UTM links for agencies: running client campaigns cleanly

An agency does not build UTM links for itself but for its clients. Each client has their own websites, rules and reports, and each wants to know what their campaign achieved. Serving many clients therefore takes two things at once: a process that is the same for all of them, and data that stays cleanly with each client. This guide shows how both fit together.

Every client has their own convention

The naming convention belongs to the client, not to the agency, just like their links, results and documentation. It defines what the client's sources, media and campaigns are called, and it must outlast any agency. A client who has written newsletter with the medium email for years should not find a new spelling in their reports just because a new agency took over.

As an agency you bring experience, but not a taxonomy of your own to impose on every client. If the client already has a convention, you work by it. If not, you propose one from your experience and agree on it with the client. What belongs in a good convention is described in the guide UTM naming conventions for teams and agencies.

The agency name does not go into source or medium

A common mistake: the agency writes itself into the link, for example utm_source=nordlicht or utm_medium=agency. For the client, one channel then splits into several rows. The newsletter their own team sends and the one the agency runs appear separately, although it is the same channel. When the agency changes, another row appears and time series break.

Source and medium describe where a visit comes from, not who built the link. Record who is responsible for a campaign somewhere else: in the briefing, in the campaign plan or in the tool where the links are built.

One process for every client

The values differ from client to client, the process should not. If every launch follows the same pattern, anyone on your team can take over any client, and mistakes stand out because they break the pattern. This order has proven itself:

1. Briefing: goal, period, channels and one responsible person are set before the first link is built.
2. Links by the client's convention: if a value is missing, request it from the client instead of introducing it yourself.
3. Check every link: the landing page answers, the parameters survive redirects, the tracking is on the page.
4. Test visit: a visit arrives in the client's analytics with the values you expect.
5. Documentation: which link is used where, who built it and who checked it is kept in one place.

For what to check, see the guide Campaign launch without broken links.

Checks and documentation as proof

For an agency, the check before launch is more than quality assurance. It is proof that the work is right. When the client asks months later why a link looked the way it did or why a channel is missing from the report, you have the answer if it is recorded who checked and approved what and when. Without that trail you search old e-mails. With it, the client can trace where their numbers come from and trusts the report more.

When the client invites you

Many companies have their convention before the agency arrives. Then you work in their standard:

• Ask for the current list of allowed values, not a copy from last year.
• If a value is missing, request it and say briefly what you need it for. The client decides, and then the value applies to everyone working for them.
• For finer distinctions in content or placement you usually have more freedom, as long as the spelling is right.
• If the client's convention differs from your habits, the client's convention wins.

Handover when the agency changes

Plan for the end of the working relationship from the start: links, convention and tracking documentation sit where the client finds them without you. Live links, especially printed ones, keep running unchanged. This does not weaken your position, it strengthens it: a client who knows they keep everything finds it easier to say yes to your proposal. What companies secure in a switch is described in the guide Switch agencies without losing data.

Feinwerk Campaigns

In Feinwerk Campaigns every client gets a workspace of their own with their own convention, and you work with all clients in one login. If your client invites you, you work in their standard for free. If they have no workspace yet, we set it up for you during the pilot: your client becomes the owner, grants your agency access and can take the workspace over at any time. Every check, every approval and every change is in the history. Creating clients yourself Planned and templates for convention and checklist at agency level Planned are planned. How the invitation works is in the docs under Invite team and agencies, how to request new values under Request and approve values. Both ways are explained on the page For agencies. To join the pilot, use the pilot page.