One newsletter, many links: telling placements apart with utm_content

A newsletter rarely has one link to a page. There is a button near the top, a text link in the second paragraph, a banner halfway down and a line in the footer. Tagged the usual way, all four carry the same source, medium and campaign, and your report shows one number for the lot. utm_content is the parameter that separates them.

What utm_content is for

The first three UTM parameters describe the message: utm_source=newsletter, utm_medium=email, utm_campaign=autumn_launch. utm_content describes the place inside the message. It is optional, and it only earns its keep when two links in the same message point at the same destination.

https://example.com/lookbook?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=autumn_launch&utm_content=header_button
https://example.com/lookbook?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=autumn_launch&utm_content=footer_link

Name the place, not the wording

A value should still make sense when the copy changes. header_button survives a rewrite of the button text; shop_the_new_collection_now does not. A short fixed vocabulary works best:

• header_button, hero_image, body_link, product_card and footer_link for position.
• text and image, or variant_a and variant_b, when you are comparing two versions of the same placement.

The spelling rules are the ones from UTM parameters explained: lower case, underscores between words, and no new values invented mid-campaign.

Building the links in Lnki

The Builder tab of Campaigns & UTM has an optional step called Content & term. To make one link per placement:

1. Paste the destination and choose the campaign, as usual.
2. Under Where will you share it? pick the newsletter channel.
3. In Content & term, type the placement into utm_content, for example header_button. The Live preview shows the tagged URL.
4. Choose Create short link.
5. Repeat with the next placement. Only the content value changes.

You end up with one short link per placement, all in the same campaign and channel. Put each one in its place in the email.

Reading the result

There are two places to look, and they answer slightly different questions.

• In Lnki, each placement is its own short link, so each has its own click count. The Tagged links tab lists them, and the UTM parameters tab has a Content view that ranks utm_content values by clicks.
• In your analytics tool, the content value arrives with the visit, so you can follow each placement through to a sign-up or a sale.

What to do with the answer

• If one placement takes nearly all the clicks, the others are decoration. Shorten the email, or give the space to something else.
• If the footer link does well, people are reading to the end. A longer piece may be welcome.
• If the image beats the button, make sure every image in the next issue is a link.

Judge a pattern over several issues, not one. A single send can be skewed by its subject line or its timing.

The campaign links tutorial shows the Builder screen by screen. To compare two landing pages instead of two placements, see A/B test landing pages with one short link.