A simple introduction about the base principles of google's tag manager for the marketing department of jobmensa.de

1. GOOGLE TAG
MANAGER
MAGIC
Steven Stadler
Twitter: @joermungandr
Email: steven.stadler@gmail.com
@jobmensa.de

2. AGENDA
• WHAT IS TAG MANAGEMENT?
• WHY TAG MANAGEMENT?
• WHAT IS THE WORKFLOW?
• HOW DOES THIS MAGIC WORK?
• WHAT ARE THE RISKS?
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3. #WTF IS TAG
MANAGEMENT? [1]
A fast way to add and manage tracking codes
• no javascript snippets have to be add anymore
Leave the developers free to work on other
important tasks
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4. WHY TAG MANAGEMENT
• only page views
• only websites
• one tracking solutions
• a handful tags
• not likely to change
• by & for webmasters
Tracking in the 90s:
limited and easy
• page views + events
• sites, apps + things
• lots of solutions
• tag pollution
• evolution & maintenance
• IT, CM, BI departments
….
Tracking nowadays:
powerful, yet complex
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5. SOME BENEFITS
• Smart Caching
• Tag Blacklist
• Debug Console
• Version History
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6. 6
[1]

7. WORKFLOW
Partner
delivers
tag(s)
Briefing
Create Tag in GTM
Create Variables
Create Triggers
Create Rules
Test in debug
mode
PUBLISH
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8. GTM JARGON
• tag = bits of tracking logic to inject
• rules = when is a tag allowed to proceed
• macros = interaction infos that the tag needs
• container = the bag of tags to inject on a website
• dataLayer = a common queue between capture
and tracking
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9. CONTAINER
Big bag with lots of tags inside
• rule of thumb: 1 container per site
• 1 GTM user account can manage many containers
• publish changes once for all as versions
• preview and debug your changes before
publishing them
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10. 10

11. TAGS
Bits of tracking logic to inject/instantiate on the
page.
• you can add:
• ready-made tags (GA, AdWords, …)
• custom tags
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14. RULES
When should GTM inject the tracking code?
Examples:
- "on all pages"
- {{url}} matches RegEx .*
- {{event}} equals gtm.linkClick
BEWARE: a tag with no rule attached will not fire!
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15. 15

16. 16

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18. MACROS
Accessors to element/event/page information. (now variables)
Provided out-of-the-box by GTM:
- {{url}}
- {{url hostname}}
- {{url path}}
- {{referrer}}
- …
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19. 19

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21. GTM TRACKING PROCESS
1. Browser loads page with GTM <script> tag
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22. GTM TRACKING PROCESS
2. GTM tag interpreted
1. creates hidden iframe for browsers that doesn’t allow
scripts
2. loads gtm.js:
1. your specific container (tags, rules, macros )
2. generic GTM logic
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23. GTM TRACKING PROCESS
3. GTM fires up:
1. if dataLayer does not exist, it creates it
2. all tags/rules/macros are instantiated and now listening
3. gtm events thrown
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24. GTM TRACKING PROCESS
4. When a DOM event happens …
1. rules define which tracker tags gets fired and throws
events on dataLayer
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25. GTM TRACKING PROCESS
5. when any event or data gets pushed on the dataLayer …
1. rules define which tracker performs
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26. 26
[1]

27. RISKS
Anyone with credentials and rights can inject harmful code
• probability: very probable (marketing dept ≠ security dept)
• impact: legal trouble, loss of trust, loss of users private infos, loss of business
infos
allow only one user to publish versions
"The marketing dudes will break everything!” [1]
• probability: it can happen
• impact: injected code disturbs normal page behaviour
get tech help when doing special stuff
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28. REFERENCES
[1] Leo Berdu - Google Tag Manager for eCommerce
for further reading:
Simo Ahava - Google Tag Manager For Nerds
http://www.simoahava.com/
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29. QUESTIONS?
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