, Zalo button clicks), you will also see which channel brought contact requests, not just page views. If Analytics is new to you, see our guide on Google Analytics 4 basics for business owners.

UTM measures, but the landing page decides whether you get orders

UTM only tells you where visitors came from. Whether they stay and get in touch depends on the page they land on: it should match what the ad promised, open fast and have one clear action button. Digotech builds landing pages for individual campaigns, with conversion tracking already set up so every advertising dollar comes with data.