Collecting hard data from marketing initiatives is key to understanding which strategies worked best and pinpointing what your audience will respond to. It helps make your future marketing efforts more efficient so that you can squeeze the most value out of your budget.
Fortunately, the Google Campaign URL Builder and the Bitly URL shortener work together perfectly to track campaign performance. In fact, they integrate so well that Google added Bitly to its UTM builder to shorten links.
Here, we’ll explore GA4’s data model, how marketers can harness its features, and why more concise links translate to better campaigns.
What is Google’s Campaign URL Builder?
The Google Campaign URL Builder is a web interface that allows you to easily add campaign parameters, so you can have a custom URL to track campaigns. The UTM builder translates your campaign variables into a URL containing the correct tracking tags.
Here’s an example of an output from the URL Builder: http://bitly.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=url_builder
As you can see, the UTM parameters in the URL creator tool now have variables within the URL that correspond to your tracking information. Using a URL like this will enable Google Analytics (and quite a few other marketing services you may use) to track the performance of your campaign.
But the URL builder does more than share your campaign’s click-through rates and impressions. The campaign reports you can derive from its tracking features tell the full story about how your outreach is landing with your audience.
Features to know with Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) upgraded its data model from the previous version (Universal Analytics) to give marketers a more in-depth understanding of customers. You can now track campaigns by events, rather than sessions, and set more precise dimensions depending on the questions you need to answer.
You can also track campaigns across different platforms instead of just websites. Campaign reports from GA4 offer more insight into engagement and conversion by providing a 360-degree view of the customer journey. UA reports, on the other hand, would track the customer journey by sessions, separating the data and limiting takeaways.
These tools pair perfectly with Bitly’s tracking and analytics tools. With a sharper, more user-friendly interface, you can derive insights about customer behavior that would never have been impossible with previous iterations of Google Analytics.
What are UTM parameters?
UTM parameters are campaign tracking codes or tags. They refer to the part of the URL query string that the UTM generator adds. The query string is the part of the URL that comes after the “?”—so the bold part of this URL is the query string:
http://bitly.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=url_builder
UTM parameters contain variables that dynamic web applications use to track customer behavior, communicate specific information, or tell the web page what action to perform.
In UA, campaign tracking heavily relied on UTM parameters, even though they could be somewhat inconsistent or misleading. The GA4 update retains the core parameters while adding new features that make it easier to identify and understand marketing campaigns.
Google provides this UTM tag overview chart as a guide:
Campaign source
Campaign source refers to the web visitor’s origin point. It’s a great way to track which efforts are directing the most traffic to any given digital asset. For instance, if you send a customer an email, and they follow a link in it, the campaign source would reveal the email campaign that led to the impression.
Campaign medium
The campaign medium or marketing medium refers to the channel or communication source, providing another layer of information.
For instance, let’s say you’ve chosen certain keywords for paid Google advertising and other keywords for organic search methods. In this case, both the campaign sources would be Google, but the campaign medium would specify if people found the link through CPC or organic search engine traffic.
Campaign name
Campaign name refers to the campaign’s unique tag, which you can set manually or through the Google Tag Manager.
Also referred to as Campaign IDs on the Google Campaign URL Builder, you can label these with either words or alphanumeric strings. This UTM parameter is an excellent way to keep similar campaigns separate, so you’re not conflating the results.
Campaign term
Campaign term or campaign parameter refers to the word or words in a paid search campaign. These keywords will trigger the ad to appear, so having them in the URL helps you understand which words your audience is relating to. This can help you tailor specific campaigns for brand awareness or higher conversion rates.
Campaign content
Campaign content in GA4 refers to variances within the same campaign, and the newest version stretched the term for better tracking.
Now, marketers can employ text variations in ads, visual elements (pictures or videos), and target parameters (like age group). Campaign content works great for A/B testing because it shows marketers which adjustments had the highest impact.
Benefits of shortening links
The biggest weakness of URLs created by a UTM code generator is that they’re long—way too long. Adding one of these links to an SMS message or offline advertisement is impossible. A better strategy is to always turn the URLs created by the UTM builder into Bitly links, and here’s why:
More effective campaigns
Short links are easier for customers to visit and share, especially on social media sites like Instagram that don’t allow selectable links. They look more trustworthy than a long, suspicious string of letters and numbers. You can also add a custom back-half to further increase trust and build brand awareness.
Easier to use for marketing
If you plan to use links across the board, including SMS, email marketing, and social media, shortening your links basically becomes a requirement. Between the space concerns and general professionalism, it’s far easier to use shortened links than to try to work with extensive, unwieldy URLs.
Avoid people deleting the parameters
You might be surprised by how many people accidentally or intentionally delete the parameters when copying and pasting a link into their browsers. After all, they can still reach your website without including the campaign name or medium.
