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Campaign Tracking
What Is UTM Medium?
UTM medium identifies the marketing channel type, such as email, cpc, paid social, organic social, display, or referral.
Updated 2026-06-17
Quick Definition
UTM medium identifies the marketing channel type, such as email, cpc, paid social, organic social, display, or referral.
Expanded explanation
utm_medium usually describes the channel category, such as email, cpc, paid_social, organic_social, referral, or display.
Why it matters
Medium values are central to GA4 channel classification. Inconsistent medium naming can push traffic into the wrong channel, create fragmented reporting, or increase Unassigned traffic.
Common mistakes
- Mixing paid-social, paidsocial, paid_social, and social_paid across campaigns.
- Using source names like facebook or newsletter as medium values.
- Creating custom medium values without checking whether GA4 channel rules recognize them.
Examples
utm_medium=email
utm_medium=cpc
utm_medium=paid_social
Practical example
If your taxonomy standard is utm_medium=paid_social, every paid LinkedIn, Meta, TikTok, and Pinterest URL should use that same value to avoid fragmented channel reports.