Display Ads Without utm_content: Can't Track Which Creative Wins

You're running a display ad campaign with 5 different banner creatives:

• 300x250 blue CTA button
• 300x250 red CTA button
• 728x90 image-heavy
• 728x90 text-focused
• Video ad 15-second

Total spend: $10,000 Results: 2,000 clicks, 80 conversions

Question from your CMO: "Which creative should we scale?"

Your answer: "Uhh... I don't know. They all use the same tracking link."

GA4 shows:

No way to see:

• Which banner size performs best?
• Which CTA color converts better?
• Does video outperform static images?

The problem: Missing utm_content parameter.

The solution: Add utm_content to track every creative variation.

What is utm_content?

utm_content is an optional UTM parameter designed to differentiate between variations of the same campaign.

Common use cases:

1. Display ads: Track different banner sizes, colors, designs
2. A/B tests: Compare CTA button text, headlines, images
3. Link placement: Header link vs footer link vs sidebar
4. Email: Track which CTA drives clicks (hero button vs bottom link)

Example:

Banner variation A (blue CTA):
?utm_source=google&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=retargeting-jan-2025&utm_content=300x250-blue-cta

Banner variation B (red CTA):
?utm_source=google&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=retargeting-jan-2025&utm_content=300x250-red-cta

What GA4 shows:

Insight: Blue CTA has 2x conversion rate (5% vs 2.5%). Use blue for all future campaigns.

Why Display Ads Need utm_content

Display campaigns typically have:

Multiple banner sizes:

• 300x250 (Medium Rectangle)
• 728x90 (Leaderboard)
• 160x600 (Wide Skyscraper)
• 320x50 (Mobile Banner)
• 970x250 (Billboard)

Multiple design variations:

• Image-heavy vs text-focused
• Different CTA buttons ("Buy Now" vs "Learn More" vs "Shop Now")
• Different colors (blue vs red vs green)
• Product shots vs lifestyle images

Multiple formats:

• Static images
• Animated GIFs
• HTML5 rich media
• Video ads

Without utm_content, all variations merge into one campaign.

Result: You can't optimize. You don't know which creative to scale or pause.

Real Example: $25,000 Wasted on Losing Banner

Client: E-commerce fashion brand Campaign: Google Display retargeting Budget: $50,000 Creatives: 6 banner variations

Their Tracking (Before utm_content)

All 6 banners used same URL:

?utm_source=google&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=retargeting-feb-2025

GA4 showed:

Client's assumption: "All banners performing equally. ROAS is 1.8x. Looks okay."

After Adding utm_content

Each banner got unique utm_content:

Banner 1 (300x250, product shot, blue CTA):
?utm_content=300x250-product-blue-cta

Banner 2 (300x250, lifestyle, red CTA):
?utm_content=300x250-lifestyle-red-cta

Banner 3 (728x90, text-heavy, green CTA):
?utm_content=728x90-text-green-cta

Banner 4 (728x90, image-heavy, blue CTA):
?utm_content=728x90-image-blue-cta

Banner 5 (160x600, animated GIF):
?utm_content=160x600-animated-gif

Banner 6 (video, 15-second):
?utm_content=video-15sec

The Shocking Results

Insights Revealed

Discovery #1: Two banners were losing money

• 728x90 text (0.17x ROAS) - losing $10,000
• 160x600 animated GIF (0.08x ROAS) - losing $4,600
• Total waste: $14,600/month

Discovery #2: Video ads had best ROAS (6.0x)

• But only $5,000 budget (10% of total)
• Massive opportunity to scale

Discovery #3: Product shots >> Lifestyle images

• Product shot (4.5x ROAS) vs Lifestyle (1.5x ROAS)
• Same banner size, same color CTA, 3x difference!

Discovery #4: 728x90 banners underperformed

• Both 728x90 variations had low ROAS
• Platform placement issue? Banner blindness? Wrong audience?

Actions Taken

New budget allocation:

• Video ads: $5k → $20k (+300%)
• 300x250 product shot: $10k → $20k (+100%)
• 300x250 lifestyle: $10k → $5k (-50%, reduce but don't eliminate)
• Pause 728x90 text: $12k → $0 (-100%)
• Pause 160x600 animated: $5k → $0 (-100%)
• Total budget: $50k (unchanged)

Result (next month):

• Revenue: $90k → $180k (+100%)
• Blended ROAS: 1.8x → 3.6x (+100%)
• $90,000 additional revenue with same budget

This was only possible because utm_content revealed creative performance.

