Setting Up Google Analytics Friendly Campaign Links in Eloqua

Why Eloqua reporting isn't enough on its own

Eloqua gives you good high-level reporting. You can see channel-level attribution like email, social or paid search. What you cannot see is exactly which ad, tactic, variation or keyword generated the conversion.

This is where clients usually begin asking the right questions:

• Which LinkedIn ad actually drove form submissions?
• Do different database segments respond to different creatives?
• Which PPC keywords generate revenue, not just clicks?

To answer those questions you need clean UTM parameters and a consistent structure across every channel.

This article is Part 1 of a four-part series designed to give you complete GA ↔ Eloqua alignment.

How this guide works

This series is split into four practical parts:

• Part 1: Setting up Google Analytics friendly campaign links (this article)
• Part 2: Eloqua / Google Analytics integration
• Part 3: Passing GA data through Eloqua forms
• Part 4: Making GA data usable in Eloqua & reporting

What is a query string?

A query string is a piece of additional information added to the end of a URL. It doesn't affect where the link goes - it simply passes metadata that analytics platforms can read.

An example:

www.acme.com/page?source=email&asset=whitepaper

Breaking it down:

• www.acme.com/page - the landing page
• ? - indicates the start of the query string
• source=email - a parameter and value
• & - separates additional parameters

GA requires a specific set of parameters called UTM parameters.

What are UTM parameters?

UTM parameters are tags added to a URL that allow analytics tools to understand exactly where a visitor came from and which tactic delivered them.

Example:

https://mktg.acme.com/page?utm_source=google

They are universal - they work with Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics and virtually every tracking platform.

The five UTM parameters you can use

UTM Source (`utm_source`)

Identifies the traffic source: Google, Bing, LinkedIn, Twitter, Eloqua, etc. Required for GA.

UTM Medium (`utm_medium`)

Email, social, PPC, display, banner, referral, etc. Required for GA.

UTM Campaign (`utm_campaign`)

Your campaign name. Required for GA.

UTM Term (`utm_term`)

PPC keyword data. Optional but extremely useful.

UTM Content (`utm_content`)

Used for A/B variations, banner versions, button vs text link, etc.

Using the Google URL Builder

The easiest way to create UTMs is with the Google Analytics URL Builder. Once you get comfortable, you'll likely move to a spreadsheet so your whole team stays consistent.

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Scenario: A multi-channel campaign to one landing page

Imagine a whitepaper campaign using:

• an Eloqua email
• a LinkedIn advert
• a Tweet
• a Google PPC ad

All pointing to one landing page.

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Examples for each channel

Eloqua Email

https://forms.xyz.com?utm_campaign=FY19_Q1_CAMPAIGN&utm_source=Eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_content=EDM1

LinkedIn Ad

https://forms.xyz.com?utm_campaign=FY19_Q1_CAMPAIGN&utm_source=LinkedIn&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=sm_banner

Twitter Post

https://forms.xyz.com?utm_campaign=FY19_Q1_CAMPAIGN&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=Version1

Google Ads PPC

https://forms.xyz.com?utm_campaign=FY19_Q1_CAMPAIGN&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=PPC&utm_content=Version1&utm_term=Widgets

Common mistakes to avoid

• Inconsistent capitalisation ("linkedin", "LinkedIn", "LI").
• Spaces in UTM values.
• Reusing the same UTMs for multiple campaigns.
• Missing required parameters (utm_campaign, utm_source, utm_medium).
• Trying to pass too many parameters - keep it structured.

Testing your UTM links

• Paste the URL into a browser to check the page loads correctly.
• Use GA Real-Time → Traffic Sources to verify tracking.
• Check full campaign name is consistent across all channels.
• Use a spreadsheet to standardise naming for future campaigns.

What happens next

Now that your campaign links are GA-friendly, in Part 2 we'll configure Eloqua to append UTMs automatically. In Part 3 we'll capture them in forms, and in Part 4 we'll make them usable for reporting and ROI.