Fullstory offers two search methods to easily track marketing campaigns: UTM parameters and Referrer URL.
Tracking a campaign with a UTM parameter
If you’re not familiar with the concept of the UTM parameter, it’s a special code appended to a link URL that works something like a beacon when it comes to tracking the link’s performance.
UTM parameters look like this: utm_campaign=july2022, or utm_source=twitter. There are different types (campaign and source, shown above, are just two of these) of parameter, and you can use one or all of the varieties in a single URL. Google’s URL Builder tool is a great place to learn more and create your own trackable links.
So, when available, it makes sense to begin building our Fullstory search by entering your UTM parameter(s).
The way we do this is by adding the Visited URL event filter and then entering the UTM parameters you'd like to segment for sessions by into the text field.
Tracking a campaign using Referrer URL
We don’t recommend using this method if you have a UTM parameter, but if you don’t, and if you know what pages or domains your ad will be appearing on, you can use Referrer URL.
UTM parameters vs Referrer URLs
UTM parameters are the gold standard in tracking because no matter what page(s) your ads appear on, you’ll be able to track the clicks. The parameter gets appended to the URL of the landing page, for example, http://fullstory.com?utm_source=thedeck. Fullstory will always gather this information, because it’s capturing everything on your site.
Referrer URL, on the other hand, is the page from which the user is navigating. Fullstory doesn’t capture this data all the time, because it’s not capturing anyone’s site but yours. Whether the referrer URL is successfully captured depends largely on the specific user’s browser and cookie settings.
If you decide to use this method, you'll want to add a dependent event filter that uses the Referrer URL filter and enter the full URL or domain on which your ad or link will be appearing. (That’s the other detractor: you need to know the site(s) your ad will be shown on. So ad networks with dozens of member sites are nearly impossible to track this way.)