UTM parameters are short text labels you can add to the end of a URL. They help you track where your customers are coming from and which campaigns drive bookings.
📘 EXAMPLE:
https://yourdomain.com/checkout?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=holiday-sale
When customers click a link with UTM parameters, these values are captured in both Ventrata and Google Analytics 4 (GA4). This allows you to:
Measure the effectiveness of ads, emails, and social campaigns
Compare campaign performance between Ventrata reports and GA4
Attribute bookings and revenue to specific marketing efforts
Supported UTM Parameters in Ventrata
Ventrata currently supports the following UTM parameters:
utm_campaign– the campaign name (for example, holiday-sale, product-launch)utm_content– the specific ad or link variation (for example, bannerA, cta_button)utm_source– the platform or referrer (for example, newsletter, email, google)utm_medium– the type of traffic (for example, email, cpc, social)
📗 TIP
These parameters are saved in the Bookings table and can also be captured in GA4 via GTM for cross-checking campaign results.
Capture UTM parameters in GTM
Prerequisites:
A Google Tag Manager (GTM) account set up
A Google Analytics 4 (GA4) property connected
📗 TIP
If you need help setting up your Google analytics environment, please familiarise yourself with How to Set up GTM and GA4.
In your GTM dashboard, navigate to Variables.
Press the New button in the top right corner of the box.
Click on the Variable Configuration card.
Select URL from the list of options.
Under Component Type, select Query.
In the 'Query Key' field, enter the UTM parameter (for example,
utm_source) .
Name the variable (usually the same as the parameter).
Press the Save button.
Repeat these steps for each UTM parameter (
utm_source,utm_medium,utm_campaign,utm_content).
Configure GA4 Event Tag
GA4 can store UTM values as user properties, making them available throughout the user's session.
In your GTM workspace, go to Tags.
Select your GA4 Event tag (for example, purchase) or create a new one.
In the User Properties section, create an entry for each UTM parameter filling in the following fields:
Property Name - the UTM name (for example, utm_source)
Value - the variable you created earlier (for example,
{{utm_source}})
Click the Add Row button to create space for each new entry.
Press the Save button.
Using UTM Parameters
Once you have set up your UTM parameters in GTM, you can use them by adding UTM tags to your URLs.
📗 TIP
Use the Google Campaign URL Builder to generate URLs with UTM tags. This ensures consistency across all your distributed links.
Include these URLs in your ads, social posts and email campaigns. When a customer clicks the link:
Ventrata captures the UTMs and saves them in the booking.
GA4 via GTM captures the UTMs and attaches them to the session.
You can then compare the data from both sources.
Test Your Setup
Before publishing, preview your website to confirm that data is flowing correctly.
Prerequisites:
Google Tag Manager is installed on your site
You have set up events that capture customer behaviour
UTM parameters are added to the GA4 events you want to track
In your GTM workspace, press the Preview button.
In the Tag Manager preview mode, enter your website URL.
📒 NOTE
Your website will open in a new window or tab in debug mode. Keep this page open for testing.
Switch back to your Google Tag Manager tab and click Connect.
Once connected, click the Continue button.
You Debugger will populate with the information about your tags and variables. Use this to validate your setup and share with your team if needed.
Publish Changes
When all relevant tags, triggers and variables are configured,
Press the Submit button in the GTM the ribbon.
Enter a version name and a description.
Finally, press the Publish button in the top right corner.
After publishing, events will be flowing into GA4 immediately. You can verify this in your GA4 account under
Reports > Realtime Overview
Admin > Data Display > DebugView.