We spoke to Adele Simpson - EVP of Performance Marketing at Green Man Gaming to understand a bit more about how Steam tracks UTM data within it's portal and if you can trust the data to be accurate for conversions and wish lists.

Here's what she said: "The once accurate UTM tracking faces challenges on Steam's portal. While it offers some insight, it's far from 100% accurate. Here are some examples to be aware of;

Browser Limitations:

Steam UTM only tracks wish lists and purchases when a user visits a store page, is signed in, and uses a browser, client, or mobile app. This makes it difficult to track actions from social media platforms where users might not be logged in - so any paid social ads where users aren't logged in won't get the attribution back!

Cookie Consent & Timeframe:

Steam's tracking respects privacy, meaning users may be excluded based on browser settings or cookie consent.

Attribution is limited to actions taken within a 72-hour window of a tracked visit (I think); actions outside this timeframe are not attributed to a specific UTM. Plus most PC gamers tend to use ad blockers and/or decline cookies

Cross-Device Restrictions:

Steam UTM doesn't track uniquely identifiable user information. This prevents tracking actions across different devices or browsers, meaning a user landing on a store page on one device and taking action on another won't be attributed to the original campaign. Much like the old fashioned last click attribution model

So when you look at your Steam UTM data don't assume that it reports every action from UTM tracked campaign clicks. It doesn't. It's better than nothing but there is a better way..."

If you'd like clearer attribution modelling

We would recommend driving ads to the Green Man Gaming store where we can help provide post campaign analysis to a much more in-depth degree of which channels performed best/worst.

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