The concept

UTMs are tags appended to the end of a link, such as source, medium, and campaign. They travel through to checkout and get recorded along with the order.

This stops being just a marketing matter the moment you cross-reference UTM with approval. That's when you can see that a specific campaign brings volume but approves poorly, or that one source concentrates the chargebacks, things invisible in the aggregate report.

How it shows up in practice

You are analyzing the month's reports and see aggregated approved volume, but cannot tell which source approves well and which concentrates chargebacks. You add UTM parameters to your campaign links. They travel to checkout and get recorded with the order.

Advertising only became a science when it started being measured. Before that, it was opinion with a budget.

Claude Hopkins Source: the central idea of Scientific Advertising. Paraphrased by the editorial team.

Now you cross UTM with approval and see that one specific campaign brings volume but approves worse, while another concentrates all disputes. Decisions completely invisible in the aggregated report. Start thinking about marketing with the risk team's eyes.