Shortened links ensure people use the link you want, so you can tell which campaigns result in traction.
More polished and professional
Long links are unappetizing on several levels. The never-ending string of characters can make it look like the marketers behind the brand are amateurs. It may even lead the audience to assume the brand isn’t trustworthy and that the link will send them to a fishy site. A shortened link looks polished and tells the customer exactly where they’re going.
Steps to create a campaign URL with Google’s URL builder
Creating a campaign URL in the Google Analytics URL Builder is a relatively straightforward process. Google designed the URL builder specifically for complex campaigns, and its developers integrated feedback from previous versions to improve GA4.
Let’s look at the three basic steps to finalize your URL.
1. Add your link
Visit the Google Campaign URL Builder. Under Demos and Tools, make sure you set the toggle to GA4. In the first field, add the base link you want your audience to visit. It could be a product catalog, social media profile, landing page, or website.
2. Choose your parameters
You can then manually add parameters and values to the link or use the URL-builder tools to create and append the parameters. GA4 has expanded the scope of parameters so marketers can interpret their campaigns on a granular level.
3. Tap “Copy URL”
After you’ve input all required fields, select the Create URL button and copy the link.
Limitations of Google’s Campaign URL Builder: What to know
Google’s Campaign URL Builder has been helpful for marketers across all sorts of campaigns, but there are some notable limitations to the tool.
Manual data
The Google Campaign URL Builder has always relied on manual data from marketers, and GA4 only expanded this feature. Marketers running dozens of campaigns at a time may not always have the time to input endless data, and even if they do, the manual process is prone to error.
With Bitly, marketers can shorten links with one tap after authorization, reducing the time and effort they need to get up and running.
Formatting restrictions
There is no specific limit on the URL length in GA4, though some platforms will truncate links that exceed a certain number of characters. Truncating the links will typically impact the last items in the URL, which can interfere with the accuracy of your analyses.
Parameter names typically have a limit of 40 characters, so staying within the lines is important. Bitly can’t change these standard parameters, but our interface is more user-friendly, allowing you to manage and shorten URLs without limiting your custom dimensions.
Standard parameters
Standard UTM parameters can go a long way in tracking consumer behavior over time, but they may not be right for every marketing team. Even with the latest additions to GA4, the parameters may still fail to convey the nuances of different campaigns.
If you’re looking for additional insights into performance, Bitly’s analytics augment the standard parameters in the URL builder, making it easier to understand a link’s performance. It’s just what marketers need to really leverage the builder for both ongoing and one-off campaigns.
How to use Bitly with Google’s URL builder
The good news is that Google has added a button to its URL generator that lets you easily shorten those long links via Bitly.
Below the newly generated campaign URL, you’ll see a button to convert your URL to a short link. (Authorization required means you need to approve Google to use your Bitly account.):
When you tap the convert button, the URL builder takes you to your Bitly account to authorize Google to shorten your link. (This is a one-time process—after you have given authorization, tapping the button will automatically shorten your link):
Once Google has access to your Bitly account, the URL Builder will return with the shortened link:
With Bitly’s campaign management analytics, you can track all your campaigns from a single dashboard, collect real-time data, and get granular insight into each campaign.
Viewing reports
It’s easy enough to measure your UTM parameters in Google Analytics, but not if you have to report back on initiatives to various team members. With Bitly, you get access to more comprehensive reporting through an intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard.
Analyzing reports
Bitly helps marketers understand the unique drivers behind each campaign. As you study the reports, make sure to:
- Standardize: You should have a record of all terms and their meanings. Make sure that the formats and abbreviations are consistent across campaigns.
- Filter: Bitly helps you filter out invalid clicks or bot traffic, so you know you’re analyzing accurate data.
- Visualize: Use Bitly’s tools to create charts and graphs to help you see campaign performance in a new light.
- Review: When consumer demand can change on a dime, so can your analyses of different campaigns. Ensure you regularly review your data to keep your strategies fresh.
Managing reports
Managing your reports helps you monitor and track your data over time. If you need a tool to help, Bitly puts all the information you need in an inviting, user-friendly dashboard.
Plus, with Bitly’s Enterprise Class solution, you can easily share campaign tracking reports so stakeholders can see what’s driving interest and respond accordingly.
Try Bitly to make campaign URL tracking simple
Bitly complements the Google Campaign URL builder by providing a user-friendly interface, shorter links, and more comprehensive analytics tools. Thanks to this integration, marketers can make more informed decisions about who to target and how to manage future campaigns.
The Google Campaign URL Builder and Bitly work together to provide a simple but powerful UTM-tracking tool for your campaigns. Use both resources to identify your campaigns, track their progress, and understand what resonated with your customer segments.
If you’re ready to take charge of your ad campaigns, sign up for Bitly today!
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