Attribution basics
This guide explains how Sender attributes email events to specific campaigns, how Google Analytics tracking works with your sends, and where to find attribution-related data across your account.
Where to find this feature
Attribution data in Sender is not located on a single page. It surfaces across several areas of the dashboard.
On the Campaign overview page, open any sent campaign from Email campaigns and click the report icon. The Settings section displays the Appears on Google Analytics as value, which shows the campaign name passed to Google Analytics through UTM parameters. The Statistics section shows event counts attributed to that campaign, including opened, unique clicks, hard bounced, soft bounced, unsubscribed, and spam reports. Click View subscriber actions to see individual subscriber-level events attributed to the campaign.
On the General settings page, go to Account settings → General settings. The Google Analytics section on the right side of the page controls the default UTM parameters appended to all campaign links. This is where you configure how Sender identifies your email traffic in external analytics tools.
On the Subscriber's profile page, open any subscriber from the Subscribers list. The Subscriber activity panel on the right displays a timestamped log of all events attributed to that subscriber, including sends, bounces, opens, clicks, and group changes, each linked to the specific campaign that triggered the event.
Steps to understand and configure attribution
Step 1 — Review campaign-level attribution
Open a sent campaign from Email campaigns and click the report icon to reach the Campaign overview page. The Statistics section shows aggregated events attributed to that campaign: total emails sent, total emails delivered, opened, unique clicks, hard bounced, soft bounced, unsubscribed, and spam reports. Each event is attributed directly to this specific campaign send. Click View subscriber actions to open the Subscriber actions page, where events are broken out into tabs: Opens, Clicks, Hard bounces, Soft bounces, Unsubscribes, Spam reports, Unopens, and Purchases.
Step 2 — Configure Google Analytics UTM parameters
Go to Account settings → General settings. On the right side, locate the Google Analytics section. Confirm the toggle is enabled (orange). Set the three UTM fields that Sender appends to every tracked link in your campaigns:
UTM campaign — Defaults to {$subject}, which dynamically inserts the email subject line. You can replace this with a static value or use Custom fields from the dropdown.
UTM source — Defaults to newsletter. Change this to match your naming convention in Google Analytics.
UTM medium — Defaults to email. This value identifies the traffic channel in your external analytics tool.
Click Save to apply. These values apply account-wide to all future campaign sends.
Step 3 — Verify attribution on the review page
Before sending a campaign, navigate to the Review and send step in the campaign editor. Under Settings, check the Appears on Google Analytics as field. This confirms the campaign name that will be passed as the utm_campaign value. If you set a custom campaign name in the Settings step using the Set custom campaign name button, that name appears here instead of the email subject.
Step 4 — View subscriber-level attribution
Go to Subscribers, find a subscriber, and click the arrow to open their Subscriber's profile. The Subscriber activity panel shows a chronological log of all events attributed to that subscriber. Each entry displays the date, time, event type (sent, bounced, opened, clicked, added to group), and the specific campaign or source responsible. Use the Filter activity dropdown to narrow the log to specific event types.
What the export contains
Attribution data is embedded in several export types across Sender. The subscriber actions view and campaign reports display attributed events, while the subscriber export and dashboard export provide supporting profile and performance data.
Email address — The subscriber's email address associated with each attributed event.
First Name — The subscriber's first name, as stored in the profile.
Last Name — The subscriber's last name, as stored in the profile.
Date / time — The timestamp of the event, shown in your account's time zone.
Event type — The specific action attributed to the campaign, such as opened, clicked, bounced, unsubscribed, or reported spam. Visible on the Subscriber actions page under each tab.
Campaign name — The campaign to which the event is attributed. Visible in the Subscriber activity log and on the Campaign overview page.
Appears on Google Analytics as — The UTM campaign value associated with the send, shown on the Campaign overview and Review and send pages. The exported PDF from the dashboard Export button includes this alongside performance metrics.
How attribution works
Campaign-level attribution — Sender attributes every open, click, bounce, unsubscribe, and spam report to the specific campaign that generated the event. When a subscriber opens an email or clicks a link, that action is recorded against the campaign that contained the tracked content. Each event maps to exactly one campaign send.
Subscriber actions attribution — On the Subscriber actions page, events are grouped by type under tabs such as Opens, Clicks, Hard bounces, Soft bounces, Unsubscribes, Spam reports, Unopens, and Purchases. Each record lists the subscriber's email address and the date/time the event occurred, all attributed to the campaign you are viewing.
Google Analytics UTM attribution — When the Google Analytics toggle is enabled in General settings, Sender automatically appends utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign parameters to every tracked link in your emails. The default values are utm_source=newsletter, utm_medium=email, and utm_campaign={$subject} (the email subject line). These parameters allow Google Analytics and other external tools to attribute website traffic and conversions to specific email campaigns.
Custom campaign name attribution — By default, the UTM campaign value uses the {$subject} variable, which inserts the email subject. You can override this per campaign by clicking Set custom campaign name on the Campaign settings page when editing a campaign. The custom name then appears in the Appears on Google Analytics as field on the Review and send page and in Google Analytics reports.
Ecommerce attribution — The Campaign overview page includes an Ecommerce section that shows Total revenue, Number of orders, Revenue per customer, and ROI attributed to a campaign. This requires enabling Enable ecommerce tracking (available on Pro plans) in General settings and installing an ecommerce integration via the Connected stores page.
Export tips
Use the dashboard Export for a summary PDF — Click Export on the Dashboard page to generate a PDF report. Name the report, select data categories such as Sale performance, Best performing emails, Traffic and reach report, and Subscribers growth, then click Export PDF.
Print campaign reports for offline review — On the Campaign overview page, click Print report to generate a printable version of the campaign's attribution data, including statistics, charts, and settings.
Filter subscribers before exporting — On the Subscribers page, use the Email status, SMS status, Groups, and Advanced filter options to narrow the list before selecting and exporting. Only filtered results are included in the exported CSV or XLSX file.
Set consistent UTM naming conventions — Define a clear naming pattern for your UTM source, UTM medium, and UTM campaign values in General settings before sending campaigns. Consistent naming makes it easier to filter and compare email campaign performance in Google Analytics.
Check the Review page before every send — Always verify the Appears on Google Analytics as value on the Review and send step to confirm the correct campaign name will be passed to your external analytics tool.
Common issues
UTM parameters not appearing in Google Analytics → The Google Analytics toggle may be disabled. Go to Account settings → General settings and confirm the toggle in the Google Analytics section is enabled (orange). Save your settings and send a test email to verify.
Campaign name shows the subject line instead of a custom name → The UTM campaign field in General settings defaults to {$subject}. To use a custom name for a specific campaign, click Set custom campaign name on the Campaign settings page when editing the campaign and enter your preferred name.
Subscriber activity log shows no events → The subscriber may not have been included in any sent campaigns. Check that the campaign was sent and the subscriber was in the recipient list. Use the Filter activity dropdown on the Subscriber's profile page to confirm the event type you are looking for.
Opens or clicks show 0% on the campaign overview → If the email hard bounced for all recipients, no opens or clicks will be recorded. Check the hard bounced and soft bounced counts in the Statistics section. A 100% hard bounce rate means no emails were delivered, so no engagement events can be attributed.
Ecommerce data not appearing on campaign reports → Ecommerce attribution requires the Enable ecommerce tracking toggle in General settings (available on Pro plans) and an active integration via Connected stores. Click Install integration and track your sales performance on the Campaign overview page to set up the connection.
FAQs
How does Sender attribute a click to a specific campaign?
Sender attributes a click to the campaign that contained the tracked link. When a subscriber clicks a link in an email, the event is recorded against that specific campaign. If the subscriber received multiple campaigns, each click is attributed to the campaign that generated the link the subscriber clicked.
What UTM parameters does Sender add automatically?
When the Google Analytics toggle is enabled in General settings, Sender appends three UTM parameters to all tracked links: utm_source (default: newsletter), utm_medium (default: email), and utm_campaign (default: {$subject}, which inserts the email subject line). You can customize all three values in the Google Analytics section of General settings.
Can I use a custom UTM campaign value for a single campaign?
Yes. On the Campaign settings page when editing a campaign, click Set custom campaign name and enter your preferred value. This overrides the account-wide {$subject} default for that specific campaign. The custom name appears in the Appears on Google Analytics as field on the Review and send page.
Where can I see all events attributed to a single subscriber?
Go to Subscribers, find the subscriber, and click the arrow to open their Subscriber's profile. The Subscriber activity panel on the right displays a timestamped log of all events, including sends, bounces, opens, clicks, and group changes. Use the Filter activity dropdown to narrow by event type.
Does Sender support multi-touch attribution?
Sender uses single-touch, campaign-level attribution. Each open, click, or other event is attributed to the one campaign that generated it. There is no built-in multi-touch attribution model that distributes credit across multiple campaigns. To analyze multi-touch journeys, export your data and use an external analytics or BI tool.
What does the Appears on Google Analytics as field show?
This field on the Campaign overview and Review and send pages displays the value that Sender passes as the utm_campaign parameter for that campaign. By default, this is the email subject line. If you set a custom campaign name, that value appears instead.