CXL Institute Digital Analytics Minidegree Review #10
Continuing from last week, I was taking Simo Ahava’s Advanced Google Tag Manager course. I’ve learned more advanced stuff about JavaScript programming and utilizing Tag Manager outside its original purpose. It’s the 10th week of my Digital Analytics program and I’ve finished Simo’s advance Google Tag Manager’s course and went onto the final course, Marketing Attribution.
Learning more about API and how we can create custom containers and workflows with custom scripts and codes was really cool. I got to understand the benefits of custom templates, how the editor works and figure out the template JavaScript sandbox. It’s a lot of information to jot down, so I’ll have to go back and review the course multiple times for sure. With custom templates, i can build a user interface for deploying custom code through Tag Manager.
There are companies like Bounteous that provide free templates that we can use. I’m the type of person to use things that already built by other people instead of creating my own from scratch. The code that is used in Google Tag Manager has to be accurate and specific. Anything that isn’t set up properly can mess up your tracking data. Simo goes in depth about using code in Tag manager. There’s harmful code that can mess up your configurations. We can utilize permissions model to prevent harmful code from being run. You can couple on page policies where our developers can use to further limit GTM template functionality.
Templates can be shared through export/import or vid libraries and public repositories. Simo details that template metadata should be set to reflect the brand identity and to be descriptive as possible. The code editor uses a sandboxed JavaScript flavor, where many browser API’s are suppressed to prevent misuse. It restricts access to browser api’s and global namespace. We have the ability to run a template preview to see what the template would look like.
Although it’s hard to understand and follow, Simo show’s what we build through a step-by-step walkthrough. By the end of his course, you’ll build a custom Tag Manager templates using code. This was the longest part of the course. This video section was almost an hour long! Simo provides a lot of resources for Google Tag Manager. I am provided a Custom template guide, API’s and a templates' library. Simo provides a lot of information to take a look at to better understand what he’s doing in his course. Now I understand the process of template creation. I learned how to build, test and use a template. I’ve learned to import/export and share templates. It’s good to know there are a lot of templates out there that I can use to set my GTM trackings.
It’s crazy that there’s so much possibilities with Google Tag Manager. There’s a lot of great free information out there. Simo is a great guy for providing a lot of free and helpful tips for GTM users. I was provided a lot of useful info from him and Mercer. The subject of Google Tag Manager was probably one of the more difficult things that I’ve learned in CXL’s courses and in general marketing related work.
Before I get better with Google Tag Manager, I need to get better at Google Analytics. I need to figure out to set things up and track data right. Then I’ll need to get Good at Google Tag Manager. If Google Analytics is set up right, then it makes it easier for the next step of setting up Tag Manager right. Then I need to set up Google Data Studio properly then finally pull that data into Google Big Query to show analytical results of marketing campaigns. It’s a lot of work and learning to do but hopefully I’ll get there within time.
In CXL’s digital analytics program, learning Google Tag Manager is a good chunk of the program. Mercer teaches the beginners and intermediate level and Simo teaches the more advanced level. There’s so many things I’ve learned within Google Tag Manager.
Things I’ve learned in the beginners for Google Tag Manager:
Tags, Triggers, Variables, Data layer, Organization, Preview Mode, Workflow, just to name a few. I’ve learned to create my first tag to scripts and pixels, clicks & time, scroll tracking, Video engagement, storing and reading details in the data layer, tracking e-commerce, cross domain tracking, and tag sequencing.
In the intermediate Google Tag Manager, I’ve learned the following:
Advanced video tracking, tracking page elements, tracking e-commerce, custom dimensions & metrics, User ID tracking, what are table variables, Javascript variables, event variables, setting up and using Cookies in Google Tag Manager, setting up and using the GTM API.
Then finally these are the things that Simo Ahava teaches in the course that I’ve learned:
Event tracking- what kind of events and how we can track events
Custom event listeners- More about custom events
Tracker Object- about object tracking
Custom task- Setting up custom tasks that align with our business and marketing objectives.
Enhanced E-Commerce- more advanced e-commerce analytics tracking. This was informative for me as I want to run my own e-commerce store one day.
API Outline & Resources- Learned more about Google Tap Managers API and what we can do with it.
Build your own API Tool- In this part, I’ve learned to build my own API tool with GTM.
Templates Introduction- What are GTM templates and how we can use them? I learned that we can use pre-built templates to make things easier and quicken then process of more advanced things that we are trying to do with GTM.
Building A custom template- I’ve learned to build my own custom template using JavaScript for GTM. I can use it and give it others for use.
These are all the things that I’ve learned in all these Google Tag Manager courses. It seems like a very important to learn and use since a good portion of this program is fixated in Google Tag Manager and is often mentioned by the other instructors from the other courses. I can’t let my self slack off and or get inimidated by GTM. I need to keep pushing forward and practice this tool over and over again.
