No matter what your marketing strategy is, GTM is always useful. Adding it to your site is the first step to a great marketing plan. Here’s how.
What even is Google Tag Manager?
Google Tag Manager is an analytics tool used by at least 49.1% of all websites as of the 2nd of August, 2024. There’s 200 million actively-updated websites out there, so that’s a very, very big number of sites using it. What benefit does it bring to these sites?
Almost-unlimited user tracking that can feed directly into Google Analytics (GA4, previously known as Universal Analytics) and other analytics platforms, while having the ability to be completely cookieless. More tracking means sites can optimise better for their users, increasing conversions. The more data you have on your users, the more you know how they use your site, the more you can double-down and change elements of your site to turn more of your site visitors into consumers. With a free tool bringing this many benefits, it’s no wonder why nearly half of the internet installs Google Tag Manager to their site.
The benefits of Google Tag Manager
Like I’ve already said in the introduction, Google Tag Manager (also known as GTM) is an analytics tool. Well, really, it’s a data-gathering tool. The most common analytics tool used with GTM is Google Analytics, also known as GA4. However, you can use any analytics platform to conveniently display the data collected by Google Tag Manager. This includes CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce, as well as practically any other analytics platform. It’s so widely used that for an analytics platform to survive in today’s world, it needs to have the ability to support GTM. That also shows just how important GTM is to businesses all over the world.
Google Tag Manager is easy to add to your site and even easier to connect to Google Analytics. There’s a caveat to that which is becoming more important, which I’ll get onto later.
What data can Google Tag Manager collect?
It can track anything from how a site visitor scrolls on a page, link clicks, and it can even track when a site visitor hovers their cursor over an element of the page.
Essentially, Google Tag Manager collects as much data from users of your website as you want. It’s extremely customisable in how you can apply it to your site, meaning it’s built to fit your use-case regardless of what it is. GTM does all of this whilst giving you the option to disable cookies, which is increasingly important in this privacy-focused world.
Google itself actually contemplated going entirely cookieless with its browser Google Chrome as they know people are becoming more conscious about online tracking. What this means for your visitors is that all the information tracked by Google Tag Manager can be anonymised and totally unspecific to them. What it means for you is that it becomes much easier to remain GDPR and ICO compliant when the data you collect isn’t ‘personal.’
Tracking your site visitors is incredibly valuable. It allows you to understand exactly what drives conversions and what doesn’t. This means that you can optimise your site and tailor it specifically towards your visitors, making it not only an easier experience for them to become a consumer but a much more effective way for you to get the most out of your website.
The caveat: Google Tag Manager Server-side Implementation
The best installation of Google Tag Manger is server-side implementation. It allows for data to never enter Google’s servers and for you to forego the dreaded cookie banner otherwise needed to track site visitors. It can prevent GDPR fines from the ICO and can even speed up your site compared to a normal installation of GTM, increasing SEO.
Here’s the caveat.
- It can be expensive to set up if you’re getting an agency to do it completely for you, and many business owners and marketers find it too difficult to implement themselves (although the documentation for it should be easily enough to follow)..
- It will be an ongoing monthly cost with utterly no trackable ROI.
That second point is where someone like me who has worked as an in-house marketer struggles, and where business owners might recoil in a combination of fear and disgust. A relatively high upfront cost for something that isn’t visible or tangible, and then a monthly spend on-top of that, all seemingly without increasing revenue?
The fact is, successful companies pay for server-side GTM implementation because it works. It does increase revenue. It does make CRO easier and it does make ad conversion tracking more accurate.
The caveat to the caveat
Sinclair Pioneers will work with you to set it up server-side if you have the monthly budget for the server costs, without charging a set-up fee. We want the success and results we create for you to be measured as accurately as possible, while making your ad-spend more efficient so it works harder for you. That way,we can work together for longer.
Don’t have the budget for server-side? You’ll still benefit greatly from a free installation of Google Ads.
See my previous article on why marketing doesn’t have to be manipulation here.