UTM tags vs gclid

UTM tags and gclid are two different tracking methods that are used to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. UTM tags, which stands for Urchin Tracking Module, are custom tracking parameters that are added to a URL to track the source, medium, campaign, content and term of a marketing campaign. UTM tags are compatible with various CRM, CDP, and analytics tools such as Mixpanel, Hubspot and Segment, making it easy for marketers to integrate their marketing data into their existing tools.

On the other hand, gclid, which stands for Google Click Identifier, is a unique identifier that is automatically generated by Google AdWords when a user clicks on a Google ad. The gclid is stored in a user's browser and can be used to track the conversion rate of a marketing campaign. However, the gclid is only compatible with Google's ecosystem, meaning that the data collected cannot be integrated into other tools.

In conclusion, UTM tags are definitely better than gclid for tracking marketing campaigns. While both methods can help track conversions, UTM tags offer greater flexibility and compatibility with various tools. The ability to integrate marketing data into other tools such as CRM, CDP, and analytics makes UTM tags a better choice for marketers who want to get a comprehensive view of their marketing efforts. On the other hand, gclid is more limiting as it only works within Google's ecosystem, making it a less versatile tracking method.