How to Add utm_content to Display Ads

Google Display Network (Google Ads)

Step 1: Google Ads → Display campaign → Ad group → Ads

Step 2: For each ad creative, click Edit

Step 3: Update Final URL:

Before:

https://yoursite.com/sale?utm_source=google&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=retargeting-jan-2025

After:

https://yoursite.com/sale?utm_source=google&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=retargeting-jan-2025&utm_content=300x250-blue-cta

Step 4: Repeat for each creative with unique utm_content

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Facebook/Instagram Display Ads

Step 1: Ads Manager → Your campaign → Ad set → Ads

Step 2: Edit ad

Step 3: Update URL parameters:

utm_content=carousel-product1
utm_content=single-image-lifestyle
utm_content=video-30sec

Step 4: Save

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Programmatic Display (DV360, Trade Desk, etc.)

Step 1: Campaign settings → Creative management

Step 2: For each creative, set tracking macro:

Landing URL: https://yoursite.com/sale?utm_content={"{"}{"{"}CREATIVE_ID{"}"}{"}"}}

Or manually:
utm_content=banner-300x250-variant-a
utm_content=banner-728x90-variant-b

Step 3: Apply to all creatives

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Native Ad Networks (Taboola, Outbrain)

Step 1: Campaign → Ad items

Step 2: For each ad item, edit destination URL:

https://yoursite.com/article?utm_content=headline-variant-a
https://yoursite.com/article?utm_content=headline-variant-b
https://yoursite.com/article?utm_content=image-variant-a

Step 3: Save changes

utm_content Naming Best Practices

Format for Display Ads

`{"{"}{"{"}size{"}"}{"}"}}`-`{design-type}`-{cta-color/text}

Examples:

utm_content=300x250-product-shot-blue-cta
utm_content=728x90-lifestyle-image-red-cta
utm_content=160x600-text-heavy-green-cta
utm_content=video-15sec-product-demo
utm_content=animated-gif-sale-announcement

What to Include

Banner size (required):

• 300x250, 728x90, 160x600, 320x50, etc.

Design type (recommended):

• product-shot, lifestyle, text-heavy, image-heavy

CTA details (recommended):

• blue-cta, red-cta, "buy-now", "learn-more", "shop-now"

Format (if multiple):

• static, animated-gif, video, html5

Naming Rules

✅ DO:

• Use lowercase
• Use hyphens (not spaces)
• Be descriptive
• Keep under 50 characters
• Be consistent

❌ DON'T:

• Use spaces (breaks URLs)
• Use special characters (&, =, ?, !)
• Be too vague ("banner1", "ad-a")
• Mix naming formats

Examples by Format

Static banners:

utm_content=300x250-product-blue-cta
utm_content=728x90-lifestyle-red-cta
utm_content=160x600-text-green-cta

Animated GIFs:

utm_content=300x250-animated-gif-sale
utm_content=728x90-animated-gif-countdown

Video ads:

utm_content=video-15sec-product-demo
utm_content=video-30sec-customer-testimonial
utm_content=video-60sec-brand-story

HTML5 rich media:

utm_content=300x250-html5-interactive
utm_content=728x90-html5-expandable

Responsive display ads:

utm_content=responsive-ad-variant-a
utm_content=responsive-ad-variant-b

Analyzing utm_content in GA4

Report 1: Campaign Performance by Content

GA4 → Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition

Step 1: Primary dimension: Campaign Step 2: Secondary dimension: First user manual ad content (utm_content) Step 3: Metrics: Sessions, Conversions, Conversion rate

Result: See which creative variations drive best performance.

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Report 2: Content-Only Performance

GA4 → Explore → Free form

Dimensions: First user manual ad content Metrics: Sessions, Conversions, Conversion rate, Revenue Filter: Session medium = display

Result: Creative performance across all display campaigns.

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Report 3: Creative Comparison Chart

GA4 → Explore → Bar chart

X-axis: First user manual ad content Y-axis: Conversion rate Color: Revenue

Result: Visual comparison of creative performance.

