TrueMetriks documentation: UTM Builder https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/ Generated from the TrueMetriks documentation. Paste the whole of this file into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Cursor or any other AI. I use TrueMetriks, a server-side tracking and conversion attribution platform. It tracks my website visitors, ties every sale back to the ad that produced it, and sends those conversions back to my ad platforms. Help me with this specific task: UTM Builder. The UTM Builder creates correctly-encoded, tagged campaign URLs and copy-ready Facebook, Google Ads, and TikTok templates that wire up full TrueMetriks attribution. HOW TO GUIDE ME - This file has three parts: THE GUIDE is today's task, BACKGROUND is a prerequisite to confirm with me before you start THE GUIDE, not optional reading, and LINK MAP is the only place a real link comes from. - Ask me ONE thing at a time and wait for my answer before moving on. - At the start of every step, ask me: "do you want the written steps, or the video?" If I pick the video, give me the exact link from the LINK MAP at the bottom and wait until I tell you I have watched it. If I pick the written steps, give them to me from this file. - Only ever give me links that appear in the LINK MAP below. Never invent a URL, never guess an anchor, and if I ask for something that has no link here, say so and point me at https://docs.truemetriks.com/ instead. - Never ask me for my password, my API key, my MCP key, or any card details. You are reading me the steps; I am the one clicking in my own account. - Confirm each step worked before starting the next one. - Keep it short. I am doing this while looking at my screen, not reading an essay. - Everything you need is in this file. You do not need to browse the web. =============================================================================== THE GUIDE: UTM Builder https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/ =============================================================================== UTMs are the `utm_source`, `utm_medium`, and `utm_campaign` tags you add to a link so analytics tools know where a visitor came from. TrueMetriks reads them on every click and uses them for channel attribution across the [dashboard](https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/main/). This page builds those tagged URLs for you and gives you ready-made templates for the ad platforms. ## The builder Fill the form top to bottom. The output updates live as you type. **Video guide** VIDEO: A walkthrough of the UTM Builder and saving your naming conventions -> https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#the-builder - **URL** is the destination the ad or link points to. The UTMs are appended to it; if the URL already has UTMs, they are replaced. - **Your conventions** lets you save a set of values you reuse often and load them back with one click, so your tags stay consistent every time. See [Save your naming conventions](#save-your-naming-conventions) below. - **Source** (required) is the platform the traffic comes from, like `facebook`, `google`, or `tiktok`. - **Medium** (required) is the marketing medium: `cpc` for paid ads, `email` for newsletters, `social` for organic posts. - **Campaign** (required) is the campaign name. Keep it lowercase with underscores or hyphens for consistency. - **Term** (optional) is the paid-search keyword, when relevant. Usually blank for non-search ads. - **Content** (optional) distinguishes similar ads pointing at the same URL, which is what you use for A/B testing creative variants. The fields marked with a red asterisk are required; the rest are optional. ## Save your naming conventions The single most important habit with UTMs is consistency: pick one naming convention and use it every time. If one campaign is tagged `youtube` / `social` and the next is `YouTube` / `Social`, TrueMetriks reads them as two different sources and your reports split in two. Saved conventions are how you lock that consistency in so you never have to remember the exact spelling again. Fill the fields the way you want them once, then click **Save current** and give the convention a name. Only the name is required; the source, medium, campaign, term, and content come pre-filled from what you typed, and you can adjust any of them before saving. Once saved, the convention shows up as a chip under **Your conventions**. Click the chip and it pre-fills the source, medium, campaign, term, and content fields for you, so you never retype them or risk a typo. It leaves the URL field alone, since the destination changes from link to link. Saved conventions live on the site, not in your browser, so everyone on your team with access to that site sees the same list and tags links the same way. ### Manage, edit, and delete Click **Manage** to see every convention you have saved. Drag them to reorder; the top five show as chips. The pencil opens the same dialog as Save current (titled **Edit convention**) so you can rename a convention or change its values, and the trash removes it. Deleting asks you to confirm first, so you will not remove a convention by accident. ### Why naming conventions matter Attribution is only as good as the tags feeding it. One convention, used everywhere, keeps every click rolling up to the right source, medium, and campaign across your whole [dashboard](https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/main/). Decide on your names once, then never switch the spelling, casing, or wording mid-stream. For the full picture of why this matters and how to structure your names, read [Organize your data for better tracking](https://truemetriks.com/blog/organize-your-data-for-better-tracking/) on our blog. ## The output Once the form is filled, the builder gives you two things to copy. Here is what they look like for the example above; both stay empty until the form is valid. - **Full URL** is the complete, ready-to-share link with the UTMs already on it. Paste it anywhere you share a link directly: an email, a social post, a link-in-bio. - **Ad platform UTM string** is just the parameters, with no URL in front. Paste this into an ad platform's "URL parameters" field; the platform appends it to your destination URL automatically when it serves the ad. Its label changes to match the preset you picked (for example "Facebook URL parameters string"). ## Short links A full UTM URL is long and not very pretty: it carries every parameter the form just built. That is fine for an ad platform, but not for somewhere people actually see the link, like a YouTube description, an Instagram or LinkedIn bio, a printed QR code, or a podcast show-note. The Short link card, right below the Full URL, fixes that. It turns the Full URL into a short, branded link on your own tracking subdomain, so `haven.your-site.com/go/summer-sale` redirects to the long tagged URL