The easiest way to track your marketing success and why most attractions still miss it

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Why UTMs are the most overlooked tool in visitor attraction marketing

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Only 17% of attractions use UTMs - yet they’re the easiest way to track bookings accurately. Learn how UTMs give you real data to boost your marketing.

Most attractions are flying blind when it comes to knowing what drives bookings. Here’s how to fix it, fast.

Why guessing your marketing success is no longer good enough

An estimated 35–45% of visitor attractions don’t track marketing attribution at all. They may check revenue figures or social engagement, but not what actually contributed to those results. Even the ones using tools like GA4 or Meta Pixel are only seeing part of the picture - often just 65–80% of total conversions, with some marketing agencies reporting as little as 30% accuracy from Meta Pixel due to privacy updates and ad blockers.

Attractions are spending money, but many are still guessing which campaigns work. Anecdotal feedback like “they mentioned the ad” or “they saw our email” isn’t enough. And while GA4 is powerful, it’s also time-consuming, complex, and incomplete for busy operators juggling a million tasks.

There’s a better way. And it’s easier than you think.

In this blog, we explore why most tracking tools miss crucial data, how UTMs can deliver near-perfect accuracy, and the top reasons more attractions should start using UTMs today.

The hidden tracking tool you’re probably ignoring

UTMs - short for “Urchin Tracking Module” - are the most underused tool in attraction marketing. They’re incredibly simple to set up, but from data in Beyonk we’ve seen only 17% of attractions use them effectively.

That’s lower than we expected. Because UTMs work without cookies or pixels, meaning they’re 96–98% accurate on that session - even when ad blockers or iOS updates interfere. If someone clicks a link with UTM tracking, you can trace that click all the way through to the booking.

Unlike Meta Pixel or GA4, you don’t need to set up anything complex. Just add the UTM code to your URLs, and the data flows straight into any tracking tools - and also Beyonk.

See exactly what’s working (and stop wasting budget)

UTMs will tell you:

Which platform brought in the booking (Google Ads, Meta, email, influencer, partner)

Which campaign or message converted best

How much revenue each campaign generated

That means you can test two ad creatives, two subject lines, or two channels - and actually see which one drives bookings, not just clicks.

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Top tip: “Where did you hear about us?” tells you what people remember. UTMs tell you what actually worked.

Make your spend go further

Marketing budgets are tight - especially in off-seasons or for one-off events. With UTM tracking:

You’ll know which channels deliver the highest return on ad spend

You’ll learn which campaigns are worth repeating

You’ll stop investing in what isn’t working

Attractions often discover surprising insights. Maybe that local blogger drove more bookings than Facebook. Or that Halloween ads on Meta perform better than summer ones. UTMs give you the confidence to double down on the winners.

Attribution without the headache

With Beyonk, every purchase is automatically tracked by UTM source, medium, and campaign. You can view campaign revenue breakdowns without leaving the platform - but if you do want to check GA4, UTMs feed into that too.

Combine this with “Where did you hear about us?” survey data and you’ll have a full picture of intent vs. action - so you can back up your marketing with hard data, not hunches.

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Top tip: UTMs are your feedback loop. Use them to experiment, optimise, and grow.

Why this matters

Attribution isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between smart, data-led marketing and flying blind. Whether you’re reporting to stakeholders, planning seasonal campaigns, or testing new ideas - UTMs give you the proof to make better decisions, faster.

And best of all, they’re free and easy to implement. You don’t need an agency or a tech team. Just a few minutes, a tracked link, and the tools you already use.

Start tracking smarter today

If you’re not using UTMs yet, now’s the time. They’re the simplest way to understand your marketing - and one of the fastest ways to boost your bookings.

Talk to our team about setting up UTM tracking in your Beyonk account. It takes minutes, and the results speak for themselves.