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Report 4: Time-Series Creative Performance

GA4 → Explore → Line chart

X-axis: Date Y-axis: Conversions Breakdown: First user manual ad content

Result: See how creative performance changes over time (creative fatigue).

Common Mistakes

Mistake #1: Same utm_content for Multiple Creatives

Wrong:

Banner 1 (300x250 blue): utm_content=banner
Banner 2 (728x90 red): utm_content=banner
Banner 3 (video): utm_content=banner

Problem: All merge into one "banner" content. Can't differentiate.

Fix:

Banner 1: utm_content=300x250-blue-cta
Banner 2: utm_content=728x90-red-cta
Banner 3: utm_content=video-15sec

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Mistake #2: Too Generic

Wrong:

utm_content=ad1
utm_content=ad2
utm_content=ad3

Problem: 3 months later, you won't remember which ad was which.

Fix:

utm_content=300x250-product-shot-blue-cta
utm_content=728x90-lifestyle-image-red-cta
utm_content=video-15sec-demo

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Mistake #3: Not Tracking Video Separately

Wrong:

All formats: utm_content=display-ad

Problem: Can't see if video outperforms static banners.

Fix:

Static: utm_content=300x250-static-blue-cta
Video: utm_content=video-15sec
Animated: utm_content=300x250-animated-gif

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Mistake #4: Including Campaign Info in utm_content

Wrong:

utm_campaign=retargeting-jan-2025&utm_content=retargeting-banner-300x250

Problem: "retargeting" is redundant (already in campaign).

Fix:

utm_campaign=retargeting-jan-2025&utm_content=300x250-blue-cta

Prevention Checklist

✅ Add utm_content to ALL display ad creatives ✅ Use descriptive names (banner size + design type + CTA) ✅ Create utm_content naming standard document ✅ Test with one banner, verify in GA4 real-time ✅ Roll out to all creatives ✅ Check GA4 reports weekly to compare performance ✅ Pause low-performing creatives ✅ Scale high-performing creatives

FAQ

Do I need utm_content if I only have one banner?

No, but add it anyway. You might add more creatives later. Better to start with good tracking from day 1.

Can I use utm_content for text ads (search campaigns)?

You can, but it's less critical. Search ads have less creative variation (just text). Use utm_term for keyword tracking instead.

utm_content is most valuable for:

• Display ads (many visual variations)
• Email (multiple CTAs per email)
• Social posts (different creative formats)

Should I include the banner size in utm_content?

Yes! Banner size significantly affects performance. Always include it:

utm_content=300x250-blue-cta
utm_content=728x90-blue-cta

Even if both use same design, size matters for placement, visibility, click rate.

What if I have 20+ banner variations?

Track them all! That's the point of utm_content:

utm_content=300x250-product1-blue-cta
utm_content=300x250-product2-blue-cta
utm_content=300x250-product3-blue-cta
... (17 more)

In GA4, you'll see all 20 variations and can identify the top 5 performers.

Can I use utm_content and utm_term together?

Yes! Different purposes:

• utm_content = creative variation
• utm_term = keyword (for search ads)

Display retargeting with utm_content:

?utm_content=300x250-blue-cta

Search ads with utm_term:

?utm_term=buy-crm-software

Both in same URL (unusual but valid):

?utm_content=300x250&utm_term=remarketing-audience-1

How often should I review utm_content performance?

Weekly for active campaigns.

Look for:

• Creative fatigue (performance declining over time)
• Clear winners (scale these)
• Clear losers (pause these)

Monthly: Full creative audit, test new variations.

Conclusion

Display ads without utm_content = flying blind on creative performance.

The fix:

1. Add utm_content to every display ad creative

   • Format: {"{"}{"{"}size{"}"}{"}"}}-{"{"}{"{"}design{"}"}{"}"}}-{"{"}{"{"}cta{"}"}{"}"}}
   • Example: 300x250-product-blue-cta

2. Make each creative unique

   • Different banners = different utm_content values

3. Analyze in GA4

   • Campaign performance by content dimension
   • Identify winners and losers

4. Optimize

   • Scale high-performing creatives
   • Pause low-performing creatives
   • Test new variations

Result: Same budget, 2x revenue by focusing spend on winning creatives.

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Related: A/B Testing with utm_content: Complete Guide