and every click still carries the full UTM tagging. Because the short link lives on your own verified subdomain, the same one you set up in [Connect your domain](https://docs.truemetriks.com/getting-started/cname-setup/), it looks like you and not a third-party shortener, and it keeps working for as long as your domain does. The card only appears once your domain is connected and verified; until then it shows a prompt to set that up first. **Video guide** VIDEO: How to create a branded short link in the UTM Builder -> https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#short-links Click **Create short link** to open the dialog. - **Name** (required) is a label for you, so you can find the link again later, like `Summer sale - Facebook` or `June newsletter`. It is never shown to visitors. - **Short link** is the part after `/go/`. Leave it blank and TrueMetriks generates a short random slug for you, or type your own to get a clean, memorable one like `summer-sale`. You can use letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores. - **Destination URL** is where the link sends people. It comes pre-filled with the Full URL the builder just made, so the redirect carries all your UTM tags; paste a different URL here if you want. Click **Save** and the link appears in the card below. Each row shows its name and the full short URL, with three actions: **copy** the short link to your clipboard, **edit** its name, slug, or destination, and **delete** it (deleting asks you to confirm first). Use the **Search by name** box to find a link once you have built up a lot of them. Short links are saved per-site, so everyone on your team with access to that site shares the same list. ## Per-platform templates **Video guide** VIDEO: How and where to paste the per-platform templates -> https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#per-platform-templates This is the part you actually paste into your ad platforms, and it is different from the single link above. For ads you do not build a URL per click; you hand the platform one template string and it tags every click for you. The templates use each platform's own macros, so the platform fills in the real campaign, ad, and creative IDs at serve time, and they carry the extra TrueMetriks attribution parameters the rest of the platform depends on. Copy each one with its Copy button. The only thing you have to get right is where the string goes, and that is different for each platform. **[Facebook](https://docs.truemetriks.com/ad-integrations/facebook/): paste it on each ad (ad level).** Facebook has no account-wide place to put URL parameters, so the template lives at the ad level. Select the ad, scroll down to its **Tracking** section, and paste the Facebook string into the **URL parameters** field. You repeat this for every ad you create. That is what makes Facebook's `{{campaign.id}}` / `{{ad.id}}` macros resolve per ad. **[Google Ads](https://docs.truemetriks.com/ad-integrations/google-ads/): paste it once at the account level.** Google does have an account-wide slot, so you only set it a single time. Go to **Admin**, then **Account settings**, open the **Tracking** section, and paste the Google string into the **Tracking template** field, then click Save. Every campaign and ad in the account inherits it automatically. There is nothing to repeat per ad and no scripts to install. (`{lpurl}` at the front is Google's macro for "the landing page URL," so the template wraps whatever destination each ad already points to.) **[TikTok](https://docs.truemetriks.com/ad-integrations/tiktok/): paste it on each ad (ad level).** Like Facebook, TikTok has no account-wide slot, so the template lives at the ad level. In TikTok Ads Manager, select the ad and paste the TikTok string into the ad's **URL** / tracking parameters field, then repeat for every ad. Use the macros exactly as written; TikTok resolves them to real numeric IDs on real ad clicks (in previews they can stay literal, which is normal): ```text utm_source=tiktok&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=__CAMPAIGN_ID__&utm_content=__CID__&utm_term=__AID__&ttclid=__CLICKID__&r_ad_id=__CID__&r_adgroup_id=__AID__&r_campaign_id=__CAMPAIGN_ID__&placement=__PLACEMENT__ ``` The TikTok macros map onto the standard UTMs the same way the other platforms' do: `__CID__` is the ad (creative) ID and fills `utm_content`, `__AID__` is the ad group ID and fills `utm_term`, and `__CAMPAIGN_ID__` is the campaign ID and fills `utm_campaign`. `__CLICKID__` becomes `ttclid`, TikTok's click ID, and the `r_*` parameters carry the same raw IDs through to TrueMetriks. One TikTok-specific requirement: when you create your TikTok pixel in TikTok Events Manager, choose **Pixel + Events API** or **Events API** as the connection method, not Pixel only. The [TikTok integration](https://docs.truemetriks.com/ad-integrations/tiktok/) page walks through the full setup. The macro tokens like `{{campaign.id}}` (Facebook), `{creative}` (Google), and `__CID__` (TikTok) are placeholders the ad platform swaps for real IDs as each ad runs. The extra `r_*`, `gc_id`, and `placement` parameters carry those raw platform IDs through to TrueMetriks so attribution stays correct even when ad IDs collide across accounts. =============================================================================== LINK MAP Use these exact URLs. Anything ending in a # anchor opens on that section or that video. Nothing else is a valid link. Never invent a URL and never guess an anchor. UTM Builder The guide ................................... https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/ The builder ................................. https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#the-builder Save your naming conventions ................ https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#save-your-naming-conventions Manage, edit, and delete .................... https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#manage-edit-and-delete Why naming conventions matter ............... https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#why-naming-conventions-matter The output .................................. https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#the-output Short links ................................. https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#short-links Per-platform templates ...................... https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#per-platform-templates VIDEO, A walkthrough of the UTM Builder and saving your naming conventions https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#the-builder VIDEO, How to create a branded short link in the UTM Builder https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#short-links VIDEO, How and where to paste the per-platform templates https://docs.truemetriks.com/dashboard/utm-builder/#per-platform-templates