Sending campaign data via measurement protocol in Google Analytics

Do you want expert help in setting up/fixing GA4 and GTM?

If you are not sure whether your GA4 property is setup correctly or you want expert help migrating to GA4 then contact us. We can fix your website tracking issues.

This article is related to measurement protocol in Google Analytics.

If you are brand new to measurement protocol, then read this article first: Understanding Google Analytics measurement protocol.

In this article, I will show you, how to send campaign data via the measurement protocol in Google Analytics.

In order to send campaign data via measurement protocol, use the following protocol parameters (in addition to the 4 required parameters) in the payload data:

#1 Campaign Name

Campaign Name is denoted by ‘cn‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be a URL encoded text string. For example:

cn=attribution%20modelling%20promo

As in:

v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=3c234980-eed6-423f-a3bc-953811391357&cn=attribution%20modelling%20promo&cs=facebook&
cm=social&ck=optimize%20smart&cc=top%20left&dp=%2Fcourses%2Fattribution
&dt=Attribution%20Modelling%20Course

#2 Campaign Source

Campaign Source is denoted by ‘cs‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be a URL encoded text string. For example:

cs=facebook

As in:

v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=3c234980-eed6-423f-a3bc-953811391357&cn=attribution%20modelling%20promo&cs=facebook&
cm=social&ck=optimize%20smart&cc=top%20left&dp=%2Fcourses%2Fattribution&
dt=Attribution%20Modelling%20Course

Do you want expert help in setting up/fixing GA4 and GTM?

If you are not sure whether your GA4 property is setup correctly or you want expert help migrating to GA4 then contact us. We can fix your website tracking issues.

#3 Campaign Medium

Campaign medium is denoted by ‘cm‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be a URL encoded text string. For example:

cm=social

As in:

v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=3c234980-eed6-423f-a3bc-953811391357&cn=attribution%20modelling%20promo&cs=facebook&cm=social&
ck=optimize%20smart&cc=top%20left&dp=%2Fcourses%2Fattribution
&dt=Attribution%20Modelling%20Course

#4 Campaign Keyword

Campaign keyword is denoted by ‘ck‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be a URL encoded text string. For example:

ck=optimize%20smart

As in:

v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=3c234980-eed6-423f-a3bc-953811391357&cn=attribution%20modelling%20promo&cs=facebook&cm=social&
ck=optimize%20smart&cc=top%20left&dp=%2Fcourses%2Fattribution&
dt=Attribution%20Modelling%20Course

#5 Campaign content

Campaign content is denoted by ‘cc’ parameter. The value of this parameter should be a URL encoded text string. For example:

cc=top%20left

As in:

v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=3c234980-eed6-423f-a3bc-953811391357&cn=attribution%20modelling%20promo&cs=facebook&
cm=social&ck=optimize%20smart&cc=top%20left&dp=%2Fcourses%2Fattribution&
dt=Attribution%20Modelling%20Course

Note: You need to use document path parameter (dp) in order to send campaign data via measurement protocol to GA:

v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=3c234980-eed6-423f-a3bc-953811391357&cn=attribution%20modelling%20promo&cs=facebook&cm=social&
ck=optimize%20smart&cc=top%20left&dp=%2Fcourses%2Fattribution
&dt=Attribution%20Modelling%20Course

I have also used one addition parameter called document title (dt) to get the page title in my GA reports.

Once you have created the payload data, ask your developer to write an application (program) which make the following similar HTTP POST request to the GA server:

User-Agent: user_agent_string

POST https://www.google-analytics.com/collect?payload_data

For example:

User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.3; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/30.0.1599.69 Safari/537.36

POST https://www.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=3c234980-eed6-423f-a3bc-953811391357&cn=attribution%20modelling%20promo&cs=facebook&cm=social&ck=optimize%20smart&cc=top%20left&dp=%2Fcourses%2Fattribution&dt=Attribution%20Modelling%20Course

This HTTP POST request will send the payload data (which contains the campaign data) to Google Analytics.

Other articles on measurement protocol

  1. Sending pageview data via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
  2. Sending event data via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
  3. Sending ecommerce data via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
  4. Sending social interactions via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
  5. Creating and validating measurement protocol requests through postman
  6. Understanding measurement protocol validation server

My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization

Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.

Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.

Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and BeyondSECOND EDITION OUT NOW!
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.

Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook
This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.

About the Author

Himanshu Sharma

  • Founder, OptimizeSmart.com
  • Over 15 years of experience in digital analytics and marketing
  • Author of four best-selling books on digital analytics and conversion optimization
  • Nominated for Digital Analytics Association Awards for Excellence
  • Runs one of the most popular blogs in the world on digital analytics
  • Consultant to countless small and big businesses over the decade