What YouTube UTM parameters should you use?
Use five UTM parameters on every YouTube link: utm_source=youtube, a utm_medium that names the surface such as paid video, description or community post, utm_campaign for the launch, utm_content for the video or ad, and utm_term for the audience if you need it. Keep values lowercase and consistent. Tools like Trakt build consistent UTM links.
Quick start: Start free with Trakt to build YouTube UTM links that follow one naming convention and record each form submission with its source. Or follow the manual steps below.
Paste this on a YouTube ad as the final URL suffix. It is an example. product-launch-2026 is a name you choose. The values in curly braces are ValueTrack parameters. Google fills those in on the click.
utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=paid_video&utm_campaign=product-launch-2026&utm_content={creative}&utm_term={placement}
A description link is a full URL, because nothing fills in the blanks for you:
https://example.com/demo?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic_video&utm_campaign=product-launch-2026&utm_content=setup-walkthrough&utm_term=description
Same source on both, so YouTube stays one row. Different medium, so ad revenue and organic revenue stay apart. Where to put the organic link is in YouTube website traffic. The retargeting medium is in YouTube retargeting ads.
Copy-paste values for each YouTube surface
| Surface | utm_medium | utm_content | utm_term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prospecting ad | paid_video | the ad, or {creative} | {placement} or the audience name |
| Retargeting ad | retargeting_video | the ad, or {creative} | the audience name |
| Description or pinned comment | organic_video | the video slug | description or pinned-comment |
| Community post | community_post | the post slug, with a date | poll, image, text, or video |
| Banner or About link | organic_video | channel | banner or about |
utm_campaign stays on the launch across that table, such as product-launch-2026. A new campaign name for every video makes the launch impossible to total.
Lowercase every value you type. YouTube and youtube become two sources. Leave spaces out. Hyphens match the UTM builder. If the account already uses underscores, keep using underscores. One separator, for the whole account.
{placement} fills in when the ad is tied to a placement. It can arrive empty. The click still has the campaign and the creative. {creative} is the ad id. It joins back to Google Ads. It is a poor label in a sales inbox, so a short name you type is easier to read when you only have a few ads.
{network} returns ytv for YouTube. Leave it out of utm_source. A static youtube lets you add organic clicks to the same source.
{keyword} is a Search parameter. On a YouTube click it is often empty. The Search version of this template is how to set up Google Ads UTM parameters.
How to add the template to YouTube ads
Put the suffix on the campaign. Leave the final URL as the clean landing page. Google's final URL and tracking template doc is the reference for the two fields.
- Open the campaign in Google Ads.
- Open Settings, then Additional settings, then Campaign URL options.
- Paste the suffix into Final URL suffix. Do not put a
?in front of it. - Save. Click an ad, or use Google's test on a tracking template, and read the landing page URL.
A tracking template is the other field. It has to start with {lpurl}, or the landing page breaks. Use it when you need to rewrite the whole URL. For a normal site, the suffix is enough: it only adds the query string.
{lpurl}?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=paid_video&utm_campaign=product-launch-2026&utm_content={creative}&utm_term={placement}
Set the suffix on the YouTube campaign, not on the whole account, when Search campaigns already carry their own suffix. The more specific suffix wins. One stray suffix on a single ad will override the campaign and that ad will report under a different name.
The UTM builder assembles a full URL for description links, posts, and anywhere you paste by hand. It does not replace ValueTrack. Ad suffixes stay in Google Ads so {creative} can fill in.
Check the link before the campaign spends
- Open a private window so an old cookie cannot confuse the test.
- Click the ad preview, the description link, or the post.
- Read the address bar on the landing page. All five parameters should be there. If a shortener or a redirect sits in the middle, this is the step that catches it.
- Open two more pages on the site, then submit a form with a test address.
- Open the lead.
utm_sourceshould beyoutube. The medium should match the row in the table above.
An empty form field with a correct address bar means the site stored nothing and the form read nothing. Fix that before you judge the video. The same capture steps, written for any ad, are in how to track which ad a lead came from.
If you want the parameter values enforced in a builder rather than kept in a doc, pre-register for Trakt.
Keep the parameters until someone buys
The suffix tells you about one click. A deal often happens on a later visit. On the first page, write the five values into a first-party cookie. On the form, hidden fields read the cookie. In the CRM, keep the original values. A later branded search can be recorded as another touch. It should leave youtube on the lead.
The cookie stays on the browser that clicked. It does not move to a second device. YouTube device tracking is that case.
Example, not a customer result. Same launch, three surfaces, made-up leads and revenue so the columns are obvious.
| Surface (example) | utm_medium | Leads (example) | Closed revenue (example) |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-stream ad | paid_video | 11 | $9,000 |
| Description link | organic_video | 4 | $22,000 |
| Community poll | community_post | 2 | $6,000 |
In the example, the ad produced the most leads and the description link produced the most revenue. Studio cannot show that split. The UTM can, once it is sitting on the deal. Community links are covered in YouTube Community post tracking. The wider checklist is the YouTube attribution playbook. Campaign-level reporting sits in YouTube campaign tracking.
Trakt's tracking snippet writes source, medium, campaign, content, and term onto the form at submit, and stores them in a first-party cookie on that browser for 90 days. Campaign links in Trakt come from one shared list of values, so two people do not invent two spellings of the same launch. Won deal value in Trakt's pipeline is credited to the source on the submission. The CRM still needs the fields mapped if sales works there. Pre-register for Trakt, or see campaign links.
Questions about YouTube UTM parameters
What is the YouTube UTM template?
For an ad, use a final URL suffix: utm_source=youtube, utm_medium=paid_video, utm_campaign set to the launch, utm_content set to the creative id, and utm_term set to the placement. For a description link, use the same source and campaign on a full URL, with utm_medium=organic_video and utm_content set to the video name.
Should utm_medium be video, cpc, or paid_video?
Use paid_video for prospecting ads, retargeting_video for retargeting ads, organic_video for description and channel links, and community_post for Community posts. utm_medium=cpc mixes YouTube with search. utm_medium=video mixes YouTube with every other video channel. The medium is what splits revenue later, so keep the list short and written down.
Where do I paste YouTube UTMs in Google Ads?
Open the campaign, then Settings, Additional settings, Campaign URL options, and paste the parameters into Final URL suffix. Leave the final URL as the landing page. A tracking template has to start with a final-URL parameter such as lpurl, or the landing page breaks. The suffix only adds the query string.
Why is the keyword parameter empty on a YouTube click?
The keyword ValueTrack parameter is filled for Search ads. A YouTube click often has no keyword, so that field comes back blank. Use the creative id for the ad and a campaign name you type. The Search template that uses the keyword parameter is a different setup.
How long do YouTube UTMs stay on a visitor?
They stay in the URL for that landing. The next page drops them unless the site writes them to a first-party cookie and the form reads the cookie. On a later visit, same browser, the cookie can still fill the form. A different device has no cookie from the YouTube click.
