Quick answer
For email campaigns, set utm_medium=email, utm_source to the list or newsletter the email came from (for example weekly_digest), utm_campaign to the issue or sequence, and utm_content to tell links in the same email apart. Keep every value lowercase and spelled the same way each time. Google Analytics 4 puts a visit in its Email channel when the source or the medium is email, e-mail, e_mail or e mail, so utm_medium=email is the safe default.
Many mail apps, especially on phones and desktops, send no referrer when someone clicks a link, so a visit from your newsletter can land in analytics as Direct traffic. A few short tags on each link fix that. Here is a naming scheme that keeps email traffic in the Email channel, examples you can copy, and the habits that stop one campaign from splitting into many rows.
GA4 default channel
Same source, a medium GA4 doesn’t match
Google Analytics 4 sorts visits into default channels using the source and medium tags. A visit goes to the Email channel when either utm_source or utm_medium is email, e-mail, e_mail or e mail. That makes utm_medium=email the simplest rule to follow: whatever you put in source, the visit is filed as email. A medium such as newsletter or blast, paired with a source that doesn't match either, falls outside the Email channel and can end up as Unassigned. If you already use custom channel groups, check how they treat your existing values before you change anything.
Use utm_medium=email on every email link. Use utm_source for where the email came from: the newsletter or list name (weekly_digest, customers, onboarding) is more useful than the name of your email tool, because it survives a switch to another tool. Use utm_campaign for the issue or the sequence, such as digest_2026_11_03 or onboarding_sequence. Use utm_content to tell links in the same email apart: header_button, footer_link, product_1. Leave utm_term out; it was made for paid search keywords. Keep everything lowercase and pick either underscores or hyphens, never spaces. Most reports treat Email and email as two different values, so one capital letter can split a campaign in two. Write the scheme down in a shared sheet so everyone who sends email uses the same words.
Many email platforms can add UTM tags to every link in a campaign automatically; Mailchimp, for example, has a Google Analytics link-tracking setting. Check what yours offers and what values it fills in, because automatic tags may not match your naming scheme. Pick one approach per campaign. If the tool adds tags and you also add them by hand, the same link can end up with duplicate or conflicting values. Tags on links to sites you don't own do no harm, but they only help the owner of that site, so you can skip them there.
Never put email addresses, names or subscriber IDs into UTM values. Tags travel with the visit into your analytics reports, and Google Analytics doesn't allow personal information to be sent to it. Use utm_content for links and test variants, not for people. If you need to know whether one particular person clicked, for example in a one-to-one sales email, give them their own tracked link and name the link after them instead. The name then lives in your link tracker, not in your analytics.
UTM tags label visits that reach your analytics. They can't count a click on a page where your analytics doesn't run, or a visitor who leaves before the page loads or blocks your analytics script. A tracked link records each click at the redirect, before the page loads, with the time, approximate location, device and the UTM tags. It then passes the tags on to the page, so your analytics still files the visit under email. With Track Link you can add tags to the short link itself, such as ?utm_campaign=issue_48, and reuse one link across issues while each issue still gets its own row. Sign in with Google or Microsoft to start free, no credit card.
Copy-paste conventions for common Email campaigns.
FAQ
Use utm_medium=email. Google Analytics 4 files a visit in its Email channel when the source or the medium is email, e-mail, e_mail or e mail, so email is the value that works without any custom setup. Values like newsletter or blast can land outside the Email channel.
The newsletter or list the email came from, such as weekly_digest or customers. Naming the list rather than your email tool keeps your reports consistent if you ever switch tools. Whatever you choose, use the same value for every issue.
For a newsletter, yes: one value per issue, such as digest_2026_11_03, lets you compare issues. For an automated sequence, keep one campaign value for the whole sequence and use utm_content to tell the individual emails apart.
Many can. Mailchimp, for example, has a Google Analytics link-tracking setting. Check what your platform offers and which values it fills in, then either adopt its values in your scheme or tag the links yourself, not both.
Tags on links to your own site are standard in marketing email. The link's domain matters far more to spam filters: avoid public URL shorteners in email, and keep links on your own domain.
Usually because the links had no UTM tags and the mail app sent no referrer. It can also happen when a redirect drops the query string on the way to your page. Tag every link with utm_medium=email and test one click before you send.
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