The Impact of Tracking Parameter Updates
Updating UTM parameters in your ads can have different effects depending on the advertising platform you're using.
Meta Ads
Modifying the tracking parameters in your Meta Ads will change your active campaign status into processing state. The ad is being updated with the changes you made. This usually takes a few minutes, but some updates may take up to 8 hours. Once processing is complete, your ad status will be updated to confirm if it's now active, in review or has errors. So it won't trigger the re-learning phase as it's not considered as significant edits.
In Google Ads, editing the final URL directly will trigger a review process. In order to avoid this, it's recommended to use tracking templates for your UTM parameters. By implementing tracking templates at the account, campaign, or ad group level, you can update UTM parameters without modifying the ad's final URL, thereby preventing disruptions to the ad's delivery and review status. Our automatic update won't change the final URL, only the tracking templates field. So it won't trigger a review process or re-learning phase.
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TikTok
When you update the URL or tracking parameter, it will trigger the ad for review. Ad review usually takes 2-3 hours (but can last up to 24 hours). So please keep in mind that your ad delivery will be disrupted within this period. So it won't trigger the re-learning phase as it's not considered as significant edits.
What Can Trigger a Reset of the Learning Phase?
According to official documentation from Google and Meta, significant changes to your campaign settings can cause the learning phase to restart. Here are some examples of changes that are likely to trigger a reset (based on platform documentation):
Significant Budget Changes: Drastically increasing or decreasing your daily or lifetime budget.
Bidding Strategy Changes: Switching from manual bidding to automated bidding, or significantly altering your bid amounts.
Targeting Changes: Broadening or narrowing your target audience, or adding/removing targeting options.
Creative Changes: Replacing your ads with entirely new creative assets or making substantial changes to your ad copy.
Conversion Event Changes: Altering which conversion events you're tracking or how those events are defined.
‼️ None of the ad platforms explicitly state that every tracking parameter updates as a significant edit, but it's essential to proceed with caution.
Recommendations for Your Tracking
Plan UTM Updates Strategically: If updating UTMs is necessary, schedule changes during periods of lower traffic or performance to minimize potential negative impacts.
Before updating your tracking, assess the potential impact on your campaigns and weigh the benefits of updated tracking against the possibility of re-entering the review process.
Enabling automated update tools on our platform will help add tracking parameters whenever you create new campaigns, adgroups / adsets, or ads. It will avoid interrupting the ad delivery when the ads are already running/active.