UTM builder: how to tag your ads and track ad spend

If you build ad links without a UTM builder, it's easy to miss a tag. Then visits end up in catch-all rows such as “Untitled” or “Not defined”. The budget is spent, but you can't see which campaign and which search query brought the client. And without setup, spend on ads in VK or Telegram channels doesn't get into the report at all. Costs are zero, and ROI (return on ad spend) shows nothing.

UTM tags are labels at the end of an ad link. They tell “Website analytics” which source, campaign and keyword the visitor came from. Everything you need to keep your sources in order is in one place. The “UTM tag generator” builds a link for an ad in a minute. “Campaign settings” set the cost per visit for channels without an integration. Test and unclear sources can be renamed or deleted.

All of this is included in the “CRM + Telephony + Automation” plan and higher, at no extra cost and without separate end-to-end analytics services. And leads, deals and payments from the CRM get into the row of the source and campaign the client came from by themselves. You can open them right from the row: the ⋮ menu → “Show leads” or “Open deals” — a window with the list appears on the same page, and clicking a deal opens it in the CRM.

Watch the two-minute video, and below you'll find step-by-step instructions.

Why businesses need it

• A marketer sees every campaign and every keyword as a separate row. They turn off weak keywords instead of the whole campaign.
• An online school or a store advertising in VK, with bloggers and in Telegram channels sets a “Cost per visit”. Cost per lead and ROI are calculated for all channels, not just Direct.
• An agency builds links for Yandex and Google from a template. It's harder to make a mistake in the tags, and the campaigns are easy to link with Direct later.
• The owner reads the report on their own: instead of tags like yandex-direct, the rows have clear names.
• Whoever maintains the report deletes test tags and spam domains. The numbers are no longer distorted.

How UTM tags sort visits by source

The tags in the link determine which row of the “Traffic sources” table a visit goes to:

• utm_source — the source in the “Ad sources” branch;
• utm_campaign — the campaign within the source;
• utm_term — the keyword within the campaign.

How to read this table and calculate ROI is covered in the article marketing ROI tracking.

A source appears in the table by itself after the first click on the link. Statistics are updated every 15 minutes. The tracking code must be installed on the website — how to install it is described in the article website leads to CRM.

If the link has no utm_term, the visit goes to the “Not defined” keyword. Next to it is a “?” icon with a tooltip: “The ad source is not defined: the ad link lacks UTM tags. Add utm_term to the link.”

How to create a UTM link in the builder

1. 1
   Open the generator

   Click the link icon in the header (“Create a UTM tag”). The “UTM tag generator” window opens.
2. 2
   Choose the ad system

   In “Ad system”, click “Yandex”, “Google” or “Other”.
3. 3
   Check the page

   “Campaign page” already contains the project's website. Enter the landing page address; https:// is added automatically.
4. 4
   Fill in the tags

   For Yandex and Google, the “Source (utm_source)”, “Campaign (utm_campaign)” and “Tag (utm_term)” fields are filled in from a template. For “Other”, enter them yourself, for example vk, the campaign name and the ad tag.
5. 5
   Copy the link

   The finished link is shown below the fields. Click “Copy link” and paste it into the ad.

The “Yandex” template sets utm_source=yandex-direct, utm_campaign={campaign_id} and utm_term={keyword}, plus tags for the banner, phrase and placement type. Direct itself substitutes the campaign ID and the keyword for them. The “Google” template uses google, {campaignid} and {keyword}. With the {campaign_id} tag, campaigns are easy to link with Direct later using the “Match by ID and name” button, and the Yandex Direct CRM integration puts the costs into the right rows.

How to track ad spend on VK and Telegram channels: cost per visit

Cost per visit is the average price of one click on an ad. It's set for channels without a Direct integration: VK, Telegram channels, bloggers.

1. 1
   Open the campaign

   Expand “Ad sources” → the source and click ⋮ (“Actions”) next to the campaign → “Campaign settings”.
2. 2
   Check the name

   “Campaign name” in the “Campaign” window is the row label in the table. “Identifier (utm_campaign)” can't be changed.
3. 3
   Enter the cost

   In “Cost per visit”, enter how much one click costs on average, in the same currency as the table (the field is marked $). Numbers only, for example 0.12, with up to two decimal places; empty means zero. If you enter something that isn't a number, the window reminds you: “Enter the cost as a number”.
4. 4
   Save

   Click “Save”, and the table is recalculated.

The campaign's “Ad costs” become the cost per visit multiplied by the visits. Then cost per lead and per deal, profit and ROI are recalculated.

If Direct is connected, the same window has a “Yandex Direct” block with a “Direct campaign” field. When the campaign is linked, costs are taken from Direct. If Direct isn't connected, there's a “Connect Yandex Direct” button instead.

How to rename a traffic source in the report

The ⋮ menu of a source → “Rename source”. In the “Source” window, enter the “Source name”, for example “Yandex”, and click “Save”. Only the name in the report changes: the “Source identifier (utm_source)” and the tags in the links stay the same.

Deleting junk rows: test tags and spam domains

Test tags and spam domains spoil the numbers. They're removed with the “Delete with leads and deals” item in the ⋮ menu. It's available for a source, campaign, keyword, domain, page and search engine if you have the “Can clear statistics” right.

1. Click “Delete with leads and deals”.
2. Read the warning in the “Delete «…»?” window.
3. Type the confirmation word the window asks for and click “Delete”.

Read also: Marketing ROI tracking: which ads pay off and which drain your budget, Yandex Direct CRM integration: the real cost of every lead, Website form to CRM: connect your forms without a developer, Utm tags for display network