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Track reply traffic with shortened links and UTMs

Automatically add UTMs to shortened reply links, then track clicks and performance across BrandBastion reporting.

What link tracking gives you

BrandBastion can add UTM parameters when shortening links in replies. This gives teams a consistent way to attribute website traffic back to social engagement without manually building tracking URLs.

Use link tracking to:

  • Standardize UTMs across reply workflows

  • Add dynamic values based on the conversation

  • Track clicks on shortened links

  • Compare performance by source, medium, campaign, term, or content

  • See click data directly alongside replies

📌 Note: Link shortening and UTM tracking must be enabled for your workspace. It's available for Agent+ clients and above.

Configure link shortening and UTMs

Go to Company settings → Link shortening.

1. Choose how links are shortened

Enable Link shortening, then select one of the available modes:

  • Auto shorten on paste and AI drafts: eligible long URLs are shortened automatically.

  • Manual one-click: links are shortened when an agent triggers shortening manually.

UTMs are applied in both modes.

2. Enable tracking parameters

Turn on Add tracking parameters (UTMs).

You can configure:

  • utm_source

  • utm_medium

  • utm_campaign optional

  • utm_term optional

  • utm_content optional

Each field supports both static text and dynamic variables.

For example:

  • utm_source = {Platform}

  • utm_medium = social_reply

  • utm_campaign = {Campaign name}

  • utm_term = {Tag}

  • utm_content = {Message type}

Dynamic variables are resolved using the context of the conversation being replied to.

📌 Note: Not every conversation contains every value. For example, a mention may not have a campaign name. When a dynamic value is unavailable, BrandBastion does not substitute unrelated data.

Use dynamic UTM variables

Use Add variable within a UTM field to build tracking rules that adapt to each reply.

Available variables can include:

  • Asset name

  • Platform

  • Campaign name

  • Ad set name

  • Ad name

  • Campaign ID

  • Ad set ID

  • Ad ID

  • Message type

  • User who replied

  • Tag

  • Post tag

  • Post type

  • Targeting

This is useful when you want one UTM configuration to work across multiple platforms, campaigns, and reply types.

Example

Configure:

utm_source: {Platform}

A shortened link sent in an Instagram conversation can resolve to:

utm_source=Instagram

The same setup used on Facebook can resolve to:

utm_source=Facebook

Choose how existing UTMs are handled

Under How to handle existing UTMs, choose how BrandBastion should treat links that already contain tracking parameters.

Keep existing UTMs

Recommended.

Existing UTMs are preserved rather than replaced by your configured defaults.

Use this when links may already have intentional campaign tracking applied elsewhere.

Overwrite UTMs with these defaults

BrandBastion replaces existing utm_* values with your configured defaults.

Optional UTM fields can also be cleared when their configured default is blank.

Use this when your team needs BrandBastion to enforce one standardized tracking structure.

Only add missing UTM fields

Existing UTM values remain unchanged, while any missing fields are added from your defaults.

Use this when you want to preserve existing tracking while filling gaps automatically.

📌 Note: Non-UTM query parameters are preserved. UTMs are applied to the URL query string, not to URL fragments.

When UTMs are applied

BrandBastion adds UTMs when an eligible long URL is about to be shortened.

This applies to:

  • Links shortened automatically on paste

  • Links in AI drafts

  • Links shortened using manual one-click

  • All eligible long URLs within the same reply

The fully resolved destination URL, including UTMs, is then shortened.

Track UTM performance in Agent+ Reporting

When link shortening with UTMs is enabled, the Link Tracking section in Agent+ Reporting shows how tracked links are performing.

Top clicked UTM values

Use Top clicked UTM values to compare traffic by:

  • Source

  • Medium

  • Campaign

  • Term

  • Content

The default view groups results by Source / utm_source.

For each UTM value, BrandBastion shows:

  • Used in replies: how many BrandBastion replies contain a generated link with that UTM value

  • Clicks: clicks recorded for those links

  • Click rate: clicks divided by the number of replies in which the tracked value was used

Up to the top 10 UTM values are shown, sorted by clicks.

Example

A Source view could show how tracked links perform across:

  • Instagram

  • Facebook

  • TikTok

  • Threads

  • X

Switch the dropdown to another UTM dimension to analyze a different part of your tracking structure.

See which shortened links drive clicks

The Top shortened links by clicks table shows performance for individual tracked links.

For each link, you can compare:

  • The destination and shortened URL

  • How many replies used the link

  • Total clicks

  • Click rate

Use this view to identify specific destinations that consistently generate traffic from social replies.

Understand how click counts work

Click tracking operates at the link level, not the individual reply level.

If the exact same shortened destination, including the same UTM values, appears in two replies, both replies reference the same tracked link and therefore share its click total.

For example:

  • Reply A contains the same tracked link as Reply B

  • The link receives 10 clicks in total

  • The tracked link reports 10 clicks, rather than separate reply-level click totals

📌 Note: Link click totals are refreshed once daily at 08:00 UTC.

View clicks alongside replies

BrandBastion also surfaces tracked-link performance where agents review conversations.

Click data can appear in:

  • Reply modal and conversation thread

  • Comment cards where the reply is displayed

Replies with one tracked link

A single click indicator appears below the reply, for example:

3 clicks

Replies with multiple tracked links

BrandBastion shows one click indicator per shortened link, including:

  • The shortened URL

  • Its click count

Replies without tracked shortened links do not show a click indicator.

Inspect the UTMs used on a link

Hover over a tracked link or its click indicator to inspect the UTM values that were resolved when the link was generated.

The tooltip can show:

  • utm_source

  • utm_medium

  • utm_campaign

  • utm_term

  • utm_content

When a dynamic value was unavailable for that conversation, the tooltip indicates that no value was available rather than displaying incorrect data.

Each tracked link has its own UTM details when a reply contains multiple links.

Filter replies containing UTMs

When UTM tracking is enabled, use the UTM filter to narrow results to replies that include a link with UTM tracking.

Use this when reviewing:

  • Tracked reply volume

  • Campaign-specific conversations

  • Link performance workflows

  • Replies contributing to traffic reporting

Reporting considerations

Use Used in replies, Clicks, and Click rate together when interpreting performance.

A link with high clicks may have been used frequently, while a link with fewer total clicks may still have a stronger click rate relative to its usage.

For consistent reporting, standardize your UTM structure before comparing performance across platforms, campaigns, or teams.

💡 Tip: Dynamic variables such as {Platform} are useful for scalable reporting because the same setup can automatically classify links across different social networks.

Recommended UTM setup

A practical starting structure is:

  • utm_source: {Platform}

  • utm_medium: social_reply

  • utm_campaign: {Campaign name} when available

  • utm_term: {Tag} when relevant

  • utm_content: {Message type}

Use this as a baseline, then adapt the structure to match your existing analytics taxonomy.

Validate your setup

After configuring link tracking:

  1. Enable Add tracking parameters (UTMs).

  2. Configure static values and at least one dynamic variable, such as {Platform}.

  3. Send a reply containing an eligible long URL.

  4. Confirm the generated link contains the expected resolved UTMs.

  5. Open the link from the native platform.

  6. Verify click data appears in:

    • Agent+ Reporting

    • The comment card

    • The reply modal or conversation thread

  7. Test the same setup across multiple platforms to confirm dynamic variables resolve correctly.

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