How to build UTM links for Instagram, email and QR codes

Plan one campaign across several placements

Imagine a summer promotion appearing in an Instagram Story, a newsletter and a shop poster. Create a different tagged link for each placement, even when all three lead to the same product page. Keep utm_campaign=summer_sale across the set.

• Instagram: source instagram, medium social, content story_v1.
• Newsletter: source newsletter, medium email, content top_button.
• Poster: source store_poster, medium qr, content checkout.

These are example names. A custom medium such as qr may not map to your preferred default channel group. Choose a naming dictionary that fits your reports.

Build the link in Astrotor

1. Paste the full destination URL, including https://.
2. Complete source, medium and campaign. Quick-start buttons fill source and medium; you supply the campaign name.
3. Open optional parameters if you need a campaign ID, keyword or content variation.
4. Check the generated URL and tag summary, then select “Copy link”.

Generation happens on your device. The tool does not save campaign history, so record the URL, values and placement in your own plan. Reusing the same tagged link across channels prevents those channels from being distinguished by these tags.

Preserve parameters and prepare a QR code

A destination such as ?color=blue#details keeps its other query parameters and fragment. The six supported UTM fields replace matching parameters already in the URL; an empty optional field removes its old value. For example, an unused utm_term does not carry into the new campaign.

Paste the complete tagged URL into the QR generator’s URL field. Check QR readability before printing. UTM tags do not count scans themselves; analytics only reports visits it can observe. Adding parameters can invalidate signed or temporary URLs, so test these separately.

Make three checks before sharing

First, confirm that the URL opens the intended product or campaign page. Next, check whether any redirect preserves the tags. Finally, use your analytics tool’s test or real-time view to confirm the expected source and campaign arrive. Standard reports can take longer to update.

If the page works but no visit appears, inspect the measurement tag, consent state and redirects before repeatedly renaming parameters. Session and conversion reports may use different attribution rules. Review what UTM parameters mean when checking the source, medium and campaign together.