How to Add UTM Parameters to WooCommerce Cart Abandonment Recovery Emails

Adding UTM parameters to your abandoned cart recovery emails is a powerful way to track their effectiveness in analytics tools like Google Analytics. This guide explains the correct method for implementing UTM tracking with the WooCommerce Cart Abandonment Recovery plugin.

Why UTM Tracking is Important

UTM parameters are tags you add to a URL. When a customer clicks on a link with these tags, your analytics software can track where the click came from. For abandoned cart emails, this allows you to see exactly how many recovered sales originated from your email campaigns, providing valuable data on your return on investment.

The Correct Way to Add UTM Parameters

Based on the plugin's functionality, you cannot manually append UTM parameters to the {{cart.checkout_url}} variable within an email template. Attempting to do so (e.g., {{cart.checkout_url}}/?utm_campaign=xxxxx) will not work.

Instead, the plugin provides a dedicated setting for this purpose. To add UTM parameters that will be automatically appended to all checkout links in your follow-up emails:

1. Navigate to the plugin's settings in your WordPress admin dashboard.
2. Locate the field for UTM Parameter Settings or a similarly named option.
3. In this field, enter your UTM parameters, each on a new line. The correct format is:

utm_source=email
utm_medium=abandonedcart
utm_campaign=abandonedcart

The plugin will then automatically append all these parameters to the checkout links in all follow-up emails it sends.

What to Do If You Don't See the Option

The sample support threads show that the ability to add UTM parameters was a more recent addition to the plugin. If you cannot find this setting in your version, it is likely you are running an older version of the plugin. Updating WooCommerce Cart Abandonment Recovery to the latest version should make this feature available to you.

A Note on Long URLs and Spam Filters

Adding multiple UTM parameters will lengthen your checkout URLs. Some email spam testers may flag these long URLs and suggest they could negatively impact deliverability. While this is a common warning, modern spam filters are generally sophisticated enough to handle parameterized URLs from legitimate marketing emails. If this is a significant concern, you could consider using a third-party link shortening service, but this is often not necessary for most senders.

By correctly using the built-in UTM settings, you can effectively track your campaign performance without compromising email functionality.