Digital campaigning’s greatest strength is the ability to measure precisely the activity and results of your efforts. The underlying technology behind this is the placement of small snippets of code, called “tags” placed on your campaign website. These tags come from the various platforms a campaign uses, including social media, advertisers, and web analytics.
Installing these tags on your website usually takes some technical expertise and access permissions to your website, but Google Tag Manager (GTM) offers a solution that anyone can use to add, edit, or remove tags from your website. In this article, we highlight the benefits of using GTM, how you can use it, and what you need to get started.
The Benefits of Using Google Tag Manager
Aside from simplifying tag management without the need for technical assistance, GTM can improve your website’s load speed by optimizing the right tags to load at the best time. A faster website drives more conversions and improves your ranking on Google Search.
With new privacy regulations coming online in the U.S., GTM also ensures your website complies with applicable restrictions based on a user’s detected location.
What You Can Do With Google Tag Manager
Once installed on your website, GTM is where you set up your free Google Analytics tracking tag. From there you can measure website traffic and engagement data, like page views, engagement, and time spent on site. With these metrics, you can identify improvement opportunities on your site.
With tags from platforms like Meta, Google, and other ad networks, you can more accurately measure the performance of your paid digital campaigns and ensure you’re reaching the right audience at the best price.
If you’ve ever visited a retailer’s website and later found yourself followed around the internet with ads for that shirt you almost bought, you know the power of remarketing. With GTM, you can also add tags that enable you to follow up with site visitors to take further action on behalf of your campaign, like signing up for emails or making a donation.
How To Set Up Google Tag Manager
You can get started with GTM from your existing Google account. Then follow these instructions for creating a new “container” for GTM. At this point, you’ll need the assistance of your website manager to install the script. If you’re using a platform like WordPress or SquareSpace, search for instructions on adding your GTM code to your site.
If you’re using WinRed for your online donations, add the GTM integration there to also keep tabs on fundraising performance.
Conclusion
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a free and – once installed – easy to use tool every campaign should have on their website. In addition to unlocking super powers of tracking digital performance, it also improves the speed of your website.
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