Partner / co-marketing UTM tracking
Co-marketing only measures cleanly when both partners tag links the same way. This page shows how to agree a shared utm_source naming and campaign convention up front, so a joint campaign aggregates instead of fragmenting across two different schemes.
Agree the convention first
Before any link goes out, write down the exact strings both sides will use. The most common failure is each organisation choosing its own casing or name for the same partner. Lock it in a shared doc:
- utm_source=<partner-name> (one agreed spelling, lowercase, hyphenated)
- utm_medium=<agreed value, e.g. partner or referral>
- utm_campaign=<one shared campaign name both sides use>
- utm_content=<optional, to tell each side's placements apart>
Why a shared convention matters
If your side tags utm_source=acme and the partner tags utm_source=Acme-Corp, your two analytics views will never reconcile and the joint campaign looks smaller in both. A single agreed allow-list of strings means the same campaign aggregates cleanly no matter who built the link.
Keep the list short and documented, and treat any new value as a change both sides sign off on rather than an ad-hoc decision.
How it appears in analytics and logs
A visit with utm_source set to the partner's agreed name confirms the co-marketing channel. If each side invents its own labels, the same campaign splits across mismatched rows.
Diagnostic use case
Agree one shared UTM convention with a co-marketing partner so both organisations attribute the joint campaign consistently.
What WebmasterID can help detect
WebmasterID reads the agreed utm_source and utm_campaign at ingest and attributes the joint traffic consistently, so both partners can reconcile a shared campaign against the same labels.
Common mistakes
- Each partner inventing their own utm_source spelling for the same campaign.
- Changing the agreed campaign name mid-flight without telling the other side.
- Encoding a partner contact's personal details instead of the brand label.
Privacy and accuracy notes
Use the partner's brand name as a stable label, not any individual's contact details. UTM values are public; keep personal data and internal identifiers out.
Related pages
- Influencer campaign tracking with UTM
Influencer campaigns are easy to measure if each partner gets a distinct UTM label. This page shows how to use utm_content per influencer, the privacy rule that keeps personal data out of URLs, and the honesty rule against inventing benchmark numbers.
- Referral program UTM tracking
Referral programs need their own UTM medium so referred traffic is not confused with organic referrers. This page shows how to label the referral channel and explains why you must not encode individual user IDs in UTM — it leaks personal data and invites abuse.
- Campaign links (docs)
Share one UTM convention across co-marketing partners.
Sources and verification notes
- MDN — URL search paramsutm_* are ordinary query-string parameters both sides can agree on.
Last reviewed 2026-06-24. Facts are checked against primary/official sources where available; uncertain specifics are marked “Data not yet verified” rather than guessed.