UTM parameters can take your analytics to the next level. By adding these bits of information to the end of your URLs, you can better understand where people are engaging with your links (and where they're not), and which campaigns or channels are the most effective.
With Bitly, you can add UTM parameters to your long links before shortening them, so that you get all of the benefits of using UTMs but still have a short, easily-shared links. There are a few ways to do this:
But what about adding UTM parameters after you shorten your links? For that, we have a feature called parameter passing. When you enable parameter passing, you can add UTM parameters to your short link and they're passed on to the destination URL.
In other words, when someone clicks on a short link that has UTM parameters, we'll attach those same parameters to the destination URL the short link points to.
Say you have an upcoming sale, which you're promoting at https://example.com/my/huge/sale. You've already shortened this link and plan to add UTM parameters before you share it. Here's how parameter passing would work:
Short link: https://sneakr.life/123ABC
Short link with parameters: sneakr.life/123ABC?customer_id=1234
Long link with parameter passing: https://example.com/my/huge/sale?customer_id=1234
Activating parameter passing on your account
Parameter passing is only available with an Enterprise plan, and comes with an added cost. Contact your Customer Success Manager to enable it. If you want parameter passing to work with mobile deep links, be sure to let your CSM know.
Also be aware that if you downgrade your subscription, parameter passing will no longer work.