Measuring Your Social Media Impact with True Anthem: A Guide to UTM and Custom Query String Tracking

Navigating the vast sea of digital analytics can be daunting, but understanding the role of UTM and custom query string parameters in tracking your content's journey is pivotal. True Anthem simplifies this process, offering seamless integration with tools like Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics, ensuring that every share on social media is a step towards insightful analytics.

What Are UTMs and Query Strings

UTMs (which stand for Urchin Tracking Module parameters) and query strings are tracking codes that can be appended to the end of a URL. These fields do not impact the customer's experience of your content. When a UTM and Query String are appended to the end of a URL (especially if done strategically), you can gather actionable and specific traffic data. Many publishers use this tactic for measuring the effectiveness of tests, understanding how much traffic is coming from brand-led vs. user-led social activity, and other concepts.

Harnessing the Power of UTM Parameters

At its core, True Anthem supports the standard UTMs—Source, Medium, and Campaign. These parameters are instrumental in dissecting the effectiveness of your social media strategies, offering a granular view of where traffic originates and how it interacts with your content. True Anthem’s system default UTMs are listed below:

utm_campaign=trueanthem
utm_source={{socialNetworkName}} (ex. facebook, instagram, linkedin, etc.)
utm_medium=social

Custom Tracking for Comprehensive Insights

Beyond the basics, True Anthem embraces flexibility through custom tracking parameters like UTM Term, UTM Content, and CID for Adobe Analytics. This capability allows for a tailored analytics approach, ensuring that your tracking aligns perfectly with your unique marketing goals. For links distributed in the first comment of photo and video posts on Facebook and in X/Twitter posts, True Anthem adds a unique alphanumeric identifier value within a custom “taid” parameter for enhanced metrics tracking.

The "taid" query parameter plays a crucial role in accurately tracking True Anthem content shared on X/Twitter. This parameter acts as a unique identifier associated with each individual post, even when the link and post copy remain identical.

This unique identifier is essential because X/Twitter has a strict policy against duplicate content. Without this parameter, posts containing the same link and text could be flagged as duplicates, skewing your social media analytics.

By including the "taid" parameter in the URL of your posts, True Anthem ensures each post is tracked individually, providing you with precise insights into the performance of your Twitter campaigns. Remember, this parameter is added automatically by True Anthem, so you don't need to worry about manually including it in your posts.

Empowering Your Posts with True Anthem

If you want your posts to leverage specific tracking parameters, our support team is ready to assist with incorporating these essential tools into your strategy, as both standard and custom tracking parameters can be applied at the Content Type-level for any of your AI-driven, Automated Manual, RSS-Driven, or User Scheduled posts.

For manual scheduling, The True Anthem Dashboard offers you complete control for each and every post, enabling the addition of custom tracking parameters directly within the Post Editor for tailored analytics. Here's how you can create a saved template for easy and consistent application:

• Access Tracking Parameters: Click the fingerprint icon next to the URL in the Post Editor to view and edit your Tracking Parameters.
• Add Custom Parameters: Click “Add Custom Query String,” input the parameter’s keyname and value, then select "Save and Apply."

• Save a Template: Click "Save as Template," assign a meaningful name (up to 50 characters), and save.
• Apply a Template: These templates can be applied to specific types of posts using the Template drop-down list—simply choose the desired Tracking Parameter Template for the URL in your post within the Post Editor and hit the "Save" button.

This streamlined process ensures that your posts are not only optimized for social sharing but are also primed for detailed analytics tracking, leveraging the full power of True Anthem to elevate your social media strategy.

Your Toolkit for Success

With True Anthem, every social share is more than just a click; it's a data point in your analytics arsenal. From setting up UTM parameters to customizing tracking to fit your needs, we empower you with the tools to measure, understand, and enhance your social media impact.

For a detailed walkthrough on setting up and utilizing these tracking features, visit our support center or contact our dedicated support team. Together, let's turn insights into action and drive your content's success on social media.