Email Campaigns Showing as Paid Traffic? Fix This Tracking Error

You just sent your weekly newsletter to 50,000 subscribers. Great open rates, solid click-through. You check GA4 to see the traffic...

And it says your email campaign is Paid Search.

Wait, what? You didn't pay for those clicks. It's your email list. Why is GA4 grouping your newsletter with Google Ads traffic?

This bizarre misclassification happens when you use utm_source=newsletter (or gmail, mailchimp, sendinblue) but set utm_medium=cpc or utm_medium=paid. GA4 sees the medium and thinks "paid advertising" when you really meant "email marketing."

Why This Happens: Medium Determines Channel Grouping

GA4's Default Channel Grouping relies heavily on the utm_medium parameter to categorize traffic.

Here's how GA4 decides:

The problem: When you use email sources but non-email mediums, GA4 misclassifies your traffic.

Common Misconfigurations:

❌ utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=cpc
   → GA4 thinks: Paid Search

❌ utm_source=gmail&utm_medium=paid
   → GA4 thinks: Paid Search

❌ utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=social
   → GA4 thinks: Paid Social

✅ utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
   → GA4 correctly identifies: Email

What This Breaks

When email traffic gets miscategorized, you lose visibility into:

1. Email campaign performance - Your email metrics are buried in Paid Search
2. Channel comparison - Can't compare email vs paid vs organic accurately
3. Budget allocation - Email ROI looks artificially low (you're not paying per click!)
4. Conversion attribution - Email conversions credited to the wrong channel

Real Example: $60,000 Budget Misallocation

Client: SaaS company with 100,000 email subscribers Email spend: $2,000/month (ESP costs) Tracking setup: utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=cpc

What GA4 Showed (Incorrectly):

• Paid Search: 15,000 sessions, 450 conversions, $8,000 ad spend
• Email: 0 sessions, 0 conversions

Decision made: "Paid Search is crushing it! Let's increase budget from $6,000 to $12,000/month."

The Reality (After Fix):

• Paid Search: 8,000 sessions, 200 conversions, $8,000 ad spend (CPA: $40)
• Email: 7,000 sessions, 250 conversions, $2,000 ESP costs (CPA: $8)

Email was their best channel, not Paid Search. The miscategorization led to:

• $60,000 overspent on Paid Search (annual)
• Email underutilized (could've scaled to 200k subscribers)
• Wrong channel credited for 55% of conversions

The Fix: Always Use utm_medium=email

Step 1: Audit Your Email UTM Setup

Check ALL your email sending platforms:

1. Mailchimp/SendGrid/ActiveCampaign:

   • Settings → Tracking → Default UTM parameters
   • Look for utm_medium value

2. Transactional emails (Postmark/SendGrid API):

   • Check your email templates for hardcoded UTMs
   • Look in footer links, CTA buttons

3. Marketing automation (HubSpot/Marketo):

   • Check campaign templates
   • Review workflow email settings

Step 2: Update to Standard Email UTMs

The correct format for ALL email campaigns:

utm_source=`{"{"}{"{"}email_platform{"}"}{"}"}}`&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=`{"{"}{"{"}campaign_name{"}"}{"}"}}`

Examples:

✅ Newsletter:
?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-digest-2025-01-09

✅ Promotional:
?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring-sale-2025

✅ Transactional:
?utm_source=postmark&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=password-reset

✅ Abandoned cart:
?utm_source=klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cart-recovery-day1

Step 3: Update ESP Default Settings

Mailchimp:

1. Account → Settings → Tracking
2. Google Analytics link tracking: ON
3. Default parameters:
   • utm_source: mailchimp
   • utm_medium: email
   • utm_campaign: Leave blank (set per campaign)

SendGrid:

1. Settings → Tracking → Google Analytics
2. Enable tracking
3. Set utm_medium to email globally

ActiveCampaign:

1. Settings → Analytics & Goals → Google Analytics
2. Default UTM parameters:
   • Medium: email
   • Source: activecampaign

Step 4: Verify in GA4

After updating:

1. Send a test email to yourself
2. Click a tracked link
3. Check GA4 real-time report (within 30 seconds)
4. Verify it shows in "Email" channel grouping

Advanced: Email Sub-Categories

Want to differentiate between email types? Use utm_campaign:

Newsletters:
?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-digest

Promotions:
?utm_source=promo-email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=flash-sale-jan

Transactional:
?utm_source=transactional&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=order-confirmation

Drip campaigns:
?utm_source=nurture&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=trial-day3

Pro tip: You can use custom dimensions to further segment, but utm_medium must ALWAYS be email for proper channel grouping.

Prevention Checklist

✅ Set utm_medium=email in ALL ESP default settings ✅ Create a UTM template document for your team ✅ Audit existing email templates quarterly ✅ Check transactional email UTMs (often forgotten) ✅ Train new marketing hires on email UTM standards ✅ Use UTM validation tools before campaign launch

FAQ

Can I use utm_medium=e-mail or utm_medium=e_mail?

Yes! GA4 recognizes email, e-mail, and e_mail as Email channel grouping. But email is the industry standard.

What about utm_source? Can I use anything?

Yes! utm_source can be your ESP name (mailchimp, sendgrid), campaign type (newsletter, promo), or list segment (vip-customers). Just keep utm_medium=email.

I have promotional emails AND paid email ads (Gmail Sponsored Promotions). How do I differentiate?

Organic email list:

?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=promo-jan

Paid email ads (Gmail Sponsored):

?utm_source=gmail-ads&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gmail-promo-jan

The medium determines the channel: email vs cpc.

Will this affect my historical data?

Historical data remains miscategorized. The fix applies to future traffic. Consider adding a GA4 annotation marking the correction date.

What if I want to track email vs SMS separately?

Use different mediums:

• Email: utm_medium=email
• SMS: utm_medium=sms

GA4 will create a separate "SMS" channel grouping automatically.

My ESP automatically adds UTMs. Can I override them?

Yes, but it's easier to fix the ESP defaults. Most platforms let you set global UTM parameters that apply to all campaigns. Update those once instead of manually overriding every email.

Conclusion

Email campaigns showing as Paid Search or another wrong channel? You're using an incorrect utm_medium value.

The fix:

1. Audit all email UTM setups (ESP, transactional, automation)
2. Change utm_medium to email everywhere
3. Keep utm_source and utm_campaign descriptive
4. Verify in GA4 real-time reports
5. Document standards for your team

This single change ensures GA4 accurately tracks email performance, prevents budget misallocation, and gives you true channel comparison data.

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Related: Email Source Medium Mismatch Documentation