Google Tag Manager

This article gives you a step by step guide on how to setup Google Tag Manager with your heyflow.

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Written by Heyflow
Updated over a week ago

Google Tag Manager is a tag management system that allows you to quickly and easily update and manage tags on your website or mobile app.

This article covers


Intro

Tags are measurement codes and related code fragments that are added to your project, which can then be easily deployed from the web-based user interface. In addition, there exist Triggers, which tells Google Tag Manager when and how to fire these tags; and Variables, which store any other additional information Google Tag Manager may need in order for the tags and triggers to work.

Google Tag Manager is solely responsible for storing and managing third-party codes, therefore it is unable to provide any reports or analysis on the tags that were assigned. However, you are able to connect your Google Tag Manager with Google Analytics in your flow, which is used for the actual reporting and analysis or use it to connect with Google Ads.

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πŸ’‘ Heyflow recommends using Google Tag Manager if your tag firing scenarios are more complex, i.e., you are implementing more customized containers in addition to the basic container configuration. Naturally, you can also use Google Tag Manager for the basic configuration because all third-party code is all located in one place, which results in easier management.


Setup

πŸ”Ž If you are new to Google Tag Manager, create a new account first. Then, return to this guide and skip to Step 3 – creating a new container.

1. Open your Google Tag Manager dashboard and select any container within the account you would like to create a new container.

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2. Click on Admin on the top left.

β€Œ3. On the right-hand side of the window, click on the plus sign to create a new property.

4. In the Create Container field, enter any name as the Container name. This name is simply for you to identify the container later. As a Target platform, choose Web. Then, click Create.

5. You will then be redirected to Google Tag Manager Overview Dashboard.

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6. On the top right, the Container ID is displayed, which you can copy to your clipboard by right-clicking on the ID and select Copy

7. Switch to go.heyflow.app, open your heyflow and navigate to the Integrate page. Here, select the Analytics tab, click on Google Tag Manager, insert your Container ID and click Connect.

Click the Publish button in the top right corner to publish your flow.

Google Tag Manager will only work after you connect/save the updated integrations and you have published your flow.

8. Switch back to your Google Tag Manager editor and navigate through the different options on the left sidebar. There, you are able to set any tags, triggers, or variables needed for your website.

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9. For a kickstart, we have created a container configuration for you to import into your container. This container configuration already has the most important tags and triggers set up for you.

Depending on the tracking version of your Heyflow, you will need different container configurations. If you created your Heyflow before the 1st of March, 2023, the tracking version of your flow may not be up to date. In this case, you need the container configuration for v0.1.

Under Settings > Tracking you can check which tracking version your Heyflow is using.

πŸ”Ž Depending on your browser, the file might not automatically download. In that case, simply save (CTRL + S or CMD + S) the file to your computer. Make sure it ends with .json).

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10. Once downloaded, navigate to Admin located at the top left of the Google Tag Manager dashboard and select Import Container listed in your container settings.

11. Import the downloaded file by clicking Choose container file.

12. Choose which workspace you would like to set the tags and triggers to take place. We recommend Existing. Then, select Default Workspace.

13. Next, choose whether you would want to overwrite your current configuration with the Heyflow basic configuration or merge them. We recommend Overwrite.

Selecting Overwrite will – unsurprisingly – overwrite your current changes. If you have an existing setup and you want to combine it with Heyflow, you can Merge. However, we advise you to have a Container dedicated to your flows only to ensure correct results and no conflicts.

14. Once you approve of the changes, you can click Confirm to import the container.

15. You will be redirected to the Google Tag Manager dashboard, where you will see the Submit button located on the top right of the dashboard. Click the Submit button.

16. You are then able to name the current version. Make sure that the environment is set to Live (located at the bottom of the window). You can then Publish your version using the button located on the top window.

❗ You have to submit and publish an initial version of your container before you can use the preview.

17. You will then be directed to a summary dashboard of all the tags, variables, and triggers you have set up, which are all live.

Great! You are now all set up to manage your tags, triggers, and variables using Google Tag Manager. Feel free to modify your container according to your needs.

πŸ”Ž You can also integrate Google Analytics 4 with your Google Tag Manager. Navigate to our Google Analytics 4 page to get started!


Troubleshooting

Google Tag Assistant

Google Tag Assistant is an extension that lets you make changes to your tags and instantly verify that they are firing as intended. You can do so from your Google Tag Manager dashboard, but please make sure you have submitted and published a container in advance.

  1. To ensure that everything has been set up properly, you can click on Preview on the top right of the window to launch the debug mode.

2. This will launch the Google Tag Assistant window. Enter the URL of your flow, e.g. heyflow.id/<your-flow-id>. Then, click Start to preview the container.

3. A new window will appear with the URL that you have pasted. If everything has been set up properly, you will see a notification located at the bottom right corner of the window stating Tag Assistant connected.

Doesn’t work? Check out below for some tips.

4. Click through the flow like you would normally do. You can close the window at any moment or finish the flow. Once you are done, switch back to the Tag Assistant window.

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β€Œ5. You will be presented with a summary of all the tags, triggers, and variables that happened when you clicked through your flow.

β€Œ6. On the left-hand side of the window, you can also see the specific actions that happened when you click through a flow. For every action, you can then see the specific tags, variables, data layer, and errors fired by navigating through the tabs.#

7. This indicates that everything has been set up correctly. If a corresponding Google Analytics was set up to the same flow, the presented tags will also appear in your Google Analytics dashboard.

I do not see any tags firing

  1. Make sure that your GTM container ID is correct and the container is live by submitting and publishing the container.

  2. Make sure you publish the flow again after you edit the GTM container ID or GA measurement ID.

  3. Disable ad blocker and other extensions.

πŸ’¬ If you're having any issues with our Google Tag Manager integration, please contact the support.

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