Tracking Recruitment Campaigns with Webform Tracking Tags (UTM codes)

Webform Tracking Tags (UTM Codes) Overview

A key component of any recruitment campaign is tracking which sources are most effective in bringing participants into your studies. Ripple allows you to use UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) codes to track participant engagement with your surveys.

What Are UTM Codes?

UTM parameters are small, concise tags added to the end of a survey URL. When a participant completes a survey from a tagged link, the UTM parameters are sent back to Ripple to track your recruitment success.

Why Use UTM Codes?

✅ Identify which pages, posts, or ads are driving participants to your study.
✅ Automatically log recruitment data into Ripple’s Recruitment Sources and Sites.
✅ Gain insights to optimize future recruitment efforts based on real data.

How UTM Codes Work in Ripple

1. Create a unique survey URL with UTM parameters.
2. Share the tagged URL on different platforms (social media, websites, emails, etc.).
3. When a participant completes the survey, their UTM data is automatically stored in Ripple.
4. Analyze recruitment performance in Ripple’s tracking system.

 

By implementing UTM codes, you can streamline participant tracking, optimize recruitment strategies, and focus efforts on the most effective sources.

How to Connect UTM Codes to Recruitment Sources and Sites

To track participant sources effectively, follow these steps to connect UTM codes to Recruitment Sources and Sites in Ripple.

1. Set Up Recruitment Sources and Sites

• Navigate to your study’s Recruitment tab.

• Create your Recruitment Sources and Sites.

• For more details, refer to the Working with Recruitment Sources article.

 

2. Create Your Survey in Ripple

• Go to the Study Settings tab (red).

• Navigate to the Survey Creator (green).

• In the Survey Designer tab, create your survey questions.

• Important:

  • Add First Name and Last Name questions.

  • Link them to the First Name and Last Name survey variables.

  • This ensures Ripple generates a URL for your survey.

• Refer to the Getting Started Creating Your First Survey article for additional guidance.

3. Link the Survey to Recruitment Sites

• Using the Toolbox, create a Radiogroup type question (red).

• Name this question site (green).

• Link it to your Recruitment Site variable (purple).

• Ensure Proper Naming:

  • The Name of this question (not the Title) must exactly match the format you will use in your URL.

  • UTM parameters are case-sensitive—match the exact format you plan to use in your URL.

  • Properly name your source to ensure accurate tracking.

Ensure that the question’s Name matches the desired name in your URL. If you title the question "Site" but do not set its Name as "Site", the UTM parameter will not be captured correctly in your survey.

5. Copy and paste the survey’s URL into a new window.

4. Generate a Tracking URL with UTM Codes

• Copy and paste your survey’s URL into a new window.

• Add a tracking parameter to the URL to preload recruitment site information.

Example: Facebook Ad 1 Tracking URL

• Original survey URL:

  https://yourstudy.rippleapp.com/survey/12345

• Modified URL with UTM code:

  https://yourstudy.rippleapp.com/survey/12345?site=Facebook%20Ad%201

• Explanation:

  • ?site=Facebook%20Ad%201 tells Ripple that participants coming from this link should be tagged with the recruitment site Facebook Ad 1.

  • %20 represents spaces in URLs, ensuring the site name is correctly formatted.

5. Repeat for Other Recruitment Sources

• Modify the URL for each Recruitment Site.

• Create separate UTM codes for each ad, social post, or webpage where you plan to distribute the survey.

6. Hide Source and Site Questions in the Survey

• Open the Properties panel for the site and source variables.

• Toggle "Is Visible?" to Off.

• This prevents participants from seeing or editing the pre-filled recruitment data.

7. Save Your Survey

• Click "Save Survey" to store changes.

8. Embed Modified URLs in Your Recruitment Campaign

• Post your modified URLs in different recruitment locations (social media, emails, websites, ads, etc.).

• Participants who access these links will complete the survey with the UTM code preloaded.

9. Track Recruitment Data in Ripple

• If Recruitment Site variables are correctly linked, you will see:

  ✅ Recruitment Source and Site pull into the participant’s profile card.

  ✅ Upon enrollment, the Recruitment Source and Site data will appear in the Study Dashboard.

  ✅ Analytics will display where your participants are coming from, helping to optimize recruitment strategies.

By implementing these steps, you can efficiently track and measure your recruitment efforts using UTM codes in Ripple! 

Troubleshooting your UTM codes

If your UTM codes aren’t appearing in the survey or the participant’s profile card in Ripple, your survey or URL may be incorrectly formatted. Check the following:

Survey Setup

• Ensure the question used for the UTM code is a single input or radiogroup-type question.
• If pulling in the recruitment method, confirm that the survey question is linked to the Recruitment Site or Recruitment Strategy survey variable.

URL Formatting

• There must be a question mark (?) after "form" and before the UTM codes.
• The question name in your URL must exactly match the Name of the survey question, including spelling and case.
• If pulling in the recruitment method, the UTM parameter (selected site or strategy) in your URL must match one of the Recruitment Site or Recruitment Strategy options.

Redirecting from Another Survey

• Ensure the Names of the questions are spelled correctly and match in case and special characters when redirecting between surveys.
• Use single braces {} around the question name.

Sending the Survey Link via Ripple Email or Text

• If using merge tags (e.g., participant’s first name, last name, or global ID), make sure to use double braces around the tag.