Updated 28-Jun-2024
Facebook, Google Adwords/Analytics, and Bing all have moved their tagging for conversations and tracking page views and other activity, over to their respective Tag Managers. - For Google this is called the Google Tag Manager - - For Bing this is called UET Tags and Conversion Goals (UET stands for Universal Event Tracking) - (link to Conversion Tracking on left sidebar on Campaigns) - For Facebook this is called the Facebook (Universal) Pixel - All of these systems were done differently in the past. So first a set of conversion steps needs to be implemented in order to get everything corrected (legacy pixels, conversion tracking and tags will be discontinued shortly).
Nature of the Tagging System and Code
First, each of the code is a javascript with a fallback (noscript) to an invisible pixel. Each of the systems are meant to capture behavior on all pages. Each of the systems allow for customization of conversions and other behavior on the 3rd party website (Google Tag Manager, Facebook Ads, and Bing Ads). This makes things a bit simpler, as the website no longer has to have scraps of conversion code in different places. It makes updating the website a lot simpler (as that half of the equation is no longer needed).
Where things are in Google
For the Google system, things are a little more complicated. For one, a Google Tag Manager Account and Container needs to be created (a container is equivalent to a website). And then Adwords conversion tracking and Analytics need to be recreated inside the GTM. This means that Analytics and Adwords are still needed, and conversion tracking for Adwords still needs to be set up in Adwords. It is just that in order to get the GTM tagging to work, the definitions need to be duplicated from Adwords to GTM. In sum: - New GTM tag code and interface (looks a lot like Google Analytics) - Adwords conversions still created in Adwords, but also duplicated in GTM - Analytics still created, and duplicated in GTM - Remarketing is set in the Adwords tag in GTM, Remarketing audiences are still defined in Google Analytics (and then duplicated in Google Tag Manager), and remarketing audiences are used as targets in Adwords Note that: Everything that used to be tracked by Adwords Conversion code or Google Analytics code needs to be redefined in GTM so that the information can be tracked (and used) without the previous code/application knowing about it. The only exception is for remarketing audiences created in Analytics are still available in Adwords, without having to be recreated in GTM (and I believe it is easier to still manage them there).
Why We Care About GTM
Firstly, this is where Google is putting all their effort and it is also a way to do across-device (and user) tracking. Also, there are vast improvements in what can be tracked and in ease of use in how to track things (such as clicks on outbound links, form fill-out progress (e.g., how many fields were progressed through before abandonment or submission), enhanced ecommerce tracking (progress through a site, basic shopping behavior). In any case, it is one now essential tool to use to capture visitor behavior on sites (though not replacing Analytics or Adwords, it does the job for tagging the site and also for being a central clearinghouse of the data.
Where things are in Facebook
Facebook's Pixel can be found under Facebook Ads > Tools > Pixels. There are old conversion tracking pixels (that will go away soon) and The Facebook Pixel. Each advertising account gets a single pixel, and a single name for that pixel. The idea is that a pixel represents an account for Facebook. Even with multiple sites, there is one pixel. However, there are also Custom Conversions which are used to define conversion behavior (for a given site or action). Because the Facebook Pixel is meant to be general purpose it can also provide general page view information as well. In addition, with the pixel, custom audiences can be defined for remarketing (e.g., Facebook users who visited the website in the past 90 days).
Where things are in Bing
Big is fairly straightforward, though like Google Tag Manager, a separate container needs to be created for each website/application being monitored. Bing calls the containers UET tags and then has Conversion goals.
Process of Migration for Facebook
To begin migration, Facebook is the easiest: - Name and get Facebook Pixel code (this is used on all sites for a given account). Add this to the website (we are currently using the HeadSpace plugin) - Check to make sure the code is working using the Chrome plugin Pixel Helper - Create new custom conversions to replace the old conversion pixel (they will cease to work in a few months) - Note that there is a limit of 20 custom conversions per account. They would rather have people set up reports and modify the Facebook pixel, then configure via custom tracking, which allows one to not have to change the Facebook pixel. - Also, choose unique rather than all for conversion tracking. Because people can click and reload, it is important to only count one conversion for a given session, not multiple. - Go into Campaigns > Ad Sets and change conversion tracking to Track all conversions from my Facebook pixel - Remove all custom Facebook code remnants on any pages on the website Note that Facebook Custom Conversions are unable to be deleted or edited, so that basically destroys the functionality. Support call has been submitted to them to help delete. Otherwise, just look to Google Analytics for the conversion info, rater than Facebook. ## Process of Migration for Bing For Bing, the process is similar to Facebook, but there needs to be a unique UET tag for each website property (or application). - Create the UET tag for a given site - Get the code and paste that into HeadSpace - Use the BigAds UET tag verifier plugin (it doesn't always work, but if it does give a verification, everything is working (no false positives, but there are false negatives) - Create all the conversions needed for each UET - Remove all the remnant Bing conversion code in the website Note that the conversion goal and remarketing list uses the same UET (similar to Google Analytics which is essentially a per-site configuration). Note that unlike Facebook, conversion goals do not need to be associated with Ad Sets (called Ad Groups in Bing). A final note, Bing has already cut over to their new system so conversions can only be tracked after migration to UET tags and Conversion goals. How to create Remarketing Lists/Audiences in Bing: Note that custom events can be created and added to Audiences, such as those viewing a certain page, or a video, or clicking a certain outbound link:
Process of Migration for Google Analytics/Adwords tagging to Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager is similarly structured to Google Analytics in terms of multiple GTM accounts can be managed by one or more Google accounts, and each GTM account can have one or more containers which are the equivalent of a website or application (as with Google Analytics, several sites can be tracked within a single container). - First, create a Tag Manager Account, and inside that account, create containers. - Each container will have GTM code to install on each website, do so in the HeadSpace plugin - Remember to click the Publish button after any changes, as there is a complex versioning system at work that is not real-time. - For each container, add the appropriate tags, including - Google Analytics - Google Adwords Conversions - Google Adwords Remarketing (not necessary, as Analytics remarketing audiences can be used in Adwords) - duplicate the Shared Libraries > Audiences for the site (all users) in Adwords) - Note that more complex remarketing tags still need to be defined in Analytics > Admin > Property > Remarketing > Audiences, or they could be created in Google Tag Manager, though that leaves out the Analytics data. - Use the Chrome extension Tag Assistant (by Google) to ensure that the tags are working
Advanced Settings for Google Tag Manager
There are some fairly high level ways of using GTM for various dynamic retargeting and slicing and dicing up audiences. This really works best with a very large (and complex) visitor set. In general, I think it is still easier to create audiences in Google Analytics, as that is where analysis is generally done. Yes, conversions need to be created in Adwords (just as they do in Facebook and Bing) but Audiences are better created in Analytics (though of course Bing and Facebook need to be done on their own sites, respectively).
Some GTM resources.
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