> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.snowdoughnut.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set up tracking

> How UTM tagging and event tracking get defined once and applied to every campaign, so platform spend and analytics conversions join to the same rows.

Tracking is two separate systems that have to agree: UTM parameters tag the inbound link, event tracking records what happens after the click. Both are defined once in setup stage 4 of [get started](/overview).

## Before you start

Naming conventions have to be decided first. UTM values are drawn from the same closed lists as [campaign names](/campaign-naming-conventions), and event names come from [event naming conventions](/event-naming-conventions).

## The path

<Steps>
  <Step title="1. Understand what a UTM does">
    Read [UTM parameters](/utm-parameters) once. It covers what each parameter is for and why the values have to be consistent rather than descriptive.
  </Step>

  <Step title="2. Fill in your UTM standard">
    Fill in [UTM standards](/utm-standards): a closed list of allowed values per parameter, the case rule, and the separator.

    **Rule that matters most:** the `utm_campaign` value has to match the campaign name field it corresponds to. If they diverge, spend and conversions cannot be joined.
  </Step>

  <Step title="3. Name your events">
    Decide the event pattern in [event naming conventions](/event-naming-conventions). Do this before anything is implemented, because renaming an event splits its history in two.
  </Step>

  <Step title="4. Build the event tracking plan">
    Fill in the [event tracking plan](/event-tracking-plan): every event, its properties, where it fires, and who owns it.

    **Then:** save it to the [event library](/event-tracking-plan-overview) so there's one version rather than one per implementation ticket.
  </Step>

  <Step title="5. Connect it to reporting">
    The [marketing reporting data dictionary](/marketing-reporting-data-dictionary) defines what each metric means. The [flat file](/flat-file-template) is where tagged clicks and recorded events meet as rows. Check that the dictionary's grain matches what your events actually produce.
  </Step>

  <Step title="6. Apply it per campaign">
    From then on, every campaign tags its links from the standard at build time. See step 3 of [make a campaign](/make-a-campaign).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## The join that has to hold

| Where                            | Field           | Has to match                                                |
| :------------------------------- | :-------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------- |
| Ad platform                      | Campaign name   | [Campaign naming conventions](/campaign-naming-conventions) |
| Destination link                 | `utm_campaign`  | The same value as the campaign name                         |
| Analytics                        | Event name      | [Event naming conventions](/event-naming-conventions)       |
| [Flat file](/flat-file-template) | Campaign column | The joined value from all three                             |

If any one of these drifts, the row splits and every report downstream is wrong in a way that's hard to spot, because both halves still look plausible.

## Related resources

* [**UTM standards**](/utm-standards) The workbook for step 2.
* [**Event tracking plan**](/event-tracking-plan) The workbook for step 4.
* [**Data quality and rollup concepts**](/data-quality-and-rollup-concepts) What breaks when tracking and reporting disagree.
* [**Report on results**](/report-on-results) What this tracking feeds.
* [**Name something**](/name-something) The conventions UTM values draw from.
* [**Tracking best practices**](/tracking-best-practices) The failures that only surface weeks later.