---
title: "How to Track Social Ads Campaigns"
description: "Learn how to track Facebook and Meta Ads campaigns in Sealmetrics without cookies using UTM parameters and privacy-first attribution."
canonical_url: "https://docs.sealmetrics.com/reports/insights/how-to-track-social-ads-campaigns"
lang: "en"
date_generated: "2026-09-14T13:48:10.438Z"
source_hash: "a4e2fcb611919d9fdd839ec2d988d45363f28bb3c9db6bb45c18245c9120b4fa"
content_type: "documentation"
owner: "docs"
llm_priority: "useful"
source_file: "reports/insights/how-to-track-social-ads-campaigns.mdx"
publisher: "Sealmetrics"
---

# How to Track Social Ads Campaigns

Canonical page: https://docs.sealmetrics.com/reports/insights/how-to-track-social-ads-campaigns

Sealmetrics can track traffic from Meta Ads — including Facebook and Instagram — **without cookies**, using only privacy-safe parameters.
The key requirement: **UTM parameters** must be added to your ad URLs.
Without UTMs, Sealmetrics cannot reliably distinguish paid vs. unpaid traffic coming from Meta domains.

---

## Why UTMs Matter for Meta Ads Tracking

Meta traffic often arrives with minimal referrer information.
If UTMs are *not* added:

- Paid and organic Meta traffic blend together
- Campaign-level reporting disappears
- You cannot analyze ad set or creative performance

If UTMs *are* added:

- Full campaign attribution
- Clear performance insights
- Correct paid vs. organic classification
- No cookies required

---

## How to Track Facebook Ads Campaigns Without Cookies

### Use UTM Parameters
UTM parameters are tags added to your ad URLs that Sealmetrics can read instantly — no identifiers, no session tracking.

#### How to implement UTMs
1. Add `utm_source`, `utm_medium`, and `utm_campaign` to every destination URL, adding `utm_term` or `utm_content` when you need extra detail on ad sets or creatives
2. Keep the same naming convention across all campaigns (e.g., lowercase, no spaces) so reports stay consistent
3. Match the UTM values to the structure shown below, so Sealmetrics can read them correctly

Recommended structure:

```
https://yourwebsite.com?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=summer_sale&utm_term=running_shoes
```

## Related documentation

- [How to Track Google Ads Campaigns](/reports/insights/how-to-track-google-ads-campaigns) — UTM templates for paid search
- [How to Change UTM Parameters in Sealmetrics](/reports/insights/how-to-change-utm-parameters) — Map custom parameter names
- [Understanding the "(not set)" Value in Sealmetrics Reports](/reports/insights/understanding-not-set) — Avoid missing UTM gaps
- [Sources Report](/reports/sources) — View campaign and